Luxembourg

In all honesty, we didn’t actually want to visit Luxembourg. More precise, Sebastiaan didn’t want to visit Luxembourg. He had been as a child and marked it as boring and not worth it. People around us pretty much said the same, compared to all the other countries surrounding our little base in The Netherlands, Luxembourg was supposed to be a country one drives through, not visits. They all could not have been more wrong. Luckily enough, I had never been to Luxembourg and when I want to go somewhere, I tend to get a little stubborn about it. So as the last part of the BeNeLux that I had not yet seen, I suggested to spend a hiking holiday there in October. Sebastiaan agreed, and packing our new fancy camping gear into our small cutie-pie of a car, off we went on a new adventure to Luxembourg.

We were surprised by how beautiful the landscape of Luxembourg is. From the rolling hills and forests of the Mullerthal region to the charming villages and towns scattered throughout the country, there are no shortage of breath-taking views. Traveling there in October made the views ever more beautiful.

In addition to the natural beauty of Luxembourg, we were also struck by the friendliness of the people we met. Whether we were staying at the Camping Officiel La Pinède Asbl in Consdorf or exploring the little towns surrounding the Mullerthal trail, we found that locals were always willing to help and switched languages for us in a heartbeat. They went from German to English when hearing that we conversed in English and even tried some Dutch on Sebastiaan once they realised he was Dutch. It really was a grand mix of cultures and languages and we were welcomed to join.

Now, even though we decided to bring all our camping gear, we opted for a glamping feel. For we feared the weather and so decided to book a cute little barrel type hut at the Camping Officiel La Pinède Asbl . The hut was adorable, the sanitary facilities were cleaned every day, and the surroundings stunning. Cooking breakfast on our little camping stove and having Abendbrot (the German concept of having bread for dinner) with the amazing buns from a bakery in a neighbouring German town, we could not have been happier with our choice.

Our little home for 5 days

In addition, the camping grounds were a starting point to one of the highlights of our trip: the Mullerthal trail. The trail is a 112 km network of hiking paths¹ that winds through the heart of the Mullerthal region. We were blown away by the stunning scenery, which included waterfalls, rocky cliffs, and dense forests. The trail was well-marked and easy to follow, making it a wonderful option for hikers of all skill levels.

We started off with our first hike on route 2, trail E1, in Berdorf (the information centres have brochures explaining the exact trails, difficult levels, hiking time expected, etc. I advise to get one of those as a map before the hike). Our hike started at the incredible amphitheatre, which is still used for theatre or music performances. It then lead us past the Wollefsschlucht (the wolves’ canyon), where we had our lunch with a stunning view over the canyon. We reached Echternach around 3, so the perfect time for a coffee and pastry out in the sun. After that recreational break, we decided to head back and after a further 2 hours or so arrived back at our little car. Happy and a little tired, we passed by the German bakery to pick up more buns, spreads (Rossmann for the win), and smoked string cheese.

Beautiful nature on the Mullerthal trail

Sebo making certain the bridge above the 50 meter deep wolves’ canyon will hold

Ready to conquer any hike – I wanted to train for our big trip, so I took more than needed for a one day hike

I have to be honest, though this was a hike marked “hard” it is definitely doable without much training. However, I was more exhausted afterwards than expected. So we decided to spend a day in Luxembourg city before conquering a second part of the Mullerthal trail. Luxembourg city is a typical European city. While it is quite beautiful, and the free (!!) public transport makes it easy to get around, we were a little more excited about the natural wonders of the country. So after a few hours in the city and some all you can eat Sushi, we decided to head back to our beautiful little house to plan the next hike.

Full of anticipation for another exciting day, we got up earlier the next morning. We were told that the trail part that we wanted to do should only take about 4 hours so plenty of time to also plan activities for the afternoon. Little did we know that we would be hiking for the next 7 hours or so…

This part of the trail is also marked as ‘difficult’, mostly due to the amount of stairs that have to be taken. This is a mountainous area and to make it easier for the hikers, stairs are added to large parts of the trail. While those make it a lot easier to conquer all the ups and downs of the trail, it can be hard on the knees of some people. Believing in the strength of our knees we set off following the blue arrow marked with “1”. After all, it was not the stairs that pulled us towards this part of the trail, it was the promise of adventure. After about an hour of hiking, one comes to a crossroad at a parking lot where you can turn either right, to follow the normal path, or left, towards the unexpected. Needless to say, we chose the unknown. Before the hike started, we were told to take our head-torches as we would come across crevices that are pitch dark. It did not take long till we found the first crevices and Sebo almost got stuck.

