Things To Do in Luxembourg Luxembourg

Fortifications and the Bock

Luxembourg City is built on a plateau cut by deep river valleys, and the fortifications that exploited this geography over several centuries are now among the most impressive military heritage sites in Europe. The Bock Casemates - a network of tunnels and galleries carved into the cliff - were used for storage, barracks, and shelter by successive occupying powers and are now open to visitors, offering a direct encounter with the defensive engineering that made Luxembourg one of the strongest fortresses on the continent before its walls were largely demolished as a condition of 19th-century treaties.

European Quarter and Institutions

Luxembourg is one of the founding cities of the European Union and hosts several major EU institutions, including the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Court of Auditors. The Kirchberg plateau, developed from the 1960s onwards, is where most of the institutional buildings are concentrated, alongside the Philharmonie concert hall and the MUDAM contemporary art museum - both of high architectural quality. The city wears its EU role more quietly than Brussels, but the institutional presence shapes its international character throughout.

Old Town and Grund

The UNESCO-listed old town and the Grund district below it are the most rewarding parts of Luxembourg for spending time on foot. The Grund - the lower town in the valley of the Alzette river, surrounded on three sides by cliff and connected to the plateau above by steep staircases - has a sheltered, village-like character that contrasts sharply with the institutional ambition visible from the plateau. The Adolphe Bridge, the Passerelle viaduct, and the Pont Rouge all offer views across the gorge that reveal the geography that made the city what it was.

Food and Dining

Luxembourg's restaurant scene reflects its position at the intersection of French, German, and Belgian culinary traditions, and its affluent population supports a higher density of good restaurants than its size would normally generate. Luxembourgish cuisine - based on pork, river fish, potatoes, and the Moselle wines produced in the south of the country - is served in the traditional restaurants of the Grund and old town alongside the French-influenced fine dining that dominates the higher end of the market. The country's Riesling and Crémant wines are excellent and relatively little known outside the region.

The Valleys, the Corniche and Luxembourg's UNESCO Heritage

Luxembourg City's most distinctive natural feature is the system of deep river valleys - the Pétrusse and Alzette - that cut through the plateau on which the city stands, creating a topography of dramatic cliffs, viaducts, and lower quarters that gives it a character unlike any other small European capital. The Chemin de la Corniche, running along the cliff edge above the Alzette valley with views across to the Grund quarter below and the fortification walls built into the rock face, has been described as the most beautiful balcony in Europe and is the single most rewarding walk in the city. The Bock Casemates, a network of underground tunnels carved into the rock of the Bock promontory between the 17th and 19th centuries and used as shelters for the civilian population during sieges and both World Wars, can be explored on self-guided tours through 17 kilometres of galleries cut directly into the sandstone cliff. The Grund quarter below, one of the lowest points of the city and historically its working quarter, has been transformed into a neighbourhood of restaurants, bars, and cultural spaces while retaining its medieval street pattern and abbey buildings. The city's fortifications, which were among the most formidable in Europe before their partial demolition under the 1867 Treaty of London, are collectively recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and form a heritage trail that connects the Bock, the Spanish Tower, and the surviving wall sections above the valleys.

European Institutions, Finance and Luxembourg's International Identity

Luxembourg City hosts three major European Union institutions - the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Auditors, and the Secretariat of the European Parliament - which together with the European Investment Bank and Eurostat give the Kirchberg plateau a concentration of supranational governance infrastructure unmatched by any other city outside Brussels. The Philharmonie Luxembourg, opened in 2005 on the Kirchberg and designed by Christian de Portzamparc, is the principal concert venue of the Grand Duchy and programs classical music of international quality in a hall recognised as one of the finest in Europe by acoustics and architecture. The MUDAM (Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean), built within the partially restored Fort Thüngen and designed by I.M. Pei, holds the national collection of contemporary art in a setting where the contrast between the historic military fortifications and the modern glass pavilions is itself part of the exhibit. The Luxembourgish national identity, maintained by a population where over 47 per cent of residents are foreign nationals and three official languages are recognised, reflects the city's function as both a sovereign capital and a genuinely international city whose economic base in finance, steel, and European institutions has produced one of the highest GDP per capita figures in the world alongside a cultural and culinary scene that draws directly on French, German, and Belgian traditions.