After three days spent in beautiful Regensburg, it was time to head west. After a long overnight bus journey, I found myself in one of the smallest countries in Europe – Luxembourg. Yet again, I was greeted with rainy weather. Are we surprised? – Definitely not! Thankfully, I had three days there as well, so the weather eventually turned out to be perfect.
The very first thing on my agenda for Luxembourg was to meet up with the lovely Claudine who works for OWHC and agreed to greet me and show me Luxembourg City through the eyes of a local. We went on a tour around town and I got to see all the major attractions in one go – this is how small the capital actually is! I made a long list of all the places I wanted to go back to and explore even further, but a quick tour was exactly what I needed in the very beginning, just to get a feel of the place.
Fun fact – Luxembourg is the only Grand Duchy in the world. In the city centre you can see the Grand Ducal Palace, and only during the summer months you can visit it. Luxembourg is also where many European institutions are seated. They even have a whole area dedicated to European Union buildings.
The fortress and the old city centre of Luxembourg have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1994. Because of its strategic position, Luxembourg had one of Europe’s greatest fortifications between the 16th and 19th century. Despite its compactness, the Old Town offers plenty of sites to visit, such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, The Bock and the City casemates, the Lower part of the city (Grund) and much more.
Luxembourg’s population is just about 600 000 people. Did you know that most of the inhabitants are foreigners, mostly Portuguese? The country has an incredibly high standard of living, which makes it the perfect place to settle. On top of that, most locals speak at least 4 languages fluently – Luxembourgish, French, German and English, which makes Luxembourg one of the easiest countries to get around.
One last important thing you shouldn’t miss when visiting Luxembourg – checking out the view from the Chemin de la Corniche, also called “the most beautiful balcony of Europe”. It is definitely not surprising with a view like this.
