When one hears about European trips, it could mostly be countries like Italy, Spain, Switzerland and so on. Not often do one come across people who have said they have gone to Luxembourg. A small landlocked country known for it's economy is quite often overlooked. However, it has some wonders that it beholds.
Fun Fact: We have all heard about "Schengen Visa" and how we can travel across 25+ countries in Europe. Although not many might know that the name originates from a small wine making village called Schengen near to the river Moselle in Luxembourg.
FREE TRAVEL ACROSS LUXEMBOURG. From 2020, anybody across the world can travel for free in buses, trams and trains (except 1st class tickets). We as travelers can make use of that, as I believe travel cost accounts for approx. 50-60 percent of our budget.
Note: Being a wealthy country, everything is expensive in Luxembourg. Stay, Food and Entertainment. You would be able to use your student tickets at some places for a smaller price.
5 of us travelled from Saarbrucken via bus to Luxembourg. You can book the bus ticket to Luxembourg via DB website or any third party services like omio. It just costed 5 Euros in each direction. You can also reach Luxembourg city via other places like Trier in Germany and the rates should be similar.
Vianden Castle was my go to destination in Luxembourg after finding out some stunning pictures of the place. However the location is 3.5 hours away from the city and to cover both the Castle and the city was not Possible. Hence, we sought out Bourscheid Castle as the place to visit.
Note: It's always preferable to download the offline map of the places you might visit. Mobiliteit.lu is the travel app which gives information on the local transport. Google helps as well.
Bourscheid Castle was the first destination as it was 1.5 hours away from the city center and the city was the latter part.
The region through which the bus travelled from Saarbrücken was quite common, your normal European Landscape with fields and small houses. Surprisingly when we reached the city center, the place did not give a good first impression. Most parts of the city were under construction.
We reached the main station Luxembourg, Gare Centrale. The trip to Bourscheid Castle consisted of a train and then a bus journey. In front of the railway station was the tram line. The trams were out of this world. It was sleek, modern and colorful.
We had to take get down at Ettelbruck, Gare and then take a bus to the Castle. There are a lot of buses towards this castle and each bus has a different number such as 545, 540 etc.
The buses which has completed a journey in Bourscheid starts the trip from Ettelbruck. So you would be expecting to catch the Bus 540. When a bus 520 arrives, you won't take a look at it. This bus later changes it's number to 540 and goes on it's way. So be cautious with such scenarios. Also the locals speak mostly their language (Luxembourgish), so it was a hard time telling where we wanted to go.
30 Minutes by bus and you reach the Bourscheid village, a pleasant countryside. It's an ascent and if the weather is pleasant the journey would be great, although we were greeted by the Rain Gods. The castle is a 10 minute walk from the Bus Stop.
Bourscheid Castle is quite old and in a ruined state. The climate changed from rainy to foggy and the view from the top of the castle was what delighted us. You can get the tickets from the counter. Student ticket costed around 5 Euros. There is also a café above the reception. You get a site guide to go around with approximately 14 different places around the castle. The last part is where you can go to the tower and enjoy the scenic views it offers.
The climate after the rains made it really impressive and worth the travel. However the weather might not be the same all the time, and may not look the same as in pictures. It still won't be a must visit place I would suggest, when the Vianden Castle looks much grander.
The return towards the city center was via the same buses. You could also spend some quality time to enjoy the countryside.
We had bookmarked some of the major attractions in the city as we had a timeline to follow till the return bus back to Saarbrücken. We found the city quite grand and was very lively. The areas around the Grand Ducal palace were visually amazing with the blends of yellow and beige colors across the buildings and lanes.
Some of the major places to visit are the Old Quarter of the City, National Museum of History and Art, Bock Casements, Grand Ducal Palace, Le Chemin de la Corniche, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Larochette etc.
The Panoramic Elevator of the Pfaffenthal is a glass elevator which lets you down to the Larochette area. The view is awesome.
There are lot of cafe's and restaurants near the city center. We went to the PersianFoodbox Hamilius for lunch which costed around 10 euros/person. It was a blend of different rice and sauces in layers (both vegetarian and non vegetarian is available).
We took the 8pm bus back to Saarbrücken. Overall the trip was fun and not too hectic as we didn't rush around to visit each and every place. You can cover more places if you don't take picture of yours at every instance possible :P (fellow stunt performers in the group). So the overall budget remained on the low side as breakfast and dinner was not covered here as well as not having a stay. If possible, I would try to visit the Vianden Castle and hope it would be worth a trip. #peter#aleena#anish#lorraine