Travel stories from the World: Weekend in Luxembourg

Luxembourg town

Luxembourg is a tiny landlocked country squeezed between Belgium, Germany and France. Its name lends to the Lux part of the term Benelux (the other 2 being Belgium, Netherlands). It has a population of something more than 500.000 and measures 80km north to south.

Having been to the capital (its also called Luxembourg) 2 times in the past I simply adore the Grand Duchy so decided to visit for a weekend to explore it a bit further. It's an easy 4hr drive from Amsterdam.

Streets of Diekirch

This time our visit started from the town of Diekirch where our hotel was located. Luxembourg has the lowest fuel prices in the EU and clever as they are, the first thing that the visitor notices (if entering the country driving) is the plethora of gas stations immediately when entering the country! In the fall of 2014, euro 95 gas costs 1.8 in the Netherlands, 1.5 in Belgium and 1.3 in Luxembourg. I guess everyone living right next to the borders fill in their cars only in Luxembourg.

Diekirch is famous for its local brewery which produces a beer with the same name and a war museum. The city itself is very beautiful and what makes a big impression is that on the streets we heard almost exclusively ...Portuguese! Apparently Luxembourg's population is almost 16% Portuguese who arrived long time ago to work on the mines, at the south of the country.

Alzette river, Luxembourg

Our plan was to spend one day in the city of Luxembourg which we did on Saturday. We left the car on a P+R and we took the bus for a 10min ride. The city of Luxembourg is small but impressive. The old part of it is built in a canyon but since then has expanded and the nearby hills are also built. One can still visit the impressive fortifications. To the east of the city the skyscrapers of what is mostly EU institutions stand out. The wealth of this tiny nation is visible everywhere from the impressive and clean streets to the constructions and buildings. There is even an elevator to get to the old town level (called the Grund). The city is vibrant and beautiful and its worth spending time exploring it. I feel the pictures say more than my words will ever will :-)

Esch sur Sure castle

Esche sur Sure

The following day we visited the more quiet village of Esch-sur-Sure (population 314!). It stand amid forests and rivers and it is almost completely encircled by the river Sauer. It makes an excellent base for a number of hikes in the area and this is what we did. The paths are clean and very clearly marked, making it extremely difficult to get lost. The one we followed took us next to the lake Lac de la Haute-Sure. The view was simply spectacular! After a few hours of walk, full of beautiful images of forests, lakes and corn fields, we returned to the village for a nice meal into one of the many restaurants. We decided to go for local specialties, like Judd mat Gaardebounen (easier eaten than pronounced!) and Gromperekichelcher which we washed down with some nice Grand Cru beer. Well fed and rested, the hidden treasures of Esch-sur-Sure awaited us! A must visit are the castle ruins that dominate the hill top. With little effort we climbed to the ruins and enjoyed the majestic view.

The weekend was soon over and we started to drive to the Dutch capital. With a little help from the sunny and warm weather, this was an amazing weekend and Luxembourg certainly will stay in our hearts till the next time...

Thank you for reading this one too..