Luxembourg : Little Switzerland

We had a weekend free so we decided to go hike in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg more specifically in the region called "Little Switzerland of Luxembourg". This region is well known of climbers as there are rocks and cracks everywhere. This and all the hills is of course what gave the name to this region. (http://www.mullerthal.lu/en)

This region isn't known of a lot of people although it's definitely worth a stop. During this last summer holiday weekend we decided to walk the Route 2 of the Mullerthal Trail (about 37km). We started at Scheidgen (where we parked the car) and walked to Echternach (about 11km). We spend the night at the Camping Freibad in Echternachbrücker (Germany http://www.echternacherbrueck.de/campingplatz/fr). This is a big camping ground but just what we needed to put our tent en rest for the next day. Note also that they allow dogs :-)

View from the camping ground

The next day we started by having a nice breakfast at the "Pâtisserie Thinnes Claude" (http://www.editus.lu/ed/fr/patisserie-thinnes-claude-echternach-2939.html) where we had local bakeries. We then started our route to Berdorf, Mullerthal (with the beautiful "Schiessentümpel") en then back to Scheidgen.

Our little piece of advice is as we only hiked 11km the first day, it's really hard to make the last 26km the day after if you want to be able to stop to contemplate the rocks and nature around you. We would advise you to split the walk more or less evenly.

Belgium : Walking between the twists and turns of the Semois

We had always said we would go hike in the valley of the Semois near the town of Bouillon. We finally did it. We parked our car in the village of Rochehaut which has also a beautiful view on the valley and a well-known restaurant "Auberge de la Ferme". We went from Rochehaut to Dohan through the woods and then started to follow back the river to Rochehaut.

Rochehaut

We had taken our tent with us so we stopped at a rest place about 5km from Bouillon near the river. Wild camping isn't allowed in Belgium but we minimized our impact on our environment and left at sunset. We started the next day with a breakfast in Bouillon. Next to the countryside Bouillon has a lot to offer. One of the main attraction is the castle build around the 10th century and where the well-known Godefroy de Bouillon has lived.

Bouillon

 Bouillon's castle

Narrow streets near the castle

After leaving Bouillon we followed the flow of the river to arrive at the next viewpoint : the Giant's Tomb.

 Giant's tomb ("Tombeau du Géant")

At the end we had hiked about 50kms in two days. Near Poupehan we found a small portion of another hike that we had to do, the "hike of the ladders". I would recommend it to anyone who isn't scared of heights. You have nice views over the valley.