What to do in Luxembourg
Hi guys,
I'm just back from going back and fourth to Luxembourg and in todays post I'll share with you guys everything that you can see in this sweet little country. After Malta, it's the smalles country in Europa. As an actual country, not a state like Monaco.
First of all, why did we go back and fourth? Well because of the Belgian travel restrictions due to Corona. Even though that the rates in LUX are okay, way better than in Belgium.
I'll share first with you what to do in Luxembourg city and I share my highlights from the rest of the country. Luxembourg is also famous for it's "valley of the 7 castles". I went to almost all of them so I'm able to give you guys my opinions about them! After the castles, I'll tell you more about the gorgeous nature there. The beautiful rivers, the rocks, the waterfalls,...
Now let me tell you a bit about the Covid situation there. It's a "red country" so you probably can't travel over 48 hours there. This rule is not a rule from Luxembourg itself, it was our Belgian rule... All EU travelers are welcome there. All museums are still open to visit, as well as the public transport, hotels, restaurants and bars. Ofcourse all with extra covid-care like handgel, masks,...
Traveling to Luxembourg felt super safe. Way safer than being in Belgium with way too much people in small places. Luxembourg has a lot of nature with many trails (well maintained ones) that you can take. We did a couple of them and didn't see much other people!
All my info is from visitluxembourg.com
Covid updates can be found on covid19.public.lu/en.html
Luxembourg is famous for it's old city center (Lux, Lux) but there's much more to see in this country. You might know Luxembourg from European court of justice. Politically it's an important place so that's why there are a lot of immigrants living there (long term or short term). The city of Luxembourg itself has an old part where all the building for businesses are and an old historical centre. This place is lovely. It has the famous "kazematten", the old city walls that used to protect the city (from 1644). In the city centre you can find the town hall, old churches and the lovely cathedral. In th city there's also a palace thet you can visit in the summer. For the rest, the city has many museums to offer.
Then onto the castles, to finish in nature!
First up: Vianden. Vianden is a small cosy town on the Our river. The castle has been distroyed many times but they've totally rebuilt it.
Inside the castle there are many rooms to discover, with a lot of old furniture. I love castles with the original furnitures in it!
The castle is open between 11:00 and 16:00 in the winter. It was 8 euros for adults.
Next are the Beaufort castles: the medieval castle and the renaissance castle.
In Beaufort there are two castles right next to each other. The oldest one is the one shown in the picture. The ruins are from the 11th century BC up to the 15th century.
The new owner of the fortress didn't like the old building so he decided to build his own castle, right next to the old one.
The ruins are open for visitors daily, even with dog.
You can also book a tour for the other castle. Each visit is only possible with guide (not like the other castle).
I think it was about 12 euros for both of them but I'm not sure.
The tour was in a small group with max 10 people. There are only tours from thursday till sunday at 11am or 16 pm from april till november. If you want to visit the castle another time, you need to book in advance and reservate.
We didn't reservate, we were there in the morning and visited the ruins and booked the tour for the other castle in the afternoon.
This tour was great. The tour was about 1hour and 45 minutes long with a guide who spoke French or German, if needed also English. She knew a lot about the history of the castle and the area which was interesting. The last owner of the castle still lived there untill 2016. After she died, they totally cleaned up the place so that is was great for visitors for private tours.
This is one of the many rooms that you can see there.
The furniture of the castle was literally a mix of all ages. The interior was from the 15th century untill the art- nouveau times.
Bourscheid castle is next on my list.
This castle is also a medieval one. It's rather a large fortress, right in the middle of the mountains. We were able to visit the castle with our dog because it's almost all outside.
The views from the castle were stunning. A tip: take a cheap coffee on the terrace from the castle. It won't cost a thing, I remember the chips being only 50 cents and the view is really lovely.
We sat there for a while to enjoy the view and the sun.
If you're wondering where this shot was taken, well on the viewpoint of the town. We did a hike uphills there, around the town and passed by this camping. The trail goes through the camping, to this viewpoint.
The castle is open all year around and is open from 11:00am to 16:00pm. I think the entrance was about 8 euros.
Fourth is the Bourglinster castle. This castle is a castle that you can only visit with a privat booking. Inside the castle there's a restaurant where you can eat. TIP: there were a lot of veggie/vegan options on the menu. We didn't eat there because it was a Michelin restaurant so a bit pricy and we simply didn't have enough time for it.
Also something weird; if you google this castle, it's completely photoshopped. It's in real life way more rustic then on the shots but to me that's fine. It's more realistic this way. But what is weird is the following; I was looking through the town for a white castle... but it's actually brown. Thanks google!
At the town of Bourglinster there's a trail uphills behind the castle parking lot that's worth it. On top of the trail, there are a lot of open fields with gorgeous views.
5: Clervaux castle is the last one we actually visited.
The town of Clervaux is small but cosy. The center has some shops and a lot of restaurants and hotels. Inside the castle there's a museum of photography. It didn't really interest me so I didn't visit it inside. We just walked around it and took al trail all around town and the area, into the woods.
This is by the way also a castle totally ruined during war but completely renovated. To me, this one really looks fake because it looks "too new"... But it's a pretty one, all white and clean.
This one was the last one of my trip.
Well then on to the castles I didn't visit and why...
1: Ansembourg castle. This is a private castle and you can only visit the garden. With the dog, we didn't want to trive all the way to the castle, without much other to to there than to walk in the garden.
2: The castle of Esch Sur Sure. We didn't visit this town because it's small and we didn't have enough time to drive to it. Also the castle is not open for visitors and it's more like a ruin...with only just one tower.
3: The old castle of Larochette. We had some hot drinks there but didn't really visit the town because it was super small and not so interesting. Also; the castle is private and rather small. I forgot to take pictures there because we only had some tea on a terrace in the sun there.
4: The Wiltz castle: The castle hosts the National Brewery Museum and Tannery Museum and the Battle of the Bulge Museum. This castle didn't interest me because of the museums in it. It's not handy with a dog... Also the castle is not that pretty to me. Maybe if we didn't have the dog, I'd visit the war museum!
5: Mersch: Mersch is a lovely city in Luxembourg where we only had dinner. We didn't really visit it. You can visit the castle, but only with a private tour with the castle and the entire city center...
And then a short summary of all the castles of the valley of the 7 castles. Important; not all the castles I visited are on this list because most of the castles of the valley are actually private.
Mersch
Schoenfels
Hollenfels
Ansembourg Castle
New Castle of Ansembourg
Septfontaines
Koerich Castle
Now if you're traveling with dogs or just more into nature than culture and history, Luxembourg has a lot of gorgeous places to offer you.
The most gorgeous part is called "Small Switzerland"... Hmm why would they call it like that? Well, it looks a bit like Switzerland maybe... not really in my opionion but hey who am I to judge.
The best places to explore the nature is to go to Mullertall and follow the trails there.
You can also go to Echternach and explore the nature there.
In Mullertall you find the famous Schiessentumpel waterfall and the "Irreller wasserfalle". Both small waterfalls. We did the hike through the "Teufelsschlucht" to the irreller wasserfalle back and fourth at one day. The other day we did a hike throgh Mullertall, starting at the Schiessentumpel.
In Echternach there are the famous Hohlay caves and the Wolfsschlucht gorges (more info on my previous blog).
The rocky formations with the river and the plants are just magical in this region. BUT beware, the water is not as blue as found on google, thanks again haha! The sunlight through the trees in the autumn is just dreamy!
Et voila, this is literally everything to see and do in Luxembourg in my opinion!
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X Steph