Luxembourg - Old City of Luxembourg

Original Post: Archived, 2018

It’s not what’s under the Christmas tree that matters, it’s who’s around it.

Or so I thought until after visiting Luxembourg in December, when there are Christmas markets with gifts to buy around every corner.

As our semester abroad was coming to an end - and thus, so was our budget for spending - we decided to take a last minute weekend getaway to one of the lowest cost cities we could find while still bringing us to a new country - Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; also known as the Old City of Luxembourg.

Named one of the smallest countries in the world, there are only 12 towns in the entire country.

We landed at the - very small - Luxembourg airport bright and early at 8:30AM, taking a free bus from there to the city center - the bus ran about every 30 minutes, so we made it just in time after getting off the plane. After our 30 minute bus ride to the city center Gare, we stopped in the first cafe we saw, grabbed a cappuccino and figured out our plan for the day.

Exploring the city was top on our list as we passed the city square, featuring the Statue de la Grande Duchesse Charlotte and the Chambre des Députés - the Parliament building covered in intricate designs, where the Grand Duke and family lived. We walked into St. Michael’s Church - the oldest holy building in the city - where a service was in place, and then attempted to walk through the Bock Casemates - an underground defense system made up of miles of tunnels originating in the 17th century - however, as it was a Sunday, it was closed.

We made our way into the Chocolate House of Luxembourg - filled with freshly handmade chocolate houses, chocolate animal and Santa figurines, jars of chocolate spreads - and then came across a Christmas market, and another.

Stomachs growling after restraining ourselves from the chocolate house treats, we went to Mannekan Beer restaurant for lunch where we had flammenkuchen, a tarte flambé. We walked back through one of the many Christmas markets, where there was a band dressed as Santas playing music on stage - another market we passed through had a large ice skating rink at its center.

We had planned to stay at an AirBNB that claimed to be in the city center - however, once we trekked through the city and beyond to find it, we found that it had no staircase and only a semi-functioning elevator for us to get to our room.

We walked around the city for about an hour, Mary- and Joseph-esque, looking for any other hotel or hostel to stay in - little did we know, in Luxembourg City, hotels are mostly fully committed during week days because businessmen and women often travel into the city for overnight stays.

Finally finding a hotel in our price range, we decided to forfeit our AirBNB deposit and chalk it up to experience so that we could stay - safe - in the city center.

To end our first day in Luxembourg, we went back to one of the Christmas markets from earlier and went ice skating, had some gluhwein and a tartiflette, and did some Christmas shopping - of course.

The next day, we walked through the Old Quarter to find lunch - as it was mostly devoid of any dining or attractions, we walked back toward our hotel and had lunch at Tatties restaurant on Grand Rue. It began pouring rain while we were inside, but we were determined to not let poor weather stop us from exploring the city. We walked through more shops and Christmas markets, finally making our way inside Le Grand Cafe for hot wine to escape the rain.

We brought the evening to a close by getting spaetzle aux lardons - a creamy pasta dish - from a booth at one of the Christmas markets, and watched a dance flash mob perform before heading back to our hotel for the night.

Complimentary breakfast was served at the hotel the next morning, and we gladly indulged on our free meal after spending much of our budget on Christmas presents and delicious food from the markets and local restaurants. Taking the free bus back to the airport that morning, we began planning our next and final weekend trip before our semester came to a close.