Luxembourg is a very small country that borders France, Germany and Belgium. On our recent trip to Europe my sister and I decided to take a train from Cologne, Germany to Luxembourg City (about 4 hours and 30 min) where we stayed for a few days. It’s a beautiful city with a lot of French influence in it’s architecture and gardens. We absolutely loved it! In this blog post I will be sharing places to see, where to stay, and restaurants to eat at.

Rue Philippe II

Rue Philippe II is a high end shopping street near the Place d’Armes. It’s very close to the hotel that we stayed at, Le Place d’Armes hotel! We walked down the street on our way to the Place de la Consitution and admired the stores through the window displays. It’s a beautiful street with gorgeous store fronts, beautiful architecture, and pretty flower pots. I definitely recommend shopping or dining in this area!

Boulevard F.D. Roosevelt

We walked along the Boulevard F.D. Roosevelt on our way to the Place de la Constitution. From the boulevard there are beautiful views of the Valee de la Petrusse and the buildings along the Avenue de la Liberte. It’s a great place to stop for some photos! There are also great views of the gardens below along the rock fortress. You can actually get down to the gardens to walk around but we didn’t have enough time to explore. If you have the chance I would recommend it!

The Golden Lady

The Golden Lady is a beautiful statute on the Boulevard F.D. Roosevelt. When we were visiting Luxembourg, there was a really cool lift in the square that you can ride for views of the city. I think it even spun around! There were also stands selling food. It was really cute! I think it might actually be there permanently.

Notre Dame Cathedral

From The Golden Lady, we walked over to the Notre Dame Cathedral. The Cathedral was very beautiful and there is a large square outside to hang out or rest in. We took a break here and ate chocolate croissants! We were able to walk around inside the cathedral as well. I loved the shots we got here too!

Grand Ducal Palace

The Grand Ducal Palace is the home of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. During the summer, they offer guided tours of the palace. We didn’t have enough time to do the tour, but a lot of locals highly recommended it! We did admire it from outside and it was absolutely beautiful. The architecture was stunning. The area around the Palace would be considered “Old Town” (as well as The Grund) so it’s a great area to explore! We walked to the Palace from Notre Dame Cathedral.

Old Town

We walked around Old Town on both days because it was such a pretty area! It’s definitely a great area for shooting photos. There are lots of bakeries, restaurants, and stores in this area too.

This shot was taken from the Viaduc bridge. The pretty views are of the Rue de Prague, Montee de la Petrusse, and the Boulevard d’Avranches.

The Grund

The Grund is the lower area of Luxembourg’s Old Town built in the valley below the brick fortress of City Center. It’s actually a preserved historic district that used to be a village with mainly craftsman inhabiting it. It’s a quiet, charming are with beautiful views of the fortress, the Casements du Bock, and the city above. It’s such a unique part of the city! There is a river that runs through the beautiful buildings in the Grund that makes it look like a fairy-tale town.

Casements du Bock

The Casements du Bock in the Grund, is a vast complex of underground tunnels that were used as WWII bomb shelters. You can actually walk through the casements which we didn’t have enough time to do but was highly recommended by the locals! You can buy tickets at the Casements for 14 euros. We admired the Casements while walking around below in the Grund and from above along the Rue de la Corniche. We took so many photos here because it was just so pretty!

Chemin de la Corniche

We walked up to the Chemin de La Corniche from the Grund by following a trail along the hill. It’s kind of like a balcony above the brick fortress with stunning views of the Grund, the Casements du Bock, and the City Center above. There are so many great photo spots along the path! I definitely recommend it. From the City Center near the Palace de La Corniche you can take a lift to the lower levels of the Grund which makes it so much easier to explore the area!

Avenue de la Liberte

On the morning of our last day in Luxembourg, we walked across the Pont Adolphe from the old City Center to the Avenue de la Liberte. The buildings on the opposite side of the bridge area actually banks I was told. These are the beautiful buildings that you can see in the distance from the Boulevard F.D. Roosevelt. They were beautiful to see all though there was a lot of construction going on in this area when we visited. We walked along the Boulevard de la Petrusse to the Viaduc bridge and admired the buildings on our way to see the Grund.

Where to Stay

Le Place d’Armes

During our time in Luxembourg, we stayed at the Le Place d’Armes Hotel in the Place d’Armes area of Old Town. It’s a beautiful 5 star hotel near high-end shopping, wonderful restaurants, and close to all of the main attractions in Luxembourg City. Our French themed room was lovely! It was very spacious and had a great view of the square below.

Le Place d’Armes has three restaurants on the grounds; Le 18 Bar, Le Cafe de Paris, Le Pless, and Le Cristallerie. We had a delicious breakfast in the beautiful Le Pless restaurant. The staff was very friendly, the room was decorated beautifully, and there were beautiful views of the patio from several places in the restaurant. The hotel also had several lounging areas, conference rooms, and outdoor areas.

It’s a very unique hotel because it is made up of several different buildings that they connected together! You can ask a receptionist at the front desk for more information about the history of the building if you are interested 🙂 We had an amazing stay at Le Place d’Armes and I would highly recommend it! Book your stay here.

Where to Eat

Matelots

We had dinner at the brasserie, Matelots, near Place d’Armes! It’s a very cute restaurant with a chic coastal theme serving seafood dishes, Galettes (think savory crepes) wines, ciders, and more. We had a flight of house made ciders, all of which were delicious. I would highly recommend trying it! We had two scrumptious Galletes for dinner, a sampler of desserts, and coffee. Dinner was superb and the waitresses were lovely. I loved the beautiful paintings in the restaurant, especially the ones of the sailors! They also have an outdoor patio for when the weather is nice. It’s a great spot for dinner 🙂

Njord

Njord is located in Old Town, very close to the palace! We stopped here for an early lunch after exploring the Grund. We started our meal off with delicious vanilla lattes and shared a bagel sandwich, a pasta salad and a pecan brownie for lunch. The food is ready made and displayed in a fridge, perfect if you need to grab and go! They also have an oven to warm food up in as well. Everything was super tasty and it was such a great place to rest after our long walk! There are several tables in the space, a bar, and a lounge area, so there is plenty of seating. Everything was really cute and the staff was friendly as well. It’s the perfect spot for breakfast, lunch, and coffee!

Rocio and I absolutely loved visiting Luxembourg, it’s such a cute country you can’t miss! Have any of you been to Luxembourg? Also check out my Cologne Travel Guide here.

XOXO