Bourscheid
The largest of the country's medieval castles, set on a spur high above the Sûre. An hour north into the Ardennes for tenth-century ramparts and a view over the whole valley.
An hour north of the capital, where the country folds into the wooded hills of the Ardennes, Bourscheid castle stands 150 metres above a bend of the Sûre. Built around the year 1000 on older, even Roman, foundations, it is the largest hill castle in Luxembourg — a full circuit of curtain wall studded with eleven towers.
You can read its centuries in its stones: the outer wall of 1350, the Stolzembourg house of 1384, the artillery bastions of the 1500s. Victor Hugo passed through and sketched the valley. An audio guide in seven languages walks you round the ramparts, and the view from the top takes in the whole bend of the river. It is open daily, long hours from April to mid-October, shorter ones through the winter.
It is an easy day from any of our doors — a free train north from the central station by Résidence Gare, then the valley. Come back down to the city for dinner.
