Luxembourg Road Trip: the Moselle, the Mullerthal and the Luxembourg Ardennes in 3 Days

North of Luxembourg City lie the Mullerthal, a region of sandstone gorges known as Little Switzerland, and the Éislek, the Luxembourg part of the Ardennes, where the rivers Our and Sûre cut deep, wooded valleys under castles. This loop starts in the capital, where you can rent a car at the airport, runs down the Moselle to Schengen, then north through Echternach, the Mullerthal and Vianden to Clervaux, and comes back past Bourscheid and Esch-sur-Sûre. It makes about 255 km in three days.

If you already know the Belgian Ardennes around Dinant and Bastogne, this is the eastern half of the same hills. Luxembourg has no vignette and no tolls for cars, so the only fixed costs are parking and tickets.

Day 1 — Luxembourg City, Schengen and the Moselle to Echternach (90 km)

Pick up the car at Luxembourg Airport. Parking in the centre of Luxembourg City is paid. If you want to see the old town first, leave the car at one of the city’s P+R car parks, such as Stade de Luxembourg or Lux sud, which are free for the first 24 hours and on the T1 tram line.

Drive south-east to Schengen, the village on the Moselle where Luxembourg, France and Germany meet. The Schengen Agreement, which opened the borders between European countries, was signed here on 14 June 1985 aboard the ship Princesse Marie-Astrid on the river. The European Museum Schengen by the riverbank tells the story; entry is free, and it is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00.

Then follow the river north. The Luxembourg Moselle runs for about 42 km, from Schengen to Wasserbillig, and its slopes are covered in vineyards. This is where Crémant de Luxembourg, the country’s sparkling wine, is made. Drive through Remich and on to Grevenmacher, then turn inland to Echternach on the Sûre, which here forms the border with Germany. Its abbey was founded in 698 by Saint Willibrord, an Anglo-Saxon monk, and his tomb lies in the Basilica of Saint Willibrord. Every year on Whit Tuesday the town holds the hopping procession in his honour, on UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage since 2010. Sleep in Echternach.

Day 2 — The Mullerthal, the Schiessentümpel and Beaufort to Vianden (46 km)

The Mullerthal has been a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2022. It covers 256 km², and its rock is Luxembourg sandstone laid down more than 200 million years ago, when the area lay under the sea. The Mullerthal Trail, about 112 km long, runs through it in three loops. Today you walk short pieces of it.

Drive up to Berdorf and walk the 200 m from the car park to Huel Lee, a cave cut out of the rock by people quarrying millstones; even the Romans took stone here. It lies on Route 2 of the Mullerthal Trail.

Then drive to the Schiessentümpel, the best-known picture in Luxembourg: the Black Ernz stream drops in three streams over a rock edge, under a small stone bridge built in 1879. Leave the car at the car park on the CR121, about 500 m from the falls, or walk about 1 km from the tourist centre at Heringer Millen.

Continue to Beaufort. There are two castles in one place: the medieval castle, built between 1050 and 1650 and now a ruin, and the 17th-century residence next to it. You can walk round the ruins on your own; the residence is shown only on guided tours, which end with a taste of Cassero, the local blackcurrant liqueur. The site is open daily from mid-March to mid-November. Drive north to Vianden for the night.

Day 3 — Vianden, Clervaux, Bourscheid and Esch-sur-Sûre to Luxembourg City (119 km)

Vianden Castle stands above the town and the river Our. It was built between the 11th and 14th centuries on the foundations of a Roman fort and a Carolingian refuge, belonged to the grand ducal family from 1890, and has been owned by the state and restored since 1977. It is open daily from 10:00 to 17:00, last entry at 16:30. The chairlift to a viewpoint at 440 m runs only in the warmer months, so check before you go.

Drive north to Clervaux. In its castle hangs The Family of Man, the photo exhibition that Edward Steichen put together for the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1955: 503 photographs by 273 photographers from 68 countries. The last complete set has been in Clervaux since 1994 and is on UNESCO’s Memory of the World register since 2003. It is open Wednesday to Sunday, 12:00 to 18:00, and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays except public holidays. The 2026 season runs to 1 January 2027; then it closes for the winter, so check the reopening date before an early spring trip.

Drive south to Bourscheid Castle, which the regional tourist board calls the largest castle in Luxembourg, on a spur about 150 m above the Sûre. From 16 October to 31 March it is open daily from 11:00 to 16:00 (last entry 15:30); in summer from 9:30 to 18:00.

Last stop is Esch-sur-Sûre, a village in a horseshoe bend of the river under the ruins of a castle first mentioned in 927; the ruins are free to walk. About 1 km west starts the Upper Sûre lake, a reservoir of 380 ha dammed in 1961. It supplies drinking water, so motorboats are not allowed. Then drive back south to Luxembourg City.

Costs

Use the cost calculator to price fuel and nights for your dates. Luxembourg has no vignette and no tolls for cars, and no fees for tunnels or bridges; only lorries over 12 tonnes pay the Eurovignette. Budget for accommodation, fuel for about 255 km, car rental, paid parking in Luxembourg City (the P+R car parks are free for the first 24 hours), and tickets for Vianden Castle, Beaufort, Bourscheid and The Family of Man (€6 in 2026, free up to the age of 21). Luxembourg has no fixed winter-tyre dates: winter or all-season tyres marked M+S or with the alpine symbol are compulsory whenever there is snow, slush, ice or frost on the road, for cars from any country, and the fine is €74.

This trip is also in the free Roadcut trip planner: change the number of days and where you sleep each night, pick your vehicle to see the fuel cost, check the weather on the road, and open each day in Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.