Luxembourg Highlights

The City of Luxembourg is not only a historic UNESCO site with its fortifications lining the steep valley but also an important European and financial centre with imposing modern buildings.

The old town

Within walking distance of each other, places of interest in the old town include the fortifications and the underground defences known as the casemates, the Grand Ducal Palace, the neogothic Cathedral of Notre Dame, Place Guillaume II with the City Hall, the Place d'Armes with its pavement restaurants and cafés, the Gëlle Fra or Golden Lady crowning the obelisk in memory of those who died for their country during the First World War and the nearby Adolphe Bridge towering over the valley.

There are also two particularly interesting museums in the old town. The Luxembourg City History Museum traces the history of the city from its foundations (in the lower floors) to the present (at the top) while the National Museum of History and Art showcases Celtic and Roman findings including the well-preserved Vichten Mosaic depicting the Roman muses.

The Grund

The valley itself, known as the Grund, also has points of interest such as the Neumünster Abbey and the Natural History Museum. Once a poor quarter of the city, it has become increasingly popular for its night life in the narrow medieval streets and for its gastronomic restaurants.

Kirchberg

The Kirchberg Plateau which covers the area between the city and the airport began to develop in the 1970s with office buildings for the European Institutions. Over the years, it has become the focus of Luxembourg's financial interests with an impressive array of banks and business centres. There have also been cultural developments such as the impressive Museum of Modern Art and the Philharmonie concert hall as well as sports and entertainment facilities.

Attractions

The Bock casemates in Luxembourg City are open daily from 10 am to 5 pm from March to October. Now a UNESCO heritage site, these underground passages were part of Luxembourg's former defences.

The National Museum of Military History at Diekirch in the central part of Luxembourg provides insights into the Battle of the Bulge and related episodes of World War II. The museum is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm.

Les Thermes, an indoor/outdoor water park in Strassen just west of Luxembourg City, offers an olympic swimming pool, two pools for children, wave baths, slides and sauna.[

From April to early October, the Parc Merveilleux near Bettembourg has a range of attractions for children including rides, mini zoo, and fairy tale presentations.

The historic steam Train 1900 operates between Petange and Fond-de-Gras in the south-east of Luxembourg on Sunday afternoons between May and September. From Fond-de-Gras, trips on the Minièresbunn narrow gauge railway are also possible.

The National Mining Museum in Rumelange, south-east Luxembourg, is open April to September from Thursday to Sunday, 2 pm to 6 pm. Lasting about an hour and a half, the visit includes a 20-minute trip on the old railway deep into the mine.

The Butterfly Garden in Grevenmacher is open every day from April to mid-October.

The Lankelz Railway in Esch-sur-Alzette, south-eastern Luxembourg, is a miniature railway on a scale of one third normal size. The railway operates on Sunday afternoons and public holidays from May to mid-October.

The Aquarium is located in Wasserbillig, a small town in the south west of Luxembourg. Open every day from Easter to the end of September, it is otherwise open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There are 15 tanks from 300 to 40,000 litres with fish from all five continents in their natural surroundings.

Source: Wikipedia