Luxembourg; Saturday, 08 February, 2020

I had an early breakfast before heading out of the hotel and over to the railway station to pick up a day ticket for the public transport and then to hop on the train one stop up the line to Pfaffenthal. The journey is one of the more spectacular departures from a capital city as the line crosses the different valleys that make up the city, offering great views over the city and the fortifications.

I hopped off the train at Pfaffenthal and had a look around the local area, including taking the funicular up to the Kirchberg plateau and then heading down in the lift to the valley floor and the Pfaffenthal quarter of the city. At the exit from the lift there was a map showing a couple of suggested walking routes to explore the area, so I decided to follow one of those. It led me a little further down the side of Alzette river, that flows through the city centre in it’s deep valley, and then back towards the fortifications and the Eich gate.

The Eich gate forms part of the fortifications of the city and is joined to the Vauban Tower on the opposite side of the river by a bridge which I crossed, and then continued on my way up the fortifications as they climbed up the side of the hill, crossing over the railway line and on up to Fort Niedergrünewald on a ledge high above Pfaffenthal. I spent some time wandering through the ruins of the fort and taking in the view over the valley, before continuing on up the hill emerging back onto the Kirchberg plateau almost opposite the funicular.

From there I walked back towards the city centre across the large bridge that spans the Pfaffenthal valley from which I was able to get some good photos of the area and the fortifications. Back on the city side of the bridge I wandered the short distance to the Pfaffenthal lift and took that back down into the valley. I continued my walk through Pfaffenthal, eventually climbing up onto the Bock Promontory that overlooks both Pfaffenthal and Grund.

From the Bock I headed down the opposite side and into the equally pretty Grund area of the city. I had a long wander around Grund before heading over to the Grund lift and catching that up into the upper city centre to go and find somewhere for a late lunch.

After lunch I caught the bus back round to the Rham-plateau high above Grund, and opposite Bock where there are further ruined fortifications, along with stunning views of the passageways and casemates that have been tunnelled out of the Bock promontory. I then walked down from the plateau into Grund and, after a quick stop for refreshment in one of the very nice bars in the centre of the area, caught the bus back up to my hotel.

I stopped off at my hotel for a little while to freshen up, before heading back out into the city for dinner. After dinner I headed over to the bus stop and caught the bus back out to the Rham-Plateau so that I could get some pictures of the city at night.

If anything the Bock and Grund areas are more spectacular at night and I was able to take quite a few photos as I worked my way back down to centre of Grund and the lift that took me back up to the upper city, right by the rear of the cathedral. I had a bit of a wander around the upper town area before I found myself back over by the Pfaffenthal lift. From the observation platform at the end of the lift bridge I managed to get some good views of Pfaffenthal at night, before I hopped into the lift and headed back down to the valley floor.

I had a little wander round Pfaffenthal at night before heading back over to the railway station and taking the lift/funicular combo back up to Kirchberg where I hopped on the bus back to my hotel and a well-earned rest.