Luxembourg

From MaxTravelz

Luxembourg is a landlocked country in Western Europe in between Belgium, France and Germany. It is the only Grand Duchy in the world and is the second-smallest of the European Union member states.

Contents 1 Regions 2 Cities 2.1 Ports and harbors 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 Climate 4.2 Terrain 4.3 History 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By car 5.4 By bus 5.5 By boat 6 Get around 6.1 By car 6.2 By Bus 6.3 By Train 6.4 By Bike 7 Talk 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Learn 13 Work 14 Stay safe 15 Stay healthy 16 Respect 17 Contact

Regions

Administrative divisions 

3 districts;

• Diekirch
• Grevenmacher
• Luxembourg

Cities

• Luxembourg - Capital

Ports and harbors

• Mertert

Other destinations

Understand

Climate

Modified continental with mild winters, although January and February do get very cold. Since a few years the summer is hot in Luxembourg, with July and August at around 35 degrees celsius.

It rains a LOT in Luxembourg, so bring an umbrella.

Terrain

Mostly gently rolling uplands with broad, shallow valleys; uplands to slightly mountainous in the north; steep slope down to Moselle flood plain in the south.

History

Founded in 963, Luxembourg became a grand duchy in 1815 and an independent state under the Netherlands. It lost more than half of its territory to Belgium in 1839, but gained a larger measure of autonomy.

Independence 

1839 (from the Netherlands)

Full independence was attained in 1867.

Constitution 

17 October 1868, occasional revisions

Overrun by Germany in both World Wars, it ended its neutrality in 1948 when it entered into the Benelux Customs Union and when it joined NATO the following year. In 1957, Luxembourg became one of the six founding countries of the European Economic Community (later the European Union) and in 1999 it joined the euro currency area.

National holiday 

National Day (Birthday of Grand Duchess Charlotte shifted by 6 months) 23 June

Get in

By plane

Luxembourg International Airport is located 6 kilometers outside Luxembourg-City. It is served by Luxair, the national airline, which flies to many EU countries (including London Heathrow and City), and Air France (Paris; actually a Luxair codeshare), KLM (Amsterdam), Swiss (Zurich), Lufthansa (Frankfurt; actually a Luxair codeshare) and British Airways (London Gatwick). Another airline to consider is VLM, often a cheaper option than Luxair. The airport is currently undergoing expansion and renovation; some short-haul intra-Schengen flights now operate out of Terminal B, and a new Terminal A is being built.

By train

Luxembourg train station can be reached from Metz, Brussels, and Trier, and most other cities in Europe via these or similar neighbouring countries' stations.

By car

Motorways from Metz (A3), Brussels (A6) and Trier (A1) connect to the ring-road around Luxembourg City, from which most other parts of the country can be reached.

By bus

There is a bus connection from Luxembourg City to the Hahn airport in Germany, operated by low cost airlines. Sometimes, there are random commuter busses to Trier and Bitburg. The train is a far preferable option for entering the country from nearby.

By boat

Luxembourg being a landlocked country, it's extremely hard to get in by boat. Go figure. But if you realy want to there are boat links form the german side of the moselle to the Lux side , but it is easyer walking over the briges

Get around

By car

Luxembourg's road infrastructure is well-developed (if not always very well thought-out). Anywhere that happens to lie along the major motorways is easily accessible via these (including Grevenmacher in the east, Mamer to the west and Bettembourg to the south). Esch-Alzette, the country's second "city" (more like a small town by international standards) has its own motorway link, the A4. In addition, a new motorway is being built towards the north of the country (Mersch, Ettelbrück), but this won't be completed until 2010 at the earliest. However, the current North Road provides easy access to these areas for the moment.

Current national speed limits are 50km/h in towns and villages, 90km/h on open country roads, and 130km/h on the motorway (110 in the rain). 70km/h also exists in some places. Speed limits are enforced by random police checks.

By Bus

Within the city, the bus service is adequate for the average tourist. Buses numbered 1-25 serve the Ville de Luxembourg, with the most useful being the 16 (Town to the Airport via Kirchberg) and the 18 (Town to Kirchberg and Auchan). Almost all buses include the central bus station Hamilius (centre of town) and the Station (Luxembourg Gare) in their routes at some point. Any bus pointing stationwards from Hamilius will probably take you there (the 3 being a notable exception).

