On a drive from Amsterdam to Dijon, France, I wanted to include an overnight in Luxembourg City. I had never been to this small duchy of a country and was curious to see what it had to offer.
On our drive, we wanted to be able to play a bit by ear, not knowing where we might want to stop. I had in mind a stop at Maastrict, Charlemagne’s capital at Aachen, or the former Roman city, Trier, in Germany. We saw none of those sights. It had rained (and hard) almost the entire drive, not making it very enticing
to get out of our warm and dry car. We did enjoy the scenery of rolling hills through the back and forth of the windshield wipers.
An overnight in Luxembourg city had been part of the plan, regardless of any other stops. However, I had not made a reservation to stay anywhere, figuring this could be done during the trip. I didn’t figure it would be done, literally on the go, but sometimes that’s the way it goes. In the car, smartphone in hand, I began to search for a hotel. This seemed so backwards compared to my typical informed,
well-researched, intentional choices. But, I clicked away, and hoped for the best. What we ended up with couldn’t have been better, the Beaux Arts Hotel. Since we had a car, it was perfectly placed right inside the old center of town. I wanted to be in the center, but didn’t want to navigate around one-way street, cafes, and places only taxis are allowed. So, this place was ideal. It is relatively small, comfortable and on the edge of the old town, but also perfect for exploring other parts of the city.
View of the city from our charming room in the Beaux Arts Hotel.
Since it was reaching evening and raining when we arrived we did not get a lot of sightseeing it. We merely walked around and got a quick dinner.
In the morning, the weather had only slightly improved, but it gave us more of a chance to see the sights. Despite the overcast skies, some of the views were greater than I had anticipated.
We enjoyed this overlook so much, it didn’t leave us any time to take in what is probably one of the more important tourist attractions in Luxembourg City, the caves along the city ramparts, the Bock Casemates. We poked our heads into some of the caves, but didn’t take the tour. They have been around since 1737, and have been forts and protection during the two world wars.
Sadly we were out of time in Luxembourg, and
had to hit the road for our next destination, but would love to visit again one day.
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