Luxembourg: safe, environmentally aware and culturally exciting!

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, straight forward and quality-conscious, fast and safe by motorway, express train or plane, surprises by its varied scenery: low mountain ranges set amidst nature reserves in the Ardennes, vineyards on the slopes along the Mosel, rocky crevices, waterfalls and crags in Mullerthal, Luxembourg’s little Switzerland, gentle rolling hills in Gutland, near the valley of the seven castles.

Hiking, biking, golfing for discerning gourmets

Rambling along the Mullerthal Trail or across the plateaus of the Ardennes, free of luggage, or hiking with trains or buses along easy to moderately difficult paths means enjoying panoramic views, stopping off at delightful inns or designer houses, discovering regional products and being pampered with delicious food. Luxembourg has the highest density of starred restaurants. Lea Linster of Luxembourg is the first woman to have won the Bocuse d’Or cooking competition. Various Luxembourg chefs are pleased to pass on their tips and invite you to a show cooking event. A cruise on the Luxembourg Mosel provides an opportunity to savour select wines from the region, prompting you to visit wine cellars. Wine festivals, nut markets and culinary markets are high points of the good life in Luxembourg.

Or you can enjoy bike rides along gently sloping former railway embankments, with rail or bus connections in each case. You can take your bicycle on the train or bus without any difficulty. Thanks to elaborate signposting, you can cross the entire country using safe cycling routes. With accommodation in “Bed & Bike” hotels and campsites, stays can be geared to cyclists. So Luxembourg offers you the chance for recreation through healthy activity along 575 km of waymarked and safe cycle paths and 5,000 km of signposted footpaths!

 The superb, varied landscape also provides the ideal setting for extensive golf courses, most of which have panoramic views and a challenging, hilly terrain, in Canach, Clervaux, Christnach or Junglinster. Just like the hiking hotels, the golf hotels offer attractive package deals, often combined with a wellness stay.

Wellness and Anti-stress

In this area in particular, Luxembourg has substantially increased its range over the past few years and its relaxing landscapes offer opportunities to overcome stress, anti-aging programmes or simple wellness facilities that promote health and relaxation. A major spa tradition does not rule out the very latest sauna landscapes and thermal baths supplied by mineral water springs at a temperature of 24°. Bad Mondorf, with its rich cultural programme and traditional tea dances, has been a favourite gathering place for relaxation and regeneration since the 19th century.

Culturally exciting

Culture plays an important role in Luxembourg in general. The country’s favourable position between the Latin and Germanic cultural areas has promoted international architecture and brought the biggest names in architecture together in Luxembourg (Gottfried Böhm, Ieoh Ming Pei, Christian de Portzamparc, Arquitectonica and Richard Meier, to mention but a few), added to which there is also an avant-garde local scene. “Architectour.lu” is a guide that opens up modern architecture in Luxembourg to people across the land. Anyone wishing to find out what is happening in matters of contemporary art in Europe knows that what is needed is a trip to Luxembourg’s MUDAM, the Museum of Modern Art, or a visit to the world premier of an opera at the Grosse Stadttheater or the Philharmonie. Luxembourg has a fascinating cultural history, too. This country covering just 2,567 square kilometres contains no fewer than three of the items selected by UNESCO as objects of world cultural heritage: the former fortress and old city of Luxembourg, which can be combined with a pleasant shopping trip, the photography exhibition “The Family of Man” by Edward Steichen in Clervaux castle, or the Spring Procession on Whit Tuesday in honour of St Willibord. His abbey in Echternach was world famous in the Middle Ages for the gold painting on its transcripts of the Old and New Testaments. What is more, art galleries and flea markets delight many a collector’s heart – and not just in the capital!

LuxembourgCard – the inter-generational holiday pass

It comes as no surprise that Luxembourg has a high proportion of regular visitors. Many people are now even coming to explore the country with their grandchildren! The LuxembourgCard is especially popular here: the holiday pass that offers couples or families free or reduced admission to 56 different sights. The unusual thing here is that the pass provides free use of all rail and bus connections within the Grand Duchy! The ideal way to discover Luxembourg free of cares and stress, without having to wait in traffic jams or look for parking places!

Luxembourg stands for quality and safety

The Grand Duchy is marked by quality and safety. According to the MERCER study, the capital is the safest city in the world. Luxembourg also ranks high among the smart cities (<500,000 inhabitants), which means high-quality urban living. The proportion of hotels, campsites and leisure attractions that bear the “Service-Qualitéit Lëtzebuerg Q” quality label is surprisingly high compared with other countries. Environmentally aware hotels or campsites proudly display the Eco label backed by the state, while the Eurewelcome label assures guests with limited mobility the best possible comfort. The European Commission has granted the Obersauer nature reserve, the winegrowing village of Schengen, whose name is synonymous with freedom of movement in Europe, and the abbey town of Echternach the “Eden” label for environmentally aware tourism.

National Tourist Office of Luxembourg

Post box 1001

L-1010 Luxembourg

Tel.: +352/ 42 82 82 20

Fax +352 / 42 82 82 30

www.visitluxembourg.lu