Luxembourg

FACTS ABOUT LUXEMBOURG AND MY EXPERIENCES

 

   


 
           
     

Skylines and views

  from Ville-Haute      

Corniche Walls, Pont Adolphe, La Passerelle, Parc de la Pétrusse, The Casemates de la Pétrusse, Blvd d'Avranches


  Casemates du Bock, Kirchberg, Plateau du Saint-Esprit    

   

 
Ville-Haute
Upper Town

  Grund District
Lower Town
  Gare
Station area
 

Nõtre-Dame, Michaelskirche, Place d’Armes, Place Guillaume II, Grand Rue, Place de la Constitution, Hôtel de Ville, Palais Grand-Ducal, Palais de Justice

 

Pfaffenthal, Nëiminster Abbey, Pont Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, Hostel, Pfaffenthal Panoramic Elevator, Pfaffenthal Station, Alzette

 

Gare de Luxembourg, Bonnevoie, Plateau Bourbon, Plate de Metz,
Avenue de la Liberté, Place de Paris, Place des Martyrs, Bourbon Plateau

 
     
Kirchberg
CBD
      Outskirts  
Philharmonie, Cour de Justice, European Court of Justice, Infinity Shopping, Avenue John F. Kennedy, Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge, skyline       Road Luxembourg-Trier, Entering the central city  

LUXEMBOURG CITY

Population: 128 000 (metro 3.6 million, metro Rhine-Ruhr 10.6 million)

Capital of Luxembourg
Other names:
Ville du Luxembourg, Lėtzebuerg, Luxemburg-Stadt
Tallest building:
Cour de Justice Tower III (118 m, built 2019)
Area: 51 km²
Founded: 1815 (country)
Year visited: 2022 (July)

Luxembourg City is the largest city and capital of the tiny country Luxembourg. the city is not very large, but very international and very stunningly beautiful.
This small country is amazing and people are really friendly. Most people live in the capital, Luxembourg City. In the country several languages are spoken, French is the most widespread followed by Luxembourgish (this is the national language but French is always first) and then German and English. Portugese is the 2nd most common nationality in Luxembourg though after Luxembourgers (50%). There are many old romantic buildings like churches and castles, and ravines lead down to parks. In 2022 Luxemborg was ranked as having the highest per capita GDP in the world, with many banks and administrative buildings.

The Old Quarter is an UNESCO site with the Upper Town (Ville-Haute), that is the city center where most sights are, is right above the Lower Town (Grund District), where I stayed at the city’s only hostel in the part called Pfaffenthal, a romantic small scale neighbourhood. High above the hostel was two bridges, one historic with arch, and one very modern - Pont Grande-Duchesse Charlotte. In Grund, the lower part is also the Neimënster Abbey and the Church of St John in Grund. The river Alzette divides the upper part from the lower part.

Gare is the station area that is more flat and reminds of Paris. This is where the free bus from Trier arrived, at the historic Central Station (Gare de Luxembourg). Avenue de la Liberté goes right through the Gare area, that borders Bonnevoie. The station area is the only dodgy area in Luxembourg, where you have to keep your eyes open. But here you find nice sights as Plateau Bourbon that leads to the city center via the high bridge Pont Adolphe, Plate de Metz with it's imposing historical twin buildings, Place de Paris with its small Eiffel Tower replica and Place des Martyrs with all it's restaurants with outdoor seatings.

Kirchberg is a modern business area with tall highrises, the tallest in Luxembourg, and other futuristic buildigns. Here you also find the Philharmonie Luxembourg (a futuristic concert hall) and the MUDAM (modern art museum). The historical Fort Thungen is also here. A funiculare leads up to it.

To reach the Upper Town (Ville Haute), you can take a glass elevator (with glass floor!) from Pfaffenthal. On top there is an observatoin deck that hang out from the rock, also with glass floor. In the Old Town is the Nôtre-Dame (Luxembourg's most grandiose church), Michaelskirche, Place d’Armes (a square with open air restaurants, markets and the Cercle Municpial bldg) and Place Guillaume II (unfortunately closed for reconstruction during my visit), the grand square where the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) is. It is very beautiful and has many nice pedestrian streets with upscale stores and restaurants, the main one is Grand-Rue. Palais Grand-Ducal (Grand Ducal Palace) is a beautiful renaissance building from 1572 that is the official residence of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Far beneath the Old Town there are stunning beautiful valleys with parks, like Parcs de la Pétrusse! High above the parks there are beautiful bridges, like La Passerelle and Pont Adolphe, that feature scenery with views over the city. In Luxembourg there are so many viewing points with breathtaking views of large parts of the city, from different angles. There are also many museums, for example the castle like National Museum of History and Art and Luxembourg City Museum.

Casemates (Casements du Bock), is a 21-kilometer network of underground passages hewn from solid rock. They were unfortunately closed for the day when I reached them. The spectacular Walls of the Corniche (le Chemin de la Corniche) in Luxembourg City have been called "the most beautiful balcony in Europe." Towering over the old town in the river valley below, this is where you find the big Gate of the Grund dating from 1632. In Grund in the lower valley is the aancient convent of the Dominicans and St. Michael's church (987 CE) and the historical Abbey of Neumünster.

MY EXPERIENCE:

In the 1980s I went to Germany with my parents. When we were in Wiesbaden, a Mercedes crashed into our Volvo, causing minor damage on the car. That made my parents cancel the daytrip to Luxembourg. And I never had the opportunity to visit Luxembourg, until in July 2022. The reason was the 9 euro ticket, with which I was able to travel for free by train from Rostock, to Hannover, Luxembourg and further to Trier, were I found out that it is just on the border to Luxembourg. And the bus to Luxembourg was free too, so was all public transport within the country!

During my one and a half day long trip to Luxembourg, that was between my visit to Bonn/Trier and Koblenz, it was extremely hot, 37 degrees, and all the hills in the city made it somewhat a challenge to visit! The country of Luxembourg borders both Germany, France and Belgium, all less then an hour away from the capital, but it feels very different from Germany that I recently visited, and feels closer to France, both in culture and architecture.

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