LUXEMBOURG ITINERARY
& THINGS TO DO
Luxembourg itinerary & things to do
Luxembourg: a tiny wonderful country
Not many people think of Luxembourg as their next holiday destination. They either skip it entirely or only use it as a pitstop on their way to one of its neighbouring countries. People who have been there briefly will describe it as beautiful but also a bit boring. We went on a mission to find out if that is true. For 10 days, we explored practically any place that was deemed worthy of a visit.
We've come to the conclusion that Luxembourg can indeed be a tad boring, but that it is the kind of boring that we would deem blissful. You'll often find yourself completely alone when hiking through one of its many beautiful nature areas. When visiting a castle, you don't have to wait in line. The lack of crowds and being surrounded by so much natural and historic beauty made us love Luxembourg.
In this Luxembourg itinerary, we share the best places to visit and things to do!
Recommended itinerary
The route takes approximately 7-10 days, depending on your travel pace and possible additions. The places can be shuffled around, as the distances are small in Luxembourg, but below we have grouped and logically ordered them (from north to south). Public transport is completely free (how amazing!) but we can also recommend travelling by car or campervan, especially if you would like to go camping, which is very pleasant in Luxembourg.
Clervaux and Kautenbach (Escarpardenne Trail)
Luxembourg is known for its many nature parks. It has several long-distance trails through diverse landscapes. The paths are well-marked and the convenience of free and well-collected public transport makes it possible to hop from part to part throughout the country.
One beloved trail is the Escarpardenne Eisleck Trail, which starts in the Ardennes at the Belgian border. We walked a 14 km part of the trail starting in Clervaux, and though we had a good time, we believe that the Escarpardenne Lee Trail south of Kautenbach should be more beautiful as the landscape gets a bit more rugged from there.
A useful app for selecting and following a walking path is Komoot, we'll share links of our recommended hikes throughout this guide.
Clervaux is a nice little place for a quick visit because of the Family of Man exposition in the Clervaux Castle. This photo exposition is world famous and has a Unesco 'Memory of the World' status. The exposition was originally held in New York in 1955 and is the most well-visited exposition to this date.
The collection centres around humanity and shows the striking similarities between the phases of life and way of living, no matter the differences in terms of nationality and ethnicity. It was therefore very progressive at the time and is still incredibly relevant and powerful today. Once you've visited this wonderful museum, you can either go on a hike from here or take the train or car to Kautenbach.
Esch-sur-Sûre & Lac de la Haute-Sûre
Luxembourg has hardly any significant water bodies, but one of them is the Haute-Sûre lake. The lake has been created by a hydro dam and is a wonderful place for all sorts of water activities. It's also a nature park, so there are many wonderful hiking paths surrounding it.
Liefrange is known for being a good base for exploring the lake. There are hardly any amenities around the lake, so camping is kind of the way to go here. Nevertheless, there is also the tiny village of Esch-sur-Sûre which does have several small hotels and restaurants. It for sure is a beautiful picturesque place to stop by, due to it being located in a valley and having a castle ruin on the top of the town.
In terms of panoramic views of the lake, we can recommend going on a walk at Burfelt where there are several wonderful scenic viewpoints. The dense forests along the lake seemed almost North American to us, so stunning!
The ultimate castle tour
When most people think of Luxembourg, they think of castles. There are indeed many, many beautiful castles. But just like temple or church fatigue, you should also watch out for castle overkill when visiting Luxembourg. The castles we've visited and would deem especially worthwhile (next to the ones already mentioned above) are Vianden and Larochette.
The Vianden castle is huge and located high on top of the town. We haven't been inside the castle, but the views of it were very pleasing already. It's also possible to take a funicular to a viewpoint nearby. The castle in Larochette is a ruin and there is an amazing viewpoint across it called Verluerekascht. You can also go on a beautiful hike from here.
Other renowned castles and ruins are those of Bourscheid and Beaufort. We can also recommend a walk through the gardens of the Grand-Château d'Ansembourg. All these castles aren't too far apart, so it's possible to visit them all in a day or two if you like.
The Mullerthal Trail
As you know by now, Luxembourg is great for hiking. One area that is especially famous for that is the Mullerthal. What sets this nature park apart is the 'rocky' landscape. When walking along the steep rock cliffs, you'll probably come along a few rock climbers as well.
