Luxembourg

The centre of the Good Land is Luxembourg City. The capital of the country as well as of the European Community, banking centre and cosmopolitan town surrounded by magnificent historical fortifications, classified as world heritage by the UNESCO. The surrounding countryside of the city is an unending feast of greenery with many orchards, small villages which kept their own character until today. The brilliant restoration of the village Useldange was even honored by the Europa-Nostra Price. On quiet roads through the Valley of the Seven Castles, let the nature guide you from Koerich with its baroque church to Mersch on its traces of the past.

Peaks and Panoramas

High, forested plateaux, schistose rocks, wooded hills fringing hidden valleys, dressed in all colours in autumn and covered with broom in spring: an impressing view for everybody who visits the Luxembourg Ardennes. Once passed the gateway of the Ardennes beyond Ettelbruck or Diekirch, numerous castles and fortifications testimony the rich past of this region. In Vianden you can visit the most beautiful medieval castle west of the Rhine. Troisvierges and Hachiville possess remarkable high altars, built by the greatest Flemish masters. The castle of Clervaux has been chosen by the famous american photographer Edward Steichen for his marvellous exhibition The Family of Man. The Luxembourg Ardennes are also the region of Natural Parks, the Upper-Sûre lake and the Our valley. The local products are excellent, Wiltz and Diekirch are charming brewery cities. The extremely diverse landscape of the Luxembourg Ardennes, also called the “Ösling”, is a challenge to mountain bike enthusiasts like none other. There are 15 well-signposted routes with a total length of 300 kilometres, crossing dense forests, traversing deep valleys and on occasions passing imposing castles.

Benedictine monks and feudal knights

Seated on the banks of the Sure, next to the famous abbey founded in the 7th century by St. Willibrord, Echternach is the ideal place to explore the Mullerthal, a fascinating landscape of curious sandstone rock formations, creeks of unknown springs and magnificent forests. The culture of the Echternach monks and the knights of the region, in combination with an intact nature, invite the hiker to discover the charms of Luxembourg's Little Switzerland (passing Beaufort, Berdorf, Consdorf, Larochette, Haller, Christnach and Waldbillig) and the Lower Sure Valley (passing Rosport, Born and Moersdorf).

Where the wine is King

In the vineyards along the Moselle between Schengen and Wasserbillig, an excellent wine matures, a wine that many connaisseurs rate as among the best vintages produced along this tributary of the Rhine. The famous Agreement of Schengen has given this small and quiet village a well-known name. Besides the season of vintage in autumn, Grevenmacher, Wormeldange, Remich and Remerschen are the ideal places to discover the numerous wine cellars, the small wine museums or to start to a boat-trip on the Moselle. Mondorf-les-Bains offers a beautiful park, a modern thermal health establishment, a fitness section and saunas. The Thermarium contains Roman and Turkish Ottoman baths. Even a casino is at Mondorf-les-Bains. Throughout the year this town offers a large choice of attractions and spectacles.

Architecture and Industry

The prosperity of the Grand-Duchy came from the Red Earth in which a mineral rich in iron was mined. The industrial patrimony testifys men’s activities of former times. In the abandoned quarries caused by men, nature took back what belonged to it. Esch-sur-Alzette, the second largest town in the country, has an established reputation as business centre and, thanks to its many art-deco houses, as an architectural gem. Well-known for the local theatre and its numerous expositions.