Luxembourg's Old City is delightful.
Written: Aug 06 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: This is how I imagined Europe would be like.
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: Feel you are part of a picture postcard and take the Wenzel trail through the old city of Luxembourg.
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| mayhewga's Full Review: Luxembourg |
As part of our 4 week holiday in France this year, we made a last minute decision to jump on a train from Metz in Northern France for the 20-minute journey to Luxembourg. We are very glad we did!
As we hadn't planned this excursion, we knew nothing about Luxembourg, so we arrived at their railway station and were very pleased to find most helpful staff in the tourist office right on the station concourse who gave us a map showing a couple of walks we could do around the city.
Our first stop was a cafe just up from the station serving yummy cakes and coffee, then we headed over the river following our map. The walk took us to a spot where a sign suggested we take a photo of what has to be the most picturesque scene imaginable.
There laid out below us was the old capital, a compact walled city with a lovely little river flowing through it, houses and winding laneways, a little arched stone bridge next to a church, and terraces of vegetable and flower gardens leading up from the river.
The map we were given didn't show this area in much detail, but we were so entranced by what we saw that we abandoned our intended walk and took a steep road down to explore it more closely. And explore we did.
It turned out that this was another very well sign posted walk which explained the history of the old capital, and led the visitor over and under and around and through what is basically a complete village including a little school, completely enclosed in a valley directly below the new city.
The walk also took us along the top of the walls and though some excavations of ancient times and through narrow cobblestone laneways which provided many Kodak moments.
Half way through the walk we came into a little theatrette, where a movie gives the visitor even more glimpses into the past. A building next to the bridge is being converted into a museum, and a nice touch is that as you go down the winding stairs inside the turrets of the walls you set off sensors which play music of the time which gives you a further feeling being transported back a thousand years.
We were almost the only people, apart from locals, exploring the village which we thought was very strange because it was so beautiful, and there were dozens of coaches up in the main city full of tourists for whom Luxembourg city was obviously just a whistle stop. However we saw that there was a "petit train" running a service down the hill and past the walls and back up again for those who wanted a quick experience.
At the end of the walk we found a lift that took us back up to the main street, which saved the trudge back up the hill.
At a coffee shop back in the new city the waitress was amazed that we had taken the time to explore and enjoy "zee valee" as she called it, because, almost all tourists just stay long enough to take one picture of the old city, take a quick stroll along the tourist strip of postcard shops before hopping back onto their coaches.
We found the main tourist office, where we picked up a map of the old city walk...it had even more info on what we had just done .... better late than never, so if you go there make sure you get hold of the Wenzel trail map and do yourself a favour and do the walk which takes around 3 hours.
The new city itself is spotless and pedestrian friendly, with grand buildings and squares and has very fashionable boutiques, the locals are very well dressed, and all languages are spoken which is no wonder as the city is the seat of power for the EU.
We headed back to the station, stopping again at our first cafe for a wine and to pick up some hand made biscuits and chocolates, before catching our train back to Metz.
All in all we had a lovely day, and we both remarked that those hundreds of coach tourists had really missed out on a unique insight into what we called our "Europe in a day" excursion.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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Epinions.com ID:
mayhewga
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Location: Caloundra, Queensland, Australia
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
An Aussie who loves to travel, drink wine, and go to the beach.
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