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Exploring the Fairytale Nation of Luxembourg

Today, I’m embarking on an exciting journey to one of the richest nations on the planet—Luxembourg. Luxembourg may be one of the world’s smallest countries, but there are many interesting things to know about it. Whether it’s the free public transport, the fact that it holds the highest GDP per capita worldwide, or that the entire old part of Luxembourg City is a UNESCO World Heritage site, I’m convinced I’m inside a fairytale. This place literally looks like a movie set, so let’s go check out Luxembourg!

I spent the last three days in Brussels, and now I’m taking a train from Brussels to Luxembourg, which is about three hours long. I have a Eurail pass, which is extremely useful if you’re traveling by train in Europe. It works out to be much more cost-effective if you’re doing lots of train journeys, so if you’re planning a trip to Europe, definitely consider it. I can’t believe this is my 30th country! Luxembourg has always interested me because of how small and wealthy it is. A lot of people who visit Luxembourg typically end up doing a day trip from Brussels or Paris, which probably makes more sense. However, I’m actually taking all my luggage and spending the night in Luxembourg because from here, I’m heading to Switzerland. It’s just closer and made more sense.

I was just thinking about it, and last year when I started my Europe journey, I had only been to 12 or 13 countries then, which is not a small number, yet compared to 30, it is quite small. It’s been an incredible travel year for me. I ended up traveling to a lot of countries that I’d already been to as well, like the US, Indonesia, the Maldives, and I’ve been to Switzerland four times already. I’m very grateful for the incredible year of traveling that I’ve had. Anyway, this is a long train journey, so I’m going to get some work done, enjoy the view outside, maybe take a nap, and see you all in Luxembourg.

Free Public Transportation in Luxembourg

The first really cool thing about Luxembourg is that public transportation in the entire country is free. My hotel is just a five-minute walk from the station, so I’m just going to walk, but hopefully, I’ll get to use the free public transportation later on. I made it to my hotel, and this place is very nice. I’m staying at the Park Inn by Radisson, and my entire trip was planned and organized by GT Holidays, a travel company based in South India. If you’re planning a trip abroad to Europe or anywhere in the world, you can contact them, and they can arrange everything for you. I asked them to book hotels near the train station, and they found this excellent hotel which was literally a four-minute walk from the station. You can also customize your tour and tell them exactly what you’re looking for. The receptionist here was incredibly nice and gave me recommendations of things to do in Luxembourg. I don’t want to waste too much time in the room, so let’s go out and explore Luxembourg.

Discovering Luxembourg City

The plan for today is that there is actually no plan. I’m just walking around, checking out a number of sightseeing places and a few great viewpoints. I plan to grab some food, and then in the evening, I’ll check out the Christmas markets since the sun sets early in winter. Oh my God, look at the view from here! This place really looks like some kind of modern fairytale. It’s very interesting to see the juxtaposition of these traditional houses against new buildings.

Fun Facts About Luxembourg

As I’m walking around, I’m going to share a few fun facts about Luxembourg with you. Luxembourg is the second richest country in the world; it used to be the first, but that has recently changed. Either way, it is one of the richest countries in the world, and the minimum wage here is the highest in all of the EU, about 1900 Euros, which is a lot of money. However, I’m sure the cost of living is also very high here. Another interesting fact is that Luxembourg is one of the smallest countries in the world, one of the safest countries, and also the country with the highest number of car ownership. Despite the free public transport, there are lots of cars here. For every thousand people, 674 own cars, which is an insanely high amount. There’s also free Wi-Fi everywhere. Luxembourg has three official languages: French, German, and Luxembourgish, which is kind of like German, but everyone here speaks English as well.

