I am pretty well convinced that some of our best days are those that are unplanned, like today’s visit to Luxembourg.
We started the day with a hike to the ruins of the Heidelberg Castle and then intended to head north to take a few hour cruise on the Rhine river. The views of the ruins of the Heidelberg castle nestled amongst the trees was lovely, but we could see the start of the storm in the background.
Heavy rain ended our hike early, and left us less than enthusiastic about the Rhine. Our friends in Germany suggested we go to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. So we did. What we found was a tiny country full of surprises. It’s a place I wish I had researched before arriving to, and one which I hope to return to someday. Like much of Europe, it is a mix of the modern and the old.
View from Bock Promontory in the north-eastern corner of Luxembourg City’s old historical district. It Offers a natural fortification, its rocky cliffs tower above the River Alzette which surrounds it on three side
Palace of the Grand Dukes
Notre-Dame Cathedral is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Luxembourg City. Built in the 17th century, it is the only cathedral in Luxembourg.
Sometimes our girls just can’t help themselves.
The only difficulty we encountered was that there was nowhere affordable to sleep in town that still had vacancies. We the help of the visitor’s center we found a hostel about an hour away that offered us a bunk room just for our family. Imagine our surprise when our room had a view of Vianden castle lit up at night:
Vianden castle lit up at night
Unless otherwise noted, all photos on this page ©Rhonda Albom 2012. All rights reserved.
Have you been to Luxembourg? What were your highlights?
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Great shots. I had never really thought about Luxembourg before, now I want to visit.
We hadn’t thought of it before the day prior when my friend suggested it. Such a wonderful small country to visit.
Years ago I had a student who was totally enamored by Luxembourg.
Now that I have been there, I can understand why one would be totally enamored by Luxembourg.
I have stayed in that Youth Hostel – Vianden is so pretty. We would have been there about the same time of year or maybe a little later as there was frost about
Ooh, I love frost! Snow is nicer though because you can make snowballs 🙂
Too funny. Small world, isn’t it. Glad to report no frost when we were there.
Germany, Switzerland and Italy are on my to do list. One of these days. If we didn’t boat so much it wouldn’t be such a problem.
Have a terrific day, and your view was awesome. 🙂
Italy seems quite easy to do by boat, you should try it. I don’t know though, I’m not much of a boatyard person.
You might want to add Luxembourg. We skipped Switzerland, as it is just too expensive for our budget.