Bus tickets are available from the driver. These cost €1.50 for one hour or €4.40 for one day. A €40 month ticket can be purchased at the CFL office under Hamilus, or at the station.

The bus service out of town is very good. Every village has a convenient bus service which runs at least once every hour. Buses numbered 100 upwards will take you out of the city. Useful routes to the north of the country include the 100 (Diekirch via Junglinster, every hour), the 120 (Junglinster, every 30 minutes) and the 290 (Mersch, frequent). However, Mersch and the south are more easily reached by train (see below).

Town buses experienced a reduced service on Saturdays (including those used mainly by shoppers), and many routes are barely existent (if at all) on a Sunday. This doesn't matter, though, since most shops and attractions are closed on a Sunday.

Almost all national buses run the same on Saturdays (which surreally count as working days in this instance) as during the week, but the Sunday service is usually reduced or non-existent.

By Train

The train network is either comprehensive or spartan, depending whether you want to go south or north. While the south is reasonably well covered, the north is limited to one line which runs from Luxembourg City to Mersch, Ettelbrück and up to Wilwerwiltz in the very north. Diekirch has a branch line from Ettelbück. To the south you can reach Bettembourg and Esch-Alzette.

The same tickets are valid on trains as busses, and the same rates as above apply. Trains in Luxembourg generally run very much on time.

By Bike

The streets and landscape in Luxembourg make for good biking territory; highly recommended. Be wary, though, of small-ish bicycle repair shops in rural corners of the country -- they may quite well charge you quite some money for fixing your bike when they actually break it, more or less subtly. For bicycle repairs, neighboring Trier (with a considerable University student population) is usually a safer bet.

Talk

Languages 

Luxembourgish (national language; "Letzebuergesch"; a strong German dialect: German speakers understand much of it, French won't, even though it contains many French words), German (administrative language), French (administrative language)

Over one third of Luxembourg's overall population is made up of foreigners, and this figure rises to 50% in the city. Hence, knowing French is your best bet if you want to converse with most people, especially as people working in shops and bars usually come from France or Belgium and refuse to learn the local language. English is widely understood by such personnel as bus drivers, but many shop assistants will only respond if addressed in French. Educated Luxembourgers are fluent in all four of the above languages; it is the "frontaliers" (workers who live across one of the borders) who may not speak English.

Every Luxembourgish person understands and speaks fluent German.

Buy

Sometimes, you won't be able to get things you desire in Luxembourg. In that case, neighboring Trier might be a good bet.

Since several products are much cheaper, many people on travel will stop here to buy cigarettes, alcohol or gas.

Eat

Drink

Luxembourg is a great place to have a drink. Due to the amount of expats who live in Luxembourg there is a wide variety of establishments. The English tend to, but by no means exclusively, congregate in the Britannia Pub, the Scots likewise in Ecosse and the Irish in The Pygmalion. There are also French, German, Spanish and of course Luxembourgish pubs and bars as well. In the evening you should aim for Urban [www.urban.lu], a refreshingly modern bar that has a wide mix of clientele. Although often overcrowded it is a great place to start a night out. Urban also has live music every Sunday evening and has sporting events shown on two massive plasma screens.

There are two main night clubs in Luxembourg: Melusina and Pulp. Melusina has a large main room with a balcony. It also has another couple of rooms at the back of the club which are worth a look. Pulp has two main rooms one for cheese and house and the other is a mosh pit. Both are worth look in if only to experience the difference.

Sleep

Learn

Work

If you're looking for work, you will be expected to know at least French, but well paid jobs will expect you to know German, French and English.

Stay safe

Luxembourg is a very safe country, no need to be worried about anything.

Stay healthy

The food in Luxembourg is good and healthy, so no worries. The climate is average, the summers can get very hot with 3 months of around 35 degrees celsius, and winters very cold.

Respect

Try to show respect for the local language and make some effort to say a few words to people. Luxembourg is a quiet town and so is not the right place for big nights out, for example.

Contact

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