The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

(Picture above): The red building under the bridge is the hostel

Town Hall with marching soldier guard at the background.

When we think of Europe, we always think of the larger countries such as Germany, Italy, France etc. There are however 6 micro-states in Europe, i.e. Andorra, Monaco, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Vatican City and San Marino. I am surprised of how some of these states were formed.

In September 2008, I had the opportunity to visit Luxembourg City, enroute from Paris to Germany. I decided to stay only 2 nights as I didnt think of anything to see in this small country.
How wrong I was indeed.

I arrived at Luxembourg City train station and was told by the Tourist Information guy that the hostel was 15 minutes walk away. The first impression of the area outside the train station made me think twice if I wanted to stay in this boring city for 2 nights. The area around the train station had the usual chain stores found in almost every European city.

Then I was dragging my luggage crossing the bridge. Gosh, that was a HUGE bridge with valleys underneath. Then I walked up a slope,down another slope, passed a square, crossed another bridge (with another valley again), down another very steep slope; and voila that was the hostel located by the river underneath a giant railway bridge - a 30 minutes walk away.

So the first impression deceived me. Luxembourg City was fantastic. Lots of beautiful scenery with bridges, hills, rivers and a toy town city centre. The hostel was the best I have stayed in MY LIFE. I merely touched the surface of what I could do and see here.

More pictures here