Travel Tips to European Countries: Luxembourg

About the country

One of the Europe’s smallest sovereign states is The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The north part of the country is blessed with greenery and hills. The Ardennes provides great scenic view. The country is small and all the tourist attractions are within reachable limits. It snows during the winters in Luxembourg, but isn’t as cold as its neighboring countries and the summer is warm which comes in May and lasts till September. Incase of emergency dial 112 or 113.

Best Time To Visit

March to June for the most pleasant weather

Culture

Generally handshake is used to greet people. Although majority of the locals speak English, Letzeburgesch is the national language of Luxembourg. French and German is also spoken by many Luxembourgers. When appearing as a guest at someone’s house, it is a good practice to bring along gift or flowers. People are expected to dress in smart casuals, but it would be best to turn up in formals when attending social functions, or clubs. It’s not advised to smoke in public places.

Shopping

Crystals and porcelains of Villeroy and Boch are very famous and the earthenware pottery from Nospelt is a shopper’s must have item from Luxembourg. VAT of 15% is applied to all items purchased other than that from campground, hotel, and restaurant, which charge 3%. Tipping is exempted.

Site Seeing

• The capital, Luxembourg is a place to be. Stay for a day or tea to explore the city. Village of Viaden has a cliff top castle which is a famous landmark.
• Feeling claustrophobic in Luxembourg City’s fortress casements, a honeycomb of damp chambers and connecting tunnels hewn from the belly of the Bock
• Taking in the superb panoramas from Citadelle du St Esprit in Luxembourg City
• Spending a lazy day discovering the wineries along the Moselle Valley’s Route du Vin
• Playing ‘king of the castle’ at viaden
• Hiking among the amazing rock formations in the primeval landscape of the Mullerthal ‘Little Switzerland’ region.
• Taxis can be hired to move around the city. They charge 10% extra from 10 pm to 6 am and if hired on Sunday, an extra 25% extra will be charged if hired for the whole day.

  Try local delicacies:

Eat judd mat gaardebounen (slabs of smoked pork served in a thick cream-based sauce with huge chunks of potato and broad beans), ferkesrippchen(grilled spareribs) and liewekniddelen mat sauerkraut(liver meatballs with sauerkraut)

Drink Moselle wines labeled ;Marque Nationale du Vin Luxembourg(which means the wines has passed various wine-tasting tests)

Further Pleasures:

To read: How to Remain What You Are, a humorous look at Luxembourg ways by George Muller, a local psychologist and writer

To watch:  the excellent Luxembourgian animation of Kirikou et la Sorciere

Accommodations

Luxembourghas many luxurious hotels, most of which are located in Lux City. Other options are guesthouses which are beautifully decorated with flower and plants.

Travel

The national airline which operates here is Luxair. There are flights from London to Luxembourg every hour. The Luxembourg airport is at a distance of 5km from the city and it takes about 20 minutes to reach there. There are provisions such as duty free shops, bank, tourism information and car hire for the passengers.

Eurostar provides a fast railway service from London, Paris, Belgium, France or Brussels to Luxembourg. Bookings can be made via telephone and £5 fee is charged for telephonic booking. Check out for offers which are provided on some of the routes. To travel within the country, Inter-Rail pass can be bought which gives the offer of unlimited train travel for 29 countries of Europe.

When driving on road, it is recommended to take the train or ferry service when passing the channel between Dover and Calais. Check out for vacancy before hand especially during the rush hours. While driving, drivers should stay on the right side and there are strict rules for drinking while driving and seat belt.

Duty Free Items

1.    200 cigarettes or 100 cigarillos or 50 cigars or 250g of tobacco

2.    1liter of spirits or 2liter of sparkling wine or 2liter of liqueur wine and 2liter of non-sparkling wine

3.    50g of perfume and 250ml of eau de toilette

4.    500g of coffee and 200g of coffee extract

5.    100g of tea and 40g of tea extract

6.    Tobacco and Alcohol can be carried by visitors over 17 years of age only.