The Mullerthal Trail is also famous for its waterfalls, namely Kallektuffquell and Schiessentümpel. We do have to admit that these are a bit underwhelming compared to the waterfalls you'll find in other countries, but they are easy to visit as part of a very doable and lovely hike (we can recommend parking at the Tourist Centre Heringer Millen or halfway the route at Parking Schiessentümpel). In case you're camping, we can recommend the nearby Camping La Pinède Consdorf.
In contrast to many other nature areas, you will find a lot more visitors in the Mullerthal area. Therefore, another hike that we ended up liking much more was one near a little town called Berdorf.
This route takes you through a stunning rocky forest which requires a little bit of fun rock climbing and has a few stunning viewpoints, like the one at the Siweschlëff mountain. We did the hike before sunset and were almost completely alone, apart from a few rock climbers. It was definitely one of the best hikes of our holiday.
In case you opt for this hike, the lovely Camping Martbusch is located right next to it. There is also public parking nearby, which is very convenient in case you're visiting this area along the way.
A visit to Germany: the Roman city of Trier
You might find it a bit strange to come across a German city within a travel guide about Luxembourg but the city of Trier is only 15 km away from the border and we would almost deem it a crime to skip it when you're this close. That's because this city is arguably one of the most noteworthy ones in Germany.
It has so many significant historical sites that they had to group them as one Unesco World Heritage Site. Most notable to us were the Roman sites, these consist of an amphitheatre, a bridge, two baths, a column, an aula (now a basilica) and a city gate.
We were especially impressed by the ancient aula (Aula Palatina) and city gate (Porta Nigra). It's hard to imagine how such huge structures have survived the test of time, about 2000 years now to be exact. The Roman aula was converted to a Christian basilica (Konstantin-Basilika) in the 4th century and is like no other church you have seen before, both sober and atmospheric at the same time. Next to the aula, you find the Electoral Palace, which is of a completely different architectural style, namely a mix of Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo. Nevertheless, the palace actually has its origins in the Roman time and was used by Constantine the Great.
Other non-roman Unesco sites are the Saint Peter's Cathedral, which is the oldest one in the country, and the Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche). Although both churches are surely impressive, we were mostly amazed by the aforementioned Roman structures, as we hadn't seen anything like it before.
The city of Trier is also very beautiful and atmospheric. The central square (Hauptmarkt) is very picturesque, and funnily enough, there's a bar in the middle of the square where you can get a glass of wine to then just wander around with it on a beautiful summer night. Another lovely place for a drink (specifically local wine) and a bite is the nearby Weinstube Kesselstatt.
On the edge of the city, at the Moselle River, you can also find several restaurants with a view, as well as a little pop-up beach in the summer called Moselstrand Trier. It's also possible to do a river cruise, which should be especially nice around sunset. In short, we can highly recommend adding a one- or two-day visit to Trier to your itinerary.
The Moselle River
The stunning landscape along the Moselle River was one of the highlights of our trip. The Moselle River originates in Germany and forms the border with it in the southwest part of Luxembourg. It's a lot of fun to start the route from Trier in the North or Schengen in the South. Schengen probably sounds familiar to you, as this is also where the convention by European countries was signed to assure the free movement of goods and people between member states. Schengen is also the three-border point of Luxembourg, France and Belgium. Unfortunately, we do have to deem Schengen as the least impressive point along the river.
In our opinion, there are two must-do activities when in this region, namely visiting viewpoints and wine estates. The villages, vineyards and winding landscapes couldn't be more picturesque, and the wines here are amazing, such as the Crémant wine (sparkling wine). Along the entire river, you'll find beautiful terraced vineyards due to the slate soil and micro-climate.
Three great viewpoints are the Hollywood Swing Wellenstein (a bit cliché, we know...) near Remich, Koeppchen (chapel) near Wormeldange and the Aussichtspunkt Nittel. You can also consider a visit to Remich, which is one the most famous towns in this region and therefore very much tailored to tourists.
We can also highly recommend a visit to Weingut Carlsfelsen (on the German side of the river). The views here are amazing and the wines and homemade bread and dips taste absolutely delicious. They open at 2 in the afternoon and it's a good idea to be there right away to pick the best spot as you won't be the only one to know about this amazing place. In case you want to taste the typical Crémant wine, it's best to go to a so-called 'caves', which you'll find several of along the way.
