We arrived in Luxembourg City fairly late, and if I am honest, we probably could have spent a little less time in Vianden and a bit more here instead. After checking in, we got ourselves sorted and went to meet a friend who lives in the city.

A Little Bit Of History

The city’s name is actually the giveaway here. Luxembourg comes from an old word meaning “Little Fortress,” and for most of its history, that is basically all it was. Every major European power at some point wanted a piece of this rock, the Burgundians, the Spanish, the French, the Austrians, the Prussians, all of them took turns adding walls, tunnels and towers, until the place earned itself the nickname the “Gibraltar of the North.”

It clearly lived up to the name, too. At one point French forces laid siege to the city for seven months, and even when the defenders finally gave in, the walls themselves had not been breached. It took until 1867 for most of the fortress to actually come down, and even then it took over a decade to fully dismantle. What is left, tunnels like the Bock Casemates included, is now the main reason people visit, and the old town and its fortifications became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

For a place that spent centuries bristling with cannons, modern Luxembourg has done a complete about turn. It is the world’s only remaining Grand Duchy, and these days it is better known for being quietly wealthy and thoroughly multilingual than for anything military.

A Catch Up, Not a Tour

We walked around the centre with our friend, moving between the upper and lower parts of the city, and stopped for food and wine along the way. By that point we were starving and it was already properly late, so that first night was purely a catch up, no sightseeing agenda at all.

Luxembourg City after dark

Down in the lower town

Crossing the Bridge the Next Morning

We woke up early the next day and crossed the Adolphe Bridge from the old town side towards the train station, before doubling back into the upper town, where the old fortified streets, the Grand Ducal Palace and Notre-Dame Cathedral are all within a short walk of each other. We also swung by the Chemin de la Corniche for the view back over the valley, which more than earns its reputation as one of the prettiest walks in the city.

Crossing the Adolphe Bridge towards the station

Wandering the Centre

From there we wandered around the city centre a little more before stopping for food and coffee ahead of moving on to our next stop.

The craft market we stumbled onto

Our food and coffee stop before moving on

Would I Recommend Luxembourg City? It fell a little flat.

I had expectations going into this city, and it did not quite live up to them. I am glad we have seen it, but I do not think it makes my list of cities I would go out of my way to return to. To be clear, it is not a bad city, it is pretty, it just was not aligned with our vibe.

Where to Stay

We used Hotel Parc Belle-Vue as our base for this stop. Here is where we stayed, plus a couple of other price points in the city if you are looking at options.

Hotel Parc Belle-Vue

A 3 star hotel in the centre of Luxembourg City, with parking and pet friendly rooms. We used it purely as a base and did not have breakfast there, so I cannot speak to everything, but it did exactly what we needed it to do.

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INNSiDE by Meliá Luxembourg

A 4 star option if you want a bit more comfort than a pure base hotel, in a good location for exploring the city centre.

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Villa Petrusse

If you want to treat yourselves, this is the higher end option we would look at, tucked into the city with a bit more polish than our base hotel choice.

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How to See Luxembourg City

We explored on foot ourselves, but these are worth a look if you want a bit more structure to your visit.