Luxembourg City

Why go

A financial capital that fits in a valley — the second-largest fund centre in the world, in a city of 130,000. Fortifications carved into rock — 17 kilometres of casemates tunnelled under the old town. Three working languages — Luxembourgish, French and German, often in the same conversation. European institutions — the Court of Justice and the investment bank, on the Kirchberg plateau.

The character

Luxembourg City is built on a rock above two river gorges, which made it one of the most heavily fortified positions in Europe — the Spanish, French, Austrians and Prussians all held it, and Vauban rebuilt the defences in 1684. The 1867 Treaty of London required the fortress to be dismantled and the country neutralised, and what remains is the strangest urban feature in Europe: kilometres of casemates tunnelled through the cliff beneath a modern capital.

The money came later and by design. A steel industry built on local iron ore funded the state through the twentieth century; when that declined, Luxembourg legislated its way into fund administration, private banking and satellites, and today manages assets second only to the United States. The result is a city with a population smaller than a London borough that houses European courts, global funds and a genuinely multilingual daily life — nearly half the residents are foreign nationals and a further two hundred thousand cross the border each morning to work. It is small, orderly, and far more interesting than its reputation for being neither.

Places of character

Bock Casemates — the tunnels in the cliff where the fortress garrison lived; claustrophobic and remarkable. Chemin de la Corniche — called Europe's most beautiful balcony, running along the old ramparts above the Grund. The Grund — the low quarter in the gorge, reached by lift from the upper town, with the river and the old brewery. Mudam — I. M. Pei's contemporary art museum built on the foundations of Fort Thüngen. Philharmonie Luxembourg — Christian de Portzamparc's colonnade of 823 steel columns on the Kirchberg. Cercle Cité and the Grand Ducal Palace — the modest scale of a monarchy that still lives in town.

The way to do it

Take the lift down to the Grund and walk back up along the Corniche; the city's whole geography is that vertical difference. Public transport is free nationwide, which makes day trips easy — the Moselle vineyards are twenty minutes, Vianden's castle an hour. Two days is enough for the city and one valley beyond it.

One perfect day

Coffee in the upper town, then the Bock casemates before the coaches arrive. Walk the Corniche with the gorge below and take the free lift down into the Grund for the river-level streets. Lunch of judd mat gaardebounen or something French, since the kitchens here are the best per head in Europe. Afternoon across the Adolphe bridge to Kirchberg for Mudam and the Philharmonie, both worth the trip for the buildings alone. Late afternoon train to the Moselle for Riesling and Crémant at a grower's cellar. Back for dinner in the Grund with the illuminated ramparts overhead.

Grand hotels

Le Place d'Armes — a set of joined townhouses on the main square, the traditional address in the old town. Le Royal — the business hotel on Boulevard Royal, where the fund industry meets; the definitive contemporary address.

When to go

Best expression: June, when the terraces are open and the Grund is at its best in long evenings. Consider: late November and December for the Christmas markets in the squares. Avoid if possible: deep winter weekends, when a business city empties and much closes.

The frame

Ideal stay 2 nights · Minimum 1 night · Best arrival by train from Brussels or Paris · Airport LUX, 6 km · Walkability compact but steep · Best without a car yes — all public transport is free