| The beginning
For reasons not quite known, my mother had
wanted to visit the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for quite some
time, and my trip to Vietnam in 2002 seemed to accelerate
these plans, so we (including my brother) decided to go
there in the spring of 2003.
Planning
This would be a ferry/car trip, so no
hanging around at airports...and it was time to dig up some
information about our planned destinations. I decided to
order some literature from Amazon in UK again - these being
`Rough guides - Germany`, `DK Eyewitness travel - Germany`,
and `Philip`s Europe road atlas`. I also contacted the
Luxembourg tourist office directly, as well as the Norwegian
branch of the German tourist office with a request for some
brochures. After having read up and down and surfed the net
for quite some time, a round trip began to form.
The first leg of our journey would start
from our capital, Oslo. The ferry would take us to Kiel in
around 19 hours, and we would start well rested and awake on
the continent. The first stop would be Lübeck, which is
around 70 km southeast of Kiel on a smaller main road
(Bundesstrasse). Our journey would then continue in a
southwestward direction on the A1 Autobahn past Köln
(Cologne), via the Mosel Valley to Trier and Luxembourg.
The return trip would go back to the start of the Mosel
Valley, then southeastwards through the most scenic part of
the Rhine Valley, past Mainz and Frankfurt to Würzburg,
where our road would take us northwards on the A7 Autobahn
past Hannover, Hamburg and back to the ferry in Kiel - the
last part would include an overnight stop in the old town of
Goslar, not far from Hannover.
After scouring the obtained information
and road map, and deciding on a rough plan on what to see
and visit, we set aside 14 days for the trip, to be on the
safe side and not underestimate the distance we would be
covering.
And they`re off to a good start...or?
A 19 hour boat trip sounded quite long to
me, as I am not used to cruising like this for long periods
of time. Indeed, after a bit of walking around and getting
to know the ship, it was time to get bored..finally, night
came, and with it, the discovery of how loud those engines
sound when you have a cabin pretty near to it. And with the
addition of fog and a blaring horn throughout the night, our
hopes of waking up fresh the next morning dwindled fast.
This might be a long day...back on land
again in Kiel and it was time to look for signposts that
said `Fernverkehr` which would translate to something like
`faraway-traffic`, mostly referring to motorways (called
Autobahns in Germany). We did find the Bundesstrasse leading
to Lübeck, and after an hour and a half, we were there.
Hansestadt Lübeck
This town is a good example of the
heritage from the Hanseatic age, when there was a lot of
trade between ports on the Baltic Sea. Now counting 214.000
citizens, it has also achieved status as a UNESCO World
Cultural Heritage Site, and the old town is quite big with a
lot of architecture that is typical for the age. Major
sights include the town hall with its small spires, the
Marienkirche, and the Holstentor (`tor` in German meaning
`gate`) which also houses a museum. Lübeck is also
famous for its traditions with making marzipan, with brands
like Niederegger dating as far back as the early 1800s.
The remainder of the day saw us on the A1 towards the Ruhr
area, which is quite densely populated, with several bigger
cities such as Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Essen and Köln.
Our chosen stop for the night was the Waldhotel
Eskeshof on the outskirts of Wuppertal. This place was a
pleasant experience, as it was situated right at the end of
a quiet road, and indeed lying near the forest. The only
major `sight` in Wuppertal as far as I know is its unusual
tranportation form - a monorail, dating back to the early
1900s. A monorail is a railroad which travels on an overhead
rail structure, this one being inverted (suspended), making
it a somewhat peculiar sight above traffic.
Köln & Mosel
The next day started with a 50 km drive
from Wuppertal to Köln. In the days of the Roman
empire, this was known as Colonia, hence the english name of
Cologne (and yes the name of `eau de Cologne` or `Kölnerwasser`
is from here). This is Germany`s 4th largest city and counts
somewhere around 1 million inhabitants. The most famous
landmark would have to be the cathedral, which rises 157
metres above the flat cityscape and is so easy to find that
you don`t need a map to get there - signs will also show you
the way. The cathedral, which is mainly gothic in style, has
evolved for 600 years until it was finally completed in
1880. We did a short roundtrip, where we parked the car,
walked to the cathedral and inside it (remember to try not
to break your neck when you look up at the spires), then
down via the somewhat smaller Romanesque church of St.
Martin, across the Hohenzollern railway bridge which crosses
the Rhine river, then back again across the bridge to the
car.
