The tiny travel wonder of Luxembourg, precariously sandwiched between France and Germany at a European crossroads has a woven web of hiking paths that crisscross the country. While the city features excellent historic walks such as the Wenzel Walk, the northern part of Luxembourg offers a tremendous array of walking and hiking options. With maps available from tourist offices and clear signposts with blue triangles marking the paths, hiking is one of Luxembourg’s most popular leisurely pursuits (after all, one-third of the country is forested). And there is no better place to walk than the grandly named Little Switzerland. While there is nothing alpine about this lowland region, the dramatic landscape gives some credibility to its moniker.

Start from the country’s oldest town of Echternach with its sprawling abbey credited to St Willibrord (a wily Yorkshireman who the locals believed cured epilepsy in the seventh century). With little thought over a strong steaming coffee, I selected E1 (see map), a suitable sounding walk of twelve kilometres. After a short but strenuous climb, a nice viewpoint (Troosknäppchen) offers fine vistas of the abbey and town.

The path follows the Müllerthal Trail (the miller’s path named from the numerous watermills that once existed on the river) quickly leading to densely wooded forests, lush verdant valleys and spectacular rock formations. Left over from the Ice Age, roughly hewn rock steps and ladders weave a narrow, twisting path between towering 20 metre high rock walls at times only wide enough for a single file of walkers.

This ancient landscape generates its own steamy microclimate of high humidity producing vegetation unique to Europe with moss coating everything in a carpet of green and ferns sprouting from small rocky crevices.

The trail leads through the evocatively named Wolfsschlucht (the wolves’ lair - top photo) that apparently sheltered wolves in times past. Continuing along a tiny brook, through the Labyrinth and past the giant single rock of Perekop, the trail leads to Hohllay. This is an old cave where traces remain where millstones were cut. Regular performances still run at the nearby amphitheatre, a wonderful natural location for plays, theatre and music.

Sharing lunch with a couple of hikers, climbers clambered up the sheer rock walls, the occasional yelp of a slipping climber being caught by his ropes breaking the peaceful forest ambiance.

Turning back along a small creek with tiny waterfalls, the path toured via Zig-zag Gorge (photo below right) and an atmospheric cavern called Räuberhöhle (thief’s hideout - photo left) before tracking the Sûre River back to Echternach.

It seems an accident of history that this tiny country exists as an independent country with its history of battles and wars. Indeed, the castles that litter nearly every rocky outcrop, gorge and small hill is a strong reminder of how many battles have been fought over the years for this scenic centre of Europe. It is a gift as the feisty and proud population of the self-promoted “Europe’s smallest big country” offer superb trekking through well-preserved forests broken only by the occasional muffled greeting of moien in the strange sounding German-like dialect.

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Note
More details available from the Müllerthal Trail website.

Since 963 when Count Siegfried first built a castle on a rocky outcrop overlooking a sharp bend in the Alzette River, various European powers have battled for control of the tiny state of Luxembourg. At times, the Burgundians, Spanish, French, Austrians, Prussians and Germans have all held sway over this scenic nation wedged between France and Germany. Despite a tumultuous history of almost permanent siege, this pint-sized nation has survived to modern times and now is one of richest per capita countries in the world. Luxembourg boasts excellent walks including the city-based Wenzel Walk and a superb nature walk in an area called Little Switzerland.

The delightful and well-signposted Wenzel walk (either guided or self-guided with a pamphlet) in the main city of Luxembourg and named after a 14th century duke captures elements of this history and culture, leading past ramparts, fortresses, tunnels, towers, bridges and walls, intermixed with bustling streets and panoramic views. The narrow valley gorges plunge sharply and deep from the rocky plateaus of the city, connected and spanned by various bridges and viaducts, ingeniously protecting and guarding this challenging terrain.

The walk starts at Bock Promontory and the scant remains of Count Siegfried’s Luxembourg Castle that started this rich history. The view from this point includes the Alzette river slicing the ancient district of Grund into two. Jacob’s Tower includes an audio-visual display describing the history. Underneath the Bock are a warren of tens of kilometres of damp tunnels (Bock Casemates) that allowed soldiers access to different parts of the city without surfacing and held provisions in past times. The various invading forces extended and added to these fortifications throughout the years and were utilised as recently as World War 2 as bomb shelters. Accessible for less than two Euros, they make for an eerie passage with a combination of small natural openings, weak electric lights, twisting staircases and occasional dead ends. These remarkable fortifications earned Luxembourg the title of Gibraltar of the North and have earned UNESCO heritage listing.

Some defensive openings to allow for guns or cannons offer stunning vistas of the Luxembourg countryside, the picturesque Old Town or river valleys.

The walk leads via the Corniche lined with stately pastel-coloured historic houses, through old protective city gates, over a medieval footbridge to the impressive Wenzel Walls and its moat. These fortifications were part of a three-ringed system of walls guarding the prized higher parts of the city and major crossing of the river.

The walk finishes near the city’s oldest parish Church of St Ulric with a walk along the green waters of the Alzette and the remains of an old lock system that could be used to dam the rivers as an extra obstacle for invading forces.

Descriptively promoted as 1000 Years in 100 Minutes, the Wenzel Walk, in under two hours, unveils part of Luxembourg’s historic battles for domination and the ingenious defensive fortifications built to protect this strategic historic city.

Note
The tourist office has an excellent self-guiding brochure.

Map (without red lines): © Service des Sites et Monuments Nationaux / Luxembourg City Tourist Office