Luxembourg City, Luxembourg & Trier, Germany
Luxembourg, one of Europe’s smallest and richest countries, does not typically top the list of travelers’ wish lists. But with a three-day bank holiday weekend to spare and impossibly cheap fares for direct flights from London’s City Airport (which is, for us, London’s most conveniently located airport), we set our sights on the grand duchy’s eponymous capital city. We stayed at the Hotel Parc Beaux Arts in Luxembourg City’s Ville Haute, the fortified town core that offers grand views of the lower-lying areas of the city and the surrounding forests.
After a quick lunch to recharge we oriented ourselves with a visit to the Bock, the rocky formation upon which the city’s fortification were built. The views from here are fantastic, with the stately buildings of the Old City behind, the diminutive River Alzette sparkling below, and, fortunately in our case, wide, blue, sunny skies above! We took a route down toward the Grund—the low-lying area to the southeast of the old city surrounded on most sides by the weaving river. From here the view up back toward Ville Haute is picturesque, especially with the river to reflect it. We took a seat for a moment in the large square on the north side to appreciate the architecture and enjoy the nice weather. After strolling through the area some more we grabbed the convenient elevator by the Rue Münster bridge (make sure to take in the view as you cross!) back up to the old city.
We emerged from the elevator in Saint-Esprit square at the south of the old city and slowly made our way back toward the hotel, wandering the small streets at will. Notre-Dame Cathedral is one of the city’s top sights and well worth a visit with its beautiful stained glass and mix of architectural styles from the 17th through the 20th centuries. We also stumbled on a smaller and more humble church—Paroisse Protestante Francophone—where we took a seat with no one else in our company. We continued on to Place Guillaume II and Place d'Armes, the two big squares in the center of the Ville Haute, in the latter of which we grabbed orange and vanilla and coffee gelato from Eiscafe Veneziano. The sky quickly darkened at this point and we got back to our hotel just in time to watch from a giant thunderstorm envelop the city from the safety of our room. The storm did not deter the hundreds of runners that participated in that evening's “night marathon.” We fought through the crowds for dinner at Onesto (gnocchi for Rico and spaghetti carbonara for Britt) and then hung out by the Bock for the rest of the night.
Our second day started with a day trip to Trier, Germany which we’ll showcase in an upcoming blog post! We got back to Luxembourg in the evening when we made the hindsight-is-20-20 decision to have cake for dinner at the famous Chocolate House. Rico had the carrot cake with hazelnut caramel hot chocolate and Britt had a brownie with 60% cocoa hot chocolate. With heavy stomachs we slogged over to Place d'Armes where we were surprised with a live concert in the square! We ended the night yet again by the Bock, talking about life while overlooking the Grund.
Our last day brought consistent heavy rainfall but we brightened it up with some pastries from Kaempff-Kohler for breakfast. We took our time in the morning, enjoying some lazy time around the hotel before making our way outside where we wandered around the Grund again. We searched high and low (quite literally, both in the Grund and Ville Haute) for a souvenir, but to no avail as most shops were closed Mondays. We split bruschetta and a salami pizza at Delirio Culinario for lunch and then, just as the rain really started picking up, walked around trying to find the bus back to the airport. With soaked clothes and backpacks we finally found the bus and soon thereafter hopped on our flight back to London. While Luxembourg City isn’t a typical tourist spot, we really enjoyed our time there and would recommend it to anyone that has a few days to spare in the area.
Trier, Germany
While we were visiting Luxembourg City for a long weekend, we figured we’d take advantage of its central location and take a day trip somewhere. We decided on Trier, Germany for its history (one of, if not the, oldest cities in Germany with some amazingly intact artifacts from Roman times) and convenience (only an hour train ride from Luxembourg City).
Upon arrival, we walked an almost perfectly straight line 20 minutes from the train station to the Porta Nigra (latin for black gate) which dates to the 2nd century and is a UNESCO World Heritage site, at least in part because it’s the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps. Naturally darkened to its current color over time, the gate offers great views of the city, including a straight view to the main square. The Haupmarkt beckoned, so we made our way in that direction. The square is large and charming, with pretty architectural details and a humble fountain. We were more enamored with nearby Domfreihof, which had fewer crowds and is crowned by the attractive exterior of St. Peter’s Cathedral. The inside of the church is equally as pretty and we were surprised by the small courtyard in the back of the church. We walked back around to Domfreihof and took a seat at Walderdorffs for lunch (we shared potatoes with an herb blend, chorizo and goat cheese wrapped in bacon).
After lunch we walked south toward the Kurfürstliches Palais, which is only accessible to visitors at certain times during the year, May not being one of them, so we sat in the surrounding park to appreciate it from afar instead. This bit of rest would prove valuable as we took the long (and uphill) route to our next stop. Trier’s Roman Amphitheater, also UNESCO-listed, is located southeast of the city center on the top of a hill. Once we finally made it, we walked around the top rim, then down to ground level and finally down below where you can see the engineering effort that went into building and maintaining these kinds of arenas. There is not much original stone left, so don’t expect an intact structure like the Colosseum! And, if you’re taking our advice, follow the pedestrian signs to the site as opposed to using Google Maps so you can spare yourself the long walk.
We finished off the day trip with gelato from Christis Eis & Kaffee (salty peanut for Rico—the best gelato he’s ever had—and mocha for Britt) and a stroll down by the Moselle River. Trier served as an excellent add-on to Luxembourg City and we’d recommend it to anyone looking for a Roman-flavored visit while in the area.
