Luxembourg

[Gatehouse77]

We've just booked a last minute break to Luxembourg.
5 nights, although we arrive late the first night.
I've done some research and picked out a few places and cafes/restaurants.

Any personal recommendations gratefully received!

Walking round the city centre is nice and there are some great ordinary shops and lots of luxury shops. It is small so I'd plan for some excursions in car/train as 5 days is a long time.

Eating out is comically expensive for very average food so maybe plan for cheap lunches/sandwiches if you can.

Years ago there was a fabulous Irish bar in Luxembourg City - if you feel the need for a lively night out. It was the only Irish bar available - can't remember name or location.

I’ve been watching Capitani (Netflix) which has pricked my interest in Luxembourg. The first series is set in the north, it’s pretty, and interesting to hear the language. The second series is set in seedy parts of the city. But from what`I’ve seen elsewhere, other parts of it are very swish. Would you report back on how you found it?

With kids? Without kids? Where are you staying? Do you like museums? Outdoor stuff?

www.visitluxembourg.com/

You can easily catch a train to Clervaux, a small town in the North, there's a small castle which has a photography exhibit called 'The Family of Man' it was first exhibited in 1955 in New York, the curator was from Luxembourg and it now has a permanent home there. I loved it and the town is rather pretty.

The Mousel Cantine if its still open was lovely for local food. Chez Bacano also good if you like sea food.

Vianden is also lovely, there's a cable car and castle.

It's quite a few years since I've been but I'd love to go back, have a great time.

DH, DS23, DD21 and myself.
Main attraction is the castles and we’ve picked a few to choose from.
We’re staying in the city centre and are hiring a car.
We’ll eat any nationality but would like to try some local food or somewhere with a good reputation. Not really fans of fine dining.

Thank you to the other posters for your contribution.

@midsomermurderess I’ll be sure to report back 😇

This has nice local food www.siegfried.lu/ kniddelen is yum. Its a wine country so try some local wine & crémant. The vineyards are along the mosel River which is v picturesque

www.vdl.lu/en/news/2022-schueberfouer this is a huge funfair. I normally hate funfairs because rides are shite but this has TONS of food stands you can try gromperekichelcher which are like rosti and different daudages and most delicious a whole deep fried fish. Fouerfësch its seriously delish. Its a big deal though to sit down in a tent you'll need to book. And you can try the special crémant that one of the big wineries make for the fair each year and lots of wine.

The city is teeny and walkable and quite picturesque. These are supposed to be good www.luxembourg-city.com/en/place/tour/city-promenade public transport in the whole country is free but its patchy outside the city. Having sair that the train going north goes through vv picturesque country. Also the second city Esch is cultural capital so lots going on there.

70% of the city population is foreign so you'll hear mostly French and increasingly English. Unfortunately service in restaurants and shops is quite rude. Its cheap labour from France and they are very grumpy. Parisian service seem positively american in comparison. The villages are more authentic and you'll hear the language. Food is expensive in restaurants and supermarkets but booze is vv cheap

@Luxembourgmama

Thank you so much for the information!
We'll be having a chat to plan our days so will add these into the mix.
I'm very grateful 🙇

@midsomermurderess

We’re back!

We found Luxembourg to be a great place to visit. It was noticeably clean, surprisingly quiet during the day (on our first day we wondered where everyone was as we explored the old city and barely saw anyone…not complaining though!) and easy to navigate.

Overall, we didn’t find it particularly expensive compared to where we are (West Berkshire) but were surprised to find many restaurants closed 2-6pm and some only opened for either lunchtime or evening.

We hired a car as we wanted the freedom of travelling under our own steam. The hotel didn’t charge us for parking, which saved €85, but was a hybrid so only used half a tank of petrol.

Our hotel was on the tram route (which is free, frequent and clean) so going in and out was easy and safe. Even when walking round Parc Kinnekswiss at night we felt completely safe. N.B. an amazing playground there and skate park in Péitruss.

The weather was glorious so we took our time wandering around the various castles. Vianden was our favourite and it was worth getting the audio guides (€2). We also went to the Hohllay caves and really enjoyed being in the forest.

3 of us went to Schueberfouer (annual fun fair) which was like a summer Winter Wonderland - fun fair rides for all ages/thrills, food and drink stalls, shopping stalls and covered restaurants. Large police presence but very calm atmosphere. In fact, we rarely heard sirens.

@Luxy We did go to Clervaux and enjoyed the photography exhibition very much.

I’d recommend it to anyone interested in castles, wanting to explore the forests (we’d have done more if we could have/planned differently) and looking for a safe city break.

@Luxembourgmama

Thank you for all your helpful hints. One evening we ate at Brasserie de Cercle in the square on Rue Genistre which had a section of local foods. We all chose something different and enjoyed them. I went with your suggestion for gromperekichelcher with cheese, bacon and a fried egg 😋

Oh, lovely! Sounds like you had a wonderful time and it’s interesting to hear that it wasn’t terribly expensive. I’ll put in on my next trip list.