Traveling Notes - Europe Road Trip - Luxembourg, Day3

People like me should be born with a magic kick-in-the-butt sibling, which they would apply continuously and profusely simply to accomplish an average human being’s life agenda. You know, like meeting your significant other, building that major social institution called family, acquiring a few babies, a dog and a cat and maybe a fish tank. And then to nurture all those wonderful things somewhat successfully, by which I mean at the least keeping them fed and alive. At the age of 33 my biggest accomplishment is managing to feed myself and, presumably, my boyfriend, who nonetheless occasionally claims feeling hungry. Why am I sharing this with you? Because today I wrote a post covering the third day of our 6-week Europe road trip. Three months later. Ta-da! Stay with me and in a few years you will know all the juicy details of that thrilling 6-week adventure!

DAY 3 - JULY 27 - LUXEMBOURG

We are now in Luxembourg City. Can I just say - no amount of rain, wind, mud, fog or whatever other traveler's foe could possibly ruin this day for me. I was head over hills in love with this city!

Luxembourg is situated on majestic cliffs that drop into narrow valleys where picturesque dwellings (some of which are built directly into the rock faces) are nested, connected by endless winding stairs and bushy paths up and down the hills. Luxembourg City offers stunning, to say the least, panoramic views. Imagine a city built in a steep-sided canyon - say Grand Canyon - that's how beautiful it is!

Must visit places:

1. For the most picturesque scenery, mystical atmosphere, offbeat brasseries and homeless pigeons - visit the Grund, an impossibly alluring (if you are into stone medieval houses, seedy bridges and ancient fortifications) little neighborhood in the gorge. It's a place to explore, get lost in the labyrinth of trails, wander aimlessly, day dream and time travel.

Tip for couple travelers - play a game of searching for secluded benches and kissing on each find.
Tip for best buddies travelers - grab a flask with some local booze, search for secluded benches and cheer to the good life on each find.
Tip for startups enthusiasts - create an app quest called Secluded Benches of the Grund and capitalize on it. Send me some gratitude in case you do :-)




There are by all means numerous other tourist attractions in Luxembourg City, but the Grund and the Casemates, in my humble opinion, are the most intriguing.



Charmed by the capital, we were off to see the rest of this delightful country (remember - size does NOT matter). Three medieval castles were on the agenda:

1. ESCH-SUR-SÛRE Castle

The hamlet, the watchtower and the castle ruins, perched on a steep hill overlooking a meandering river - this entire place is picturesque to a T.

What I loved about it:

No gates, no tickets, no tours. It was free and empty. Left alone and not (yet) transformed into a tourists trap. Leave the car at the entrance to the tiny village and climb the steep staircase to the top of the cliffs. Explore, enjoy the views, have a picnic.

2. Bourscheid Castle

Beautiful castle with beautiful surroundings, however my least favorite out of three Luxembourg's castles we visited that day. Paid entrance and an extremely long audioguide with painstaking bits and bobs covering the castle's history didn't make the cut for me. Tastes differ and for someone Bourscheid might come out the dearest of them all.

3. Chateau de Vianden  

Vianden Castle is the largest, the most intact and adorned, like the rest of them, perched on a rocky promontory and thus offering breathtaking panorama of the fairytale Our Valley. 

What I loved about it:

The chairlift ride we took up the hill was just lovely! The meandering trail down was no less lovely. The castle was packed with tourists but we could not care less - it was amazing! Loaded with all kinds of ingenious entertainment Vianden was a perfect place to spend a few hours of fun: knights tournaments, medieval songs, artisan crafts, blacksmiths forging swords, birds handlers and more. 

And, of course, the view! Princess Agnes was thrilled ;-) I said it would be nice to live in a city with a castle view. Pasha said it would be nice to live in a castle with a city view. Hard to argue with that statement. 








Here's an overview of the first week of our trip and the previous post on Germany is here. As always, thanks for reading!

Week One