The Ville Haute (literally the high village) is where the Palais Grand-Ducal is located, which is the palace where the royal family resides. It is bordered by beautiful lower-lying parks and has several beautiful squares and many shops and restaurants. This is the most lively part of the city.
Here, you'll find a lovely pop-up beach-like terrace behind the Gëlle Fra statue, which is where you'll experience the best views of the city, especially at sunset. Another place that we loved was the Gudde Wellen pop-up bar, which also has some stunning views. As the name kind of suggests by the sound of it, it's only open when the weather is nice. Therefore we have to conclude that Luxembourg City is probably the most fun to visit during the summertime, although it will always be pretty nevertheless.
Perhaps the most beautiful part of Luxembourg City is located on the right of the Ville Haute and the Alzette River, namely the neighbourhood called Clausen. From the street called Rue Sosthène Weis, you'll have the most stunning views over this part of town, overlooking the incredible Neumünster Abbey and the city's impressive fortifications, both Unesco sites as well.
It's also fun to walk through the Parcs de la Pétrusse and then through Rue Saint Ulric and Rue Münster which provide beautiful views of the city above and the picturesque area along the river, especially at Pont du Grund. In case you don't want to climb up and down the city, you'll be happy to find several elevators like the one at Plateau Saint Esprit Grund (which is convenient for this particular part of town) and the one at Pfaffenthal which is mostly notable for its panoramic views.
Another fun thing to do is to cross the bridge called Pont Adolphe you can either walk on top of it or within it, as they have stuck another cycling and walking path underneath it, oddly enough. You'll then find yourself in the part of town that's located near the Central Station, which is why the neighbourhood is called Gare Quartier. This area can honestly be a bit rough around the edges, with quite some homeless people (like many other train station areas in Europe...). Nevertheless, some beautiful architecture and hip bars can be found here as well. Most noteworthy are the Bourbon-Platte and the Avenue de la Liberté.
It's possible to see the entire city in one day, but we do suggest staying there for at least one night to fully make the most of it. In case you're camping, we can recommend staying at Camping Kockelscheuer which is located near a bus stop with buses going to the city centre every 15 minutes.
Luxembourg City
Luxembourg City truly surprised us by how much we ended up loving it. Not only is it a stunning city because of all the old buildings, the height differences, and the beautiful park and river separating the different parts of the city. It is also a very cosy and atmospheric place to be. There are many wonderful bars and restaurants, and especially in summertime it is a very lively city.
Esch-Beval & Minett Nature Reserve
The southwest region of Luxembourg is not part of many people's Luxembourg itinerary. Nevertheless, we would argue that it is a very cool region to visit. It's in stark contrast with the rest of Luxembourg, as this region is characterized by the remnants of the industrial past. There is no place where this can seen best than in Esch-Beval and the bordering Minett Nature Reserve.
Esch-Beval is a contrast in itself, with the old iron ovens being the literal centre stage of the otherwise very modern and new business city. You don't have to be here for long, but a quick visit to this futuristic decor is definitely fun.
The Minett Nature Reserve couldn't be more different from this nearby city. Instead of modernity and industry, only the particular landscape hints at its prior industrial function. The previous extraction of iron ore from the soils has created a diverse and layered landscape which has allowed various flora and fauna to thrive afterwards.
The dark orange cliffs throughout the nature reserve provide stunning sights and fields of beautiful flowers and butterflies can be found everywhere. This area is now an official Unesco Biosphere Reserve, meaning that it serves as an example of 'a balanced relationship between people and nature'. Funnily enough, this might be one of the very few examples in the world where industry has benefited the local environment in a way.
Because this is not a popular region in Luxembourg, you'll likely find yourselves alone (again) when walking through this amazing reserve. We did a lovely walk in the Prënzebierg-Giele Botter nature area. This route takes you along the typical landscapes the reserve is known for, and you'll even come across a mine dating back to 1965. The nature park is also accessible by public transport as there are several train stations nearby. Once you've visited this region of Luxembourg as well, we would say that you can call yourself a true Luxembourg connoisseur!