Notre Dame Cathedral

This behind me is the Notre Dame Cathedral, which I believe is the only cathedral in all of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a country, but it’s also the capital of the country, and both are small. Something kind of crazy that I’ve noticed here is that there aren’t too many people in the city. I’ve been walking around and haven’t seen many tourists or people in general, just lots of cars. About 50% of the people here in Luxembourg are actually immigrants, and about 50% travel to Luxembourg for work, so they don’t actually live here. They travel from Belgium, France, or Germany for work. On the weekends, the population of this country is kind of half of what it is during the week. The population itself is quite small, around 500,000 to 600,000 people. I just realized that the population of this country is similar to the number of subscribers I have on YouTube. Really crazy when you think about it that way.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Another very interesting fact about Luxembourg is that it is the only country in the world which is a Grand Duchy, meaning it is ruled by either the Grand Duke or the Duchess. Currently, it is ruled by the Grand Duke Crown Prince Henry, who lives in the building behind me. This is the palace, and you can actually see guards marching outside. The country’s official name is the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. I had no idea about this before visiting. The palace is gorgeous, and I can’t get over how empty this country is—there’s literally no one here.

Luxembourg City Panoramic Views

By the way, don’t let all the sunshine fool you; it’s an incredibly cold day today. I can’t feel my fingers. I’m just walking up to this point where you get a panoramic view of the city. The sun is already starting to set, so I hope I make it in time. At the end of the tunnel, you can get a panoramic view of the city, and it’s completely free. The view from the top actually looks even better with all the lights on—absolutely magical. Now, I’m walking to the center of the city to check out some Christmas markets and grab some food.

Enjoying Local Cuisine

From my very red nose, you can tell it is cold outside, so I’ve come inside to a restaurant to get some shelter and food. I’m at a restaurant called Asian Kitchen, and I met Rekhaji here, who has been living in Luxembourg for nine years since 2013. I’ve ordered some Vietnamese spring rolls and coffee. I feel like I’ve been missing Asian food, and traditional Luxembourgish food is a lot of non-vegetarian stuff, which I don’t eat, so I’ll be eating this. Nothing beats Asian food. I checked out one of the Christmas markets, but unfortunately, the main Christmas market here is closed because there was a fire yesterday. Also, it’s freezing outside—it’s minus 3 degrees, but it feels like minus 6. So, I’ve been freezing outside and am now café hopping. I’m at a café called Independent Café, enjoying some hot chocolate and fries. The hot chocolate here is so good.

A New Day in Luxembourg

Good morning, everyone! It’s a new day in Luxembourg, my last few hours here. I’m starting my day with some breakfast, and the weather app says it feels like minus 10 degrees, so that’s fun. I just took a free bus ride, which dropped me off right in front of Notre Dame. I’m heading to a viewpoint called Chemin de la Corniche, if I’m pronouncing it right, and another place called Vianden Castle. However, it is a freezing day, and I feel like I’m coming down with something, so I’m going to skip Vianden Castle because it’s not actually in Luxembourg City. There is free public transportation, so you can take the bus and go there, and I’m sure it’s worth checking out. But I’m going to save it for next time. I also got my period, so I don’t really feel like walking too much. I’m walking up to the viewpoint now, hoping it’s good.

Chemin de la Corniche

I’ve made it, and oh my God, this view is magnificent. All this time, I’ve been saying that Luxembourg looks like a fairytale, but this place especially literally looks like a fairytale. This cliff top has been described as the most beautiful balcony in Europe, and I can see why. I can’t believe this exists in the middle of a city—it’s so beautiful. If you’re in Luxembourg, you should definitely check this out. It snowed here last night.

Bock Casemates

Another thing worth checking out while you’re in Luxembourg is the Bock Casemates. It’s unfortunately temporarily closed today, maybe just in winter. It’s basically like these tunnels built underground. I’m going to stay here for a while and enjoy this view. This place was truly amazing. I’m so glad I got to check this out. The time right now is 11:30, and I’m planning to take a train at 12:05 to Zurich, so I need to run back, pack my bag, and check out.

Travel Troubles

I made it to the station. I rushed to get here on time to catch my train, but it turns out my train is actually canceled. Apparently, there’s a strike in France, and my train to Zurich goes via France. Now I need to figure out what to do because I think all the trains for the day are canceled. That’s fun. I’m going to figure out this situation, but that’s all from Luxembourg. I had such an amazing time here. This country pleasantly surprised me a lot. It’s beautiful, like a modern fairytale with so much modernity in the middle of this medieval setting. That’s the end of this vlog. I hope you enjoyed this video, and I’ll see you next time from a different place. Bye!