Luxembourg (City), Luxembourg is a strange place. It feels a little bit like that fictitious place in that move the Princess Diaries (yes I watched it – I have three daughters). There’s a palace with guards and postcard views of valleys, bridges and remnants of castles. But it is Oh So Quiet.
Half the population of Luxembourg must be bus or tram drivers as I’ve never experienced such an efficient public transport system. It seems like every two or three minutes a tram or bus turns up on the route you want to use and it’s all free. And all the vehicles seem to be electric, which might explain the quiet.
From what I could find (or not), it is also a pretty quiet drinking scene. After traipsing up and down the valley a couple of times, we were ready for a beer – but they don’t really do pubs. Everything is a brasserie. We did find the UpDown Bar near the Grund and Scott’s Bar (no really) looks like the sport bar. Bofferding is Luxembourg’s VB and is made by Brasserie Nationale, Over half of the beer consumed in Luxembourg is made by Brasserie Nationale.
According to Wikipedia, 95% of beer drunk in Luxembourg is a lager. I can believe it. A rare treat is the Diekirch Grand Cru, which is a cracking Amber. A real euro malt bomb – it was easily my favourite beer made in Luxembourg. The setting probably helped. After a day of walking in Luxembourg you should treat yourself to a beer in the Observatory Bar on the 8th floor of the Sofitel. Magnificent panoramic views.
Another place to have a beer is the only craft beer place I could find. When you google search for brewpubs in Luxembourg, what comes up is Totenhopfen Brauhaus. Totenhopfen is at brewery but it brews in different breweries in Europe. The address provided for the Brauhaus is actually the address of a very cool bottle shop called The Store. You can get some pretty good tap beer here, including some Luxembourg brands. The address is 11 Avenue de la Liberté, 1931 Gare Luxembourg. It opens at 3pm and having a beer on the street with some pâté and bread is a very civilised thing to do.
A visit to a supermarket uncovered a European anomaly. I have seen plenty of zero alcohol beer in bars and pubs, but I have not seen a low carb or low calorie beer until I spotted Fox Premium Pils. The beer’s founders and “entrepreneurs” “enjoy an active social lifestyle” and have “dreamed of enjoying quality drinks without compromise and without unnecessary extra calories, carbohydrates & sugars”. As far as I can see they have a monopoly.
The other Luxembourg experience is Judd Mat Gaardenbounen – the national dish. We had it at the Brasserie de Cercle in the old city. In short, I would describe it as the ingredients for pea and ham soup separately before they go in a blender.
So that’s it for Luxembourg. Ticked it off.
back of the ferry 