Luxembourg

 
 18 February 2017, Luxembourg City

We took train from Den Haag Centraal to Luxembourg. It took 5 hours 30 minutes with an exchange at Brussel Nord. We departed at around 7.30 am from Den Haag Centraal.

We arrived at Luxembourg train station and put our luggage in the hotel, Ibis Hotel, which was not far from the train station. Then we walked to the old town. It only takes about 10 minutes walk then we arrived at Plateau du Esprit, where we can get a nice view of the Viaduct from here. Not far from here, there is the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin.

Then we crossed the road to get to The Constitution Square, where we can see the great view of Petrusse Valley and Adolphe Bridge. In this square, there is Gelle Fra Memorial, as a symbol of freedom and resistance for the Luxembourg people.

After that, we crossed back and follow the small street to Place d’Armes, surrounded with many shops, cafes and restaurants. We had a quick break at Mc Donalds before continue to William Square. In this square, we visited the City Tourist Office, which was very helpful. They can give us some ideas to spend time in Luxembourg, also easy day trips from Luxembourg. We also got maps (Wenzel Circular Walk map and City Promenade Tour map) which was very useful. Like others tourist office, we can find some souvenirs there. In this square, we can see the Equestrian Statue of William II, King of Netherlands and Duke of Luxembourg. Next to William Square is the Town Hall.

From Town Hall, we continued to The Palace of the Grand Dukes, a beautiful renaissance building. Just in front of it, there is the most famous café in Luxembourg, the Chocolate House Bonn.

After that, we went to the Corniche area, and since Corniche also in the Wenzel Circular Walk, and we almost cover all the places in the City Promenade map, we decided to follow the Wenzel Circular Walk, starting at this point.

The Wenzel Circular walk was very easy to follow. Besides the map, we can also see the clear sign of Wenzel walk on the ground or on the wall, so we know we are in the right track. From the Corniche, we decided to go the the starting point of Wenzel walk. The walk started at Bock Promontory with its rocky tower. Because of its locatioan, it made a great natural fortification. Close to the Bock Promontory is the Bock Casemates, the longest casemate in the world. Then we will pass The Castle Bridge and arrive at the Corniche area, which offer a great view of Alzette valley with the suburb of Grund. Next we passed the Grund Gate and arrived at Wenzel Wall. It was used as defence wall. Originally 875 meters long with 37 towers and 15 gates. The Moat in front of the Wenzel wall was just uncovered recently in 1992.

Then we passed Jacob Tower. We crossed the road and arrived at Plateau du Rham. From Plateau du Rham, we followed the map, descended to the Alzette and crossed the Maierchen Bridge, which was an old bridge that used as defensive bridge until we arrived at the Grund District. It was a nice and lively area. From the Grund, we walked back to the hotel and had a dinner at Japanese restaurant near the hotel.

19 February 2017, Echternach

Since we covered all the main attraction in Luxembourg city, we decided to go to the other near town. We chose Ecternach, since it is only 1 hour ride. Echternach is the oldest city in Luxembourg. It is famous for the dancing procession that is held every Whit Thursday.

We took bus from the bus stop in front of the train station. Since it was Sunday, there was only one bus (no 111) that go to Echternach and the timetable was also less frequent than the other days. The bus no 111 stopped at Luxembourg train station at 10.23. It took around 1 hour to arrive at Echternach bus terminal. From bus terminal we walked to the tourist information center, but because it was Sunday, it was closed. So, we just downloaded the walking tour map from http://www.echternach-tourist.lu/en/sightseeing and follow the route.

The walking tour started at The Basilica of Saint Willibrord, next to the tourist information center. The Basilica was built in the year 698. It had been destroyed and built again many times, so surely it has a quite long story. The building is beautiful with neo classic style, and inside we can also see the beautiful frescos

Still in the church complex, there is The Benedictine Abbey that was founded by St Willibrord, the patron saint of Luxembourg, in the seventh century. Not far from the Abbey, there is The Orangerie, but we can not go inside, only can see from outside the garden gate. The garden is very neat and has a nice pattern.

Next is the Rococopavillon which was built in 1761. In front of the pavilion, there is a nice garden with some benches so we can take a rest a bit. The location of the pavilion is perfect. It is near the river and the big park. We can see the Sure Bridge over the river. We took the path along the river to go to the next destination, The Fortified Town Wall.

The first thing we saw was the tower. From there, we walked along the canal and passed another towers. At the end of the wall, we crossed the road and passed the historical hospital. We continued following the path until we arrived at Gothic House.

Near the Gothic House, we can see the Column of Justice, which was supposed to demonstrate the abbot’s supremacy. Next to it, there is the Denzelt, the building of the former palace of justice. It originates from 1236.

Actually there are still some places to visit, according to the walking tour map. But since, we must catch up with our bus schedule, we finished our walking tour there and went back to the bus terminal. We took the 1.45 pm bus. The bus stopped across the train station. We had our late lunch at Vapiano, an Italian restaurant just next to the bus stop. It had a very good food and good price.

After that, we got our luggage at the hotel then went straight to the train station and started our long train journey back to Den Haag.