Luxembourg

 Matt really wanted to visit Luxembourg (a country I never even heard of ten years ago) because his dad went there on business when Matt was little.  He remembered his dad telling him some fun stories about the country, so he wanted to take our family there too!  


Here are some fun facts about Luxembourg:
1. Built all around hills and valleys with a cute stream running through, Luxembourg is so beautiful to look at and a great place to get really amazing travel photos with all the old buildings.  (However, if you plan on bringing a stroller, be prepared to walk up a lot of hills and carry it up some stairs.)
2. The richest country in all of Europe, (2nd in the world behind Qatar) so if you like seeing fancy cars, Luxembourg is your place!
3. Super compact city center making it easy to explore, although it is also unique in its layout because of the hills and river running through it.  Luxembourg was so different from the typical “grid” city structure and we loved winding up, down and all around the city.  
4. Ruin fortifications to explore are built throughout the city with great signage.  Kids will love walking through the “caves” and it’s fun for adults too! (*Not stroller accessible)
5. Brand new state of the art infrastructure surrounding the city and it is continuing to be built up- we saw a ton of construction areas; I would love to go back in 5 years and see how it’s changed!!!
6.  Great bus system that’s soooo easy to use and very cheap (like a dollar or two to go anywhere you want).  We used the bus system to get to our hotel from the train station and it was fast and much cheaper than if we had taken a cab.  Maps at stops are easy to read so you can figure out what bus to take to your destination and there’s an LED screen at each stop that tells you how long it will take for your bus to arrive. 


Our travel woes
I really think I would have LOVED Luxembourg and, looking back, it really was the most beautiful European country I’ve probably ever visited.  However, I had a horrible day while we were there and it’s super unfortunate because it had nothing to do with the city at all. 
Luxembourg was our last stop on our Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany trip and by the time we got there our stroller was completely ruined.  We’ve promoted our double summer infant 3D Lite stroller so many times and the company has been amazing to us.  But I have to be honest, because I would hate for anyone to run into the same problems we have had with it if I never shared our struggles using this stroller for travel.  We have always loved the 3D lite stroller because it is so narrow as a tandem stroller; we can fit it onto a train with the boys still sitting in it and even through the aisles of the train.  Most strollers would have to be folded up... that would be so annoying to get both boys out of the stroller and then get them, the stroller and all our luggage onto the train when it arrived.  When you do want to fold up the 3D lite stroller, it’s so light and easy to fold and it even has a strap so that you could carry it on your shoulder if you needed to.  It has great storage under and two handles to carry bags.  Literally, it is PERFECT for traveling across Europe with toddlers….except… the back wheel keeps BREAKING!!!!   Mind you, we most likely go over the weight limit (online it calls for 75 lbs, my boys are 20 and 35lbs but we also throw my purse, the camera, groceries and water bottles etc. so it does get heavy.  I think, what happens is the stroller frame gets out of alignment and the wheel slants enough that the rubber part of the wheel falls off.  It was SOOO annoying in Luxembourg that the wheel kept falling off all day and we had to stop and fix it every five minutes it seemed.  
I was getting super frustrated that we kept stopping and it didn’t help that it was a hot day so we were a little uncomfortable as it was.  I would have loved to have just ditched the stroller and had the boys walk or us carry them.  However, we generally track around 7-10 miles per day so there is no way both boys would be able to walk that far.  Both Matt and I have bad backs making it hard carry the kids on our backs with those carriers (besides carrying your kid all day in the heat sounds miserable to me).  If you have a great baby carrier that doesn’t hurt your shoulders/back, please let me know!!!  It was really too bad because the broken stroller tainted everything for me that day and by late afternoon I wasn’t even having fun and all I wanted to do was go back to the hotel, which is sooo not like me.  We are looking for a new stroller, by the way ;-) if anyone has a great tandem double umbrella stroller, let me know! :)
Accommodations
We stayed at the Melia Luxembourg and LOVED it.  When booking this hotel, I was expecting a business-y, chain like hotel experience.  It's big, and it's in the "new" part of the city where they seem to be building up the business infrastructure. While you do get the pros of a big hotel, there were some great surprises as well, which made our stay very memorable!

We had a fantastic view! Our room faced the old city, and there were windows galore... it was all worth it for that! You could enjoy the sun setting and see the old spires of the churches... so cool.

Our hotel room was large, very clean and had a coffee maker and refrigerator. The entire building is super updated, and the staff was so nice and helpful.  We had breakfast included, and it was really great. We were there for three nights, and it never got old... made to order eggs, and lots of brunch-y options. 
Melia Luxembourg is a bit far from the old city... a 2km walk or so.  One surprise I was referring to is that there is a path from the back of the hotel that takes you through a bunch of old medieval forts, down the cliff and into the lower part of town. That walk is part of a city wide "ruins tour", which is well marked and really interesting.  I especially liked this aspect of the location because you can also walk on the dirt roads into the old city, which we ended up doing several times.  It made for some good family memories.

I would recommend Melia, especially with a room facing the old city!

It is really unfortunate that the broken stroller tainted our Luzembourg experience because it really is an amazing place and we are soooo glad we got to see it!  Hopefully we can return when are boys are old enough to appreciate it with us on foot! :)







Comments

  1. I have only heard how charming Luxembourg is and seeing your pictures completely convinced me that's true. Is it possible to see all the highlights in just one day, Sarah?

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    1. I'm sure we could have seen a lot more if we didn't have our kids with us... there are a ton of stairs to go explore!!!

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  2. Your photos are absolutely stunning! Looks like an enchanting place to visit. Sorry your stroller mishap influenced your trip but thanks for sharing the struggle! Love that you are “real”!!

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    1. Thank you! It was too bad about the stroller :( Hopefully we'll find a more reliable one soon!

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