The Caves
This morning I had a 7:00am train out of Frankfurt, Germany towards Luxembourg. I didn’t have a direct train but instead, I connected to a double-decker bus in Saarbrücken. I got the front seat on the top level so I had a great view for the beautiful drive through the countryside. I arrived at the main train/bus station in Luxembourg and walked about three minutes to my hotel, Hotel Bristol. Thank you so much to Hotel Bristol for sponsoring this night of my trip! I checked in and left my luggage before setting out to explore Luxembourg City.
Within minutes of walking, I was blown away by the beauty and views in Luxembourg, and there was much more to come over the next few hours. My first stop was lunch in the heart of the city where I had a great crepe. While eating a tiny marching band walked through the city which was adorable and definitely a unique sight. After my meal, I first walked to Place d’Armes, the central square in Luxembourg City. It was very cute and there was a market going on. The heart of the city is not very large and it is a very walkable city. From there I walked to City Hall and then visited Cathédral Notre-Dame. The doors were closed so I was unsure if it was open, but I was very glad to see someone walk in. It was a very pretty Gothic church well worth going to see. Afterwards, I walked past Palais Grand-Ducal which was, in my opinion, the exact building I would think of when I think of Luxembourg.
I walked past Palais Grand-Ducal on my way to the Musée national d’histoire et d’art Luxembourg (MNHA). It was a great museum! It was really large but I loved the design of the museum. The bottom few floors are only in French which was not ideal, but I enjoyed walking around the floor about Luxembourg’s history as well as the art floor and the special exhibit about Portugal. After the museum I walked to Chemin de la Corinche, which is known as “the most beautiful balcony in Europe.” I don’t know if this is true, but it is definitely up there. The view was amazing - it looks out over the idyllic historic houses in the Grund area as well as the Neumünster Abbey Cultural Exchange Center which is just gorgeous.
After taking plenty of pictures I made my way to one of the most unique stops on my trip so far, Casemates du Bock. Casemates is a series of tunnels built into the side of the Luxembourg City that looks out onto the Grund area. It was so cool to spend an hour literally walking in the side of Luxembourg City. The tunnels span quite a ways. There are a few dead ends and twists and turns, but I really enjoyed walking through the entire tunnel system, as well as seing the views when being on the main floor of tunnels.
After Casemates du Bock I decided to visit MUDAM Luxembourg, Luxembourg’s modern art museum. It is a little ways out of town, but I am so glad that I made the trip! The good news is that on weekends the city bus system is free to use for anyone! So after a fifteen minute bus ride I was dropped off right by both the EU Court of Justice and the European Investment bank which were both unexpected and interesting to walk by. The buildings themselves were really cool! I arrived at MUDAM and was immediately so glad that I decided to visit. The museum itself was architecturally unique and I loved the style of modern art inside - big, bold, but thought provoking works. I’ll post some photos of my favorites. After finishing MUDAM and drinking a lemon soda in the cool museum cafe I walked to catch a bus back into town.
I was dropped off near the top of the Grund area which I then walked down through. The houses were so cute as was basically the entire area. I was glad to find a bus to take me back uphill because it had been a long walk down. I got off the bus basically right in front of Hotel Bristol and ate dinner across the street at a really cute Italian place called Bella Napoli. I of course had pizza - it was very filling after such a long day filled with walking. I made my way across the street to my hotel where I moved my bags into my cozy room where I fell asleep quickly. Looking forward to tomorrow - I’m headed to Zurich, Switzerland!
37 countries down, 159 to go.
To learn more about Hotel Bristol click here.