However, these parts still had a lot of natural light and we were wondering if a flashlight was really necessary. We would soon find out how necessary they were.

After another half an hour or so of following a trail that might or might not have be the wrong way, we came across a rock formation that looked more like a cave than a crevice. Just before we entered, I saw a big round red sign with a white stripe on it. Apparently we found the exit of the path, not the beginning. so the rather adventurous search for the entrance began. The area gives you plenty of exciting paths to take so we really did not mind. And when we found the entrance to another dark looking part, we did not hesitate and went into it. After a few steps, it becomes obvious why they are one way routes and why a head light is needed. It was dark. Really dark. Without the headlights, there was nothing, but darkness around us. We could neither see the entrance, nor the exit. There was no light from above, it was wonderfully exciting. I quickly realised the dark was great for me, because when we did turn on the headlights (walking without is too dangerous as the ground is not even) I realised that these cave crevices are of course inhabited by animals. Well, mainly by spiders and moths. While I quite like moths, I am low key arachnophobic. The next couple of seconds felt like minutes when I looked around and saw I was surrounded by spiders, and their deceased pray. Deep breaths in and out calmed me enough to continue. Though, when reaching the next caves, I made certain to cover my hair with my bandana (long flowy hair seems too dangerous when surrounded by spiders).

Making our way through the maze that this part of the trail provided, we excitedly found the entrance to our first caves and made our way back to the actual trail. While we left the little adventure maze behind us, our journey was far from over. Soaking in the beautiful scenery that Luxembourg provides you with, we embarked on another 5 hour hike. The trail led us through the dense forest, up and down the mountainous area, and past a beautiful little waterfall. Conquering the tops of rocky peaks, we slowly made our way around the loop back to the camping ground. Or so I thought…

Beautiful little waterfall

Lina the adventurer

The trail is really well marked and so we blindly followed the signs. They relieved my worries of walking the wrong direction or getting lost, by letting us know how many kilometres we had left. Only 2 to go, perfect. The next sign came up after around 20 minutes of walking, only 1.7km left, almost back home. Another 20 minutes go by and the sign informs us that we are around 2.1 km from our camping ground. Wait, what? We walked a straight line. Ok some ups and downs, some stairs, but all in all it felt pretty much like we kept walking in one direction. We continued and the next sign was a relief again, 1.8km to go. So on we went, the next sign didn’t take too long to appear, as I mentioned, this trail is beautifully marked, though we were no closer to our goal and still had 1.8km to go. Needless to say, another few signs went past and at some point I was almost certain they were making fun of me, their ever changing km indication that never got me much closer to our goal messed with my mind.

Luckily we had some sweets for motivation with us and after a while, and no more ups and downs, we actually seemed to get closer to the camping grounds. I cannot tell you why the signs did what they did, I either lost my mind on this trail or the differences in height were taken seriously and constantly increased and decreased the distances. In any case, it took longer than expected to finally reach the staircase that would lead us up to our barrel home. I gathered my last bit of strength and climbed up. Being cheered on by Sebo, it was the biggest reward to reach the top. What a wonderful and adventurous day we had. Was it more exhausting than a short morning walk through the park? Hell, yes! Was it an incredible experience and would I do it again? Yes, yes, and in a heart beat. I loved it!

Overall, we had a fantastic time in Luxembourg and would highly recommend it as a destination for anyone looking to experience a beautiful and stunning scenery, great hikes, friendly locals, and a rich cultural heritage.

What we have learned:

• Hikes can take a lot longer than expected, always take more water and food than needed
• When they tell you to take a torch, take one
• Luxembourg is a wonderful and exciting destination
• Luxembourg offers more than one city, the scenery is breath taking and the people extremely friendly
• A lot of the highlights of the Mullerthal trail can be reached by car and then short walks, but hiking whole parts of the trail is a lot more rewarding
• The information centres have really informative maps and are a great starting point
• German bread and buns are still the best

¹ https://www.mullerthal-trail.lu/en/mullerthal-trail