Luxembourg had been on my radar as a potential destination to visit for a couple of years, basically cause I am running out of new exciting places to discover in Europe and partially because connections from Madrid airport, my hometown, were pretty ok with Ryan Air (yes, I do not like flying with them at all, but as far as they take you to your destination point, I can bare with them).
So Last December, as I gathered a few free days from work, I decided to spend a long weekend with a friend there. We found a hotel not far from the centre with a very nice ratio of quality price, The Double Tree by Hilton, which I gladly recommend as staff was friendly and the double room was really amazing and spacious, feeling more like a suite than a normal double room, and for a very good price considering that Luxembourg is not a cheap country.
Mind to explain first that I would not recommend Luxembourg for staying more than 3-4 days maximum. It gave me a similar vibe to other beautiful European cities that I visited in the past like Tallinn or Bratislava, where you feel amazing when you discover it for the first 2 days, but then can turn boring when you walk the same streets and areas again and again. Luxembourg is small and the offer of places and things to do is limited, but it is still super charming for a short stay.
Another big plus bonus that has is that during our stay, the public transportation around the city and suburb areas was totally free. This makes much more comfortable to have a hotel a few kilometers outside the centre, move around or even explore outside the city centre, and will save quite a few bucks from your wallet, so I was impressed with how comfortable is designed to move around.
As I explained, we visited during December pre Christmas time, and undoubtedly one of the highlights of the visit was to wander around the beautiful Christmas markets. You will find a few scattered around the city centre easily just walking around, and the atmosphere is very nice and chilled. You have a nice variety of bratwurst, sandwiches, fries and other delicatessens to fill your stomach and you can also try different tastes of hot red mulled wine with different flavors, I really loved the one mixed with amaretto. Even in our last evening, close to a skate rink, the Christmas market turned into a kind of improvised rave party with a DJ blasting music and people standing on the benches dancing. I never imagined that a Christmas market could give such a party fun vibe, so even in the middle of the cold winter, the spirits are held high!
Also as commented before, Luxembourg is not a cheap country, nonetheless has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world due to its strong financial system, but you do not need to go broke there. There are plenty of ok options for breakfasts at many cafes, and food in the Christmas markets is not very pricey. A different story is if you want to pamper in higher tier restaurants, where you will have to pay the price. I would say that is expensive but still not crazy for tourists. And on top of that, most of the staff in restoration speak English, French and German, so you should get along ok communicating around.
And you will wonder, so what is worthy to visit there? Well, you have of course some highlights, the Ducal Grand Palace is beautiful to observe from outside, although we did not get to go inside, and the Notre Dame Cathedral is also very nice to step in and savour his beautiful quiet atmosphere and the colorful windows, but probably the best area and more beautiful to see is to wander around La Chemin de la Corniche with outstanding views to the lower Grund neighborhood and the Alzette river.
Once you are there, it is almost compulsory to buy a ticket to immerse in the Bock Casemates, belonging to UNESCO humanity patrimony list, an intrinsic network of subterranean tunnels that acted as defense fortress built in the XVII century. A delight to take amazing photos of the city view, get to know more of the history of the city and country and surely will add some nice memories to your Instagram portfolio.
Heading down to the Grund neighbor is also fantastic for a relaxed walk around, with a perfect mix of beautiful buildings, nature with ducks and birds swimming and flying around, and a lot of idyllic romantic little corners where couples might think of stealing a kiss.
But Luxembourg also offers some nice destinations if you want to go a bit farther away from the city centre. Apart from what it was explained with the free network of transportation that allows you easily to move by bus and train, Uber is also available there, though I would recommend to use it only if really needed, cause the prices are quite high compared to the fees in other European cities.
For those destinations outside the centre, we selected to visit the American Cemetery and Memorial, dedicated to the fallen lives of more than 5000 American soldiers who never came back home during the grueling fights of World War II in this area, stablished in December 1944 and containing the remain of, among others, the famous American General George S. Patton. It was an impressive view taken from a scene from war movies to walk solemnly around there on a rainy day, giving you a small impression of the magnitude of what happened in Europe in mid 20 century.
As my friend and I are very interested in history, we also visited taking advantage of the free trains and buses the National Museum of Military History, and this one I would definitely like a total hidden gem to be visited in Europe, probably due to the distance from the city as you have to travel around 1 hour from central Luxeumbourg to reach it, located in a population called Dikrech.
The entrance fee is fair, I do not remember the exact price but I do not think it was higher than 10 euro per person, and it is totally worthy. Among the 100.000 war utensils exhibited, you will find live size dioramas of how was life during the war time, a lot of real size tanks, artillery, trucks and other war vehicles, and a huge display of all kind of weapons, medical utensils, etc. For the lovers of military history or history in general, this museum is a treat, and it was mostly empty, so you can explore it at your own pace with no stress and take as many pictures as you want. The museum also counts with a small shop and with a dedicated adjacent area to more modern display of Luxembourg military forces in recent years, but obviously the most interesting parts are all the sections dedicated to II World War.
So resuming, would I recommend visiting Luxembourg? Absolutely yes, but a stay of more than 3 days could feel like too much. But if you want to visit for a long weekend and then hop to other destinations around in neighboring countries like Germany or France, I think you should not miss it. It is clean, felt quite safe, it is beautiful to walk, it has some great lovely views, it will not break your wallet if you plan carefully your budget, easy to use transportation and your will learn a bit more about a very important crossroad place in European history. So give it a go!