Small in size—large in beauty is the best way I can describe Luxembourg. The country is only 85km from top to bottom and is even a shorter distance across. It is bordered by Belgium on the northwest, Germany on the east, and France on the south and has two official languages, French and German. Another language called Luxembourgish, a dialect of German, is also spoken regularly.
Luxembourg does not get the droves of tourists that other European cities do and I would bet that many people, especially Americans, could not locate it on a map. The only explanation for its anonymity that I can think of is its size. I have to admit that Luxembourg was not on the top of my travel list originally, but I heard good things about it and because it ‘s right next door to Belgium, it makes a nice weekend trip. Now that I have been there, I think it is probably a good thing that the country does not get a massive amount of tourists. It is very clean and full of natural beauty and it would be nice if it could stay that way.
We drove up on a Friday night after Rick got off work and stayed through Sunday. We tried to get accommodations at the last minute on a warm, sunny, spring weekend, so affordable places were scarce. We had been waiting for the weather to get warm enough to camp so we decided to go that route. We stayed at a campground in, Echternach, which is only 35km from Luxembourg City and a place well worth visiting itself. We opted for the partial camping experience. Rather than hanging out at the campsite, we used the campground exclusively for sleeping and showering. We ate all of our meals out and spent our days touring around. It was nice because we had the tent camping site all to ourselves. Most people were in campers, which were in a different section. What a great deal—privacy, clean showers, and waking up to a chorus of birds in the morning. All for only 15 EURO a night! The only bad part was putting up the tent in the dark on Friday night.
We went to Luxembourg City on Saturday. Much of the city is modern, except for the part known as the "Old Town". That is where we spent most of our time. The setting was magical. Built within a river valley and surrounded by steep canyons and gorges on all sides. Luxembourg was once one of the most heavily fortified cities in Europe and the Old Town still contains parts of the original bastions and ramparts. Walking along the ramparts gives one a spectacular view of the valley. Views from within the valley are equally good. There are several places to eat and drink within the valley. There is also a huge park. There is some sort of cable car that takes people up and down, but we walked. It was a pretty steep climb on the way out. We read that Luxembourg City has a great nightlife, but we opted for the solitude of our campsite.
It was difficult to choose an activity for day two because there were so many options: hiking, biking, kayaking, or visiting Vianden (a small town with an amazing castle). There was a huge network of well-marked bike trails, so we opted for biking through the countryside. We rented bikes in Luxembourg City and off we went. All bike trails offered easy access to train stations, so you could bike as far as you wanted and then take a train back to the starting point. There seemed to be a lot of serious bikers on the trail, but we just took it easy. It was hot and I didn’t have proper bike gear. I had to bike in jeans. I enjoyed the ride and the scenery, but I was a little uncomfortable. It was also very difficult for a gear-nerd like me to be dressed inappropriately for an outdoor activity. I truly envied all of the bikers that were decked out in their fancy outfits. Next time, I’ll be more prepared.
Luxembourg does not get the droves of tourists that other European cities do and I would bet that many people, especially Americans, could not locate it on a map. The only explanation for its anonymity that I can think of is its size. I have to admit that Luxembourg was not on the top of my travel list originally, but I heard good things about it and because it ‘s right next door to Belgium, it makes a nice weekend trip. Now that I have been there, I think it is probably a good thing that the country does not get a massive amount of tourists. It is very clean and full of natural beauty and it would be nice if it could stay that way.
We drove up on a Friday night after Rick got off work and stayed through Sunday. We tried to get accommodations at the last minute on a warm, sunny, spring weekend, so affordable places were scarce. We had been waiting for the weather to get warm enough to camp so we decided to go that route. We stayed at a campground in, Echternach, which is only 35km from Luxembourg City and a place well worth visiting itself. We opted for the partial camping experience. Rather than hanging out at the campsite, we used the campground exclusively for sleeping and showering. We ate all of our meals out and spent our days touring around. It was nice because we had the tent camping site all to ourselves. Most people were in campers, which were in a different section. What a great deal—privacy, clean showers, and waking up to a chorus of birds in the morning. All for only 15 EURO a night! The only bad part was putting up the tent in the dark on Friday night.
We went to Luxembourg City on Saturday. Much of the city is modern, except for the part known as the "Old Town". That is where we spent most of our time. The setting was magical. Built within a river valley and surrounded by steep canyons and gorges on all sides. Luxembourg was once one of the most heavily fortified cities in Europe and the Old Town still contains parts of the original bastions and ramparts. Walking along the ramparts gives one a spectacular view of the valley. Views from within the valley are equally good. There are several places to eat and drink within the valley. There is also a huge park. There is some sort of cable car that takes people up and down, but we walked. It was a pretty steep climb on the way out. We read that Luxembourg City has a great nightlife, but we opted for the solitude of our campsite.
It was difficult to choose an activity for day two because there were so many options: hiking, biking, kayaking, or visiting Vianden (a small town with an amazing castle). There was a huge network of well-marked bike trails, so we opted for biking through the countryside. We rented bikes in Luxembourg City and off we went. All bike trails offered easy access to train stations, so you could bike as far as you wanted and then take a train back to the starting point. There seemed to be a lot of serious bikers on the trail, but we just took it easy. It was hot and I didn’t have proper bike gear. I had to bike in jeans. I enjoyed the ride and the scenery, but I was a little uncomfortable. It was also very difficult for a gear-nerd like me to be dressed inappropriately for an outdoor activity. I truly envied all of the bikers that were decked out in their fancy outfits. Next time, I’ll be more prepared.
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