We noticed that stops like these easily eat up a couple of
hours of the day, even though they may not seem to be that
long. Still, there was more to come, and we followed the
stretch of Bundesstrasse which covers the floor of the Mosel
valley, around 190 km from Koblenz to Trier. Spring seemed
to have been very dry so far, as there was not much green
stuff to be seen at all, naked trees and vineyards on the
gently sloping valley walls, which I am quite sure made our
visit less interesting than it could have been. However, we
decided to go for a `quick` visit to a side valley which
houses the peculiar Burg Eltz castle. This was a somewhat
more unusual sight compared to the other numerous castles in
the valley, as this one seemed to be a mix of both old and
new building style, and looked as if it had originally grown
straight up from the rock on which it is perched.
Time for another overnight stop - Berghotel
Kockelsberg on the outskirts of Trier. This small hotel
is every bit as beautiful as it seems to be on the home
page, and has a great location away from all traffic, lying
on a hill slightly overlooking the town. The staff was also
very friendly and hospitable, and the two we spoke to were
very well versed in the English language - one with a
cockney dialect (found in part of London), while the other
had a broad American accent - both very surprising for
Germans, as they usually tend to embrace their own language
eagerly.
The town of Trier itself is Germany`s
oldest towns, which says quite a lot, as Germany has an
abundance of old history and historic sites. Its age is
officially around 2000 years, while an inscription on one of
the buildings on the town square says in Latin that `before
Rome, Trier stood one thousand and three hundred years`, a
legend which refers to it as being founded in 2000 BC.
Officially, it was founded by the Romans as Augusta
Treverorum, this town was one of the biggest in the northern
parts of the territory at its time, with around 100.000
inhabitants - as many as today - and it had two bath
facilities, namely Kaiserthermen and Barbarossathermen (the
biggest north of the Alps), it had a 6.4 km long city wall,
of which today only remains the big gate leading into the
town - Porta Nigra, named so for the dark discolouration of
the stone it was built from, and it had its own amphitheatre
which roomed 20.000 spectators - not bad for a town
considerably smaller than the seat of the empire. The old
part of town is a very nice experience, as there are
buildings and build styles from several different epochs and
countries - I felt that some of the buildings on the main
square looked as if they had been fetched from Prague, while
others looked more oriental in style. The amphitheatre is a
bit outside the old town, and if you want to go for a stroll
similar to the one we did, be prepared to spend at least 3-4
hours. Other sights include old cranes on the Mosel river,
and the cathedral, which houses an impressive relief cupola.
Ra-di-o Lux-em-bourg!
From Trier, Luxembourg City is a mere
stone throw away - 50 km, and you will barely notice
crossing the border. We were lucky enough to arrive on a
friday afternoon during rush hour, and noticed that road
signs were different from the ones in Germany - here, they
liked to write directions and lane info on the lanes
themselves, so as these were packed as we got there, it took
quite a while to find our way to our chosen hotel - the Etap
which belongs to the big Accor
Hotels chain. The hotel itself was brand new and almost
smelled of fresh paint - the standard was ok enough but
nothing spectacular - but then again, this is the budget
series of the Accor chain, so � 35 per night including
breakfast (biscuits and jam) was definitely enough. The
hotel was situated right next to the airport, which was no
problem really, since the traffic there was mostly from 7 in
the morning till 23 in the evening. Our problem was however
that there was a dog expo this weekend, and a lot of people
had chosen this hotel and the Ibis (also part of the Accor
chain) next door to stay in. Many left their dogs in their
cars during the night, and thus, a fair bit of the night was
spent listening to the dog`s argumenting against this - not
exactly lucky timing on our behalf!
Luxembourg City itself is perched on a
slightly rocky terrain, and is divided into two halves by
the Petrusse and the Alzette valleys. These are covered by
only a couple of bridges, which tends to create a few
traffic jams here and there. As one of the European Union`s
main cities and a financial capital, there is quite a few
modern buildings to spot in addition to the much older ones
(it houses e.g. the European Court of Justice). It was
founded in the year 963 AD, originally as just a castle
perched on top of a rock, but with a 270 degree view - a
great advantage for fortifications. The capital itself
houses 75.000 of the country`s population of 465.000, and
the total area of the country is only 2600 square
kilometres. The official languages are German and French, in
addition they have their own language which some people in
the countryside or villages speak - Lëtzebuergesch.
We found out that there are two sides of
Luxembourg City - the trafficked, noisy central parts of
town including the bridges, and the countryside-feel valleys
where you can take a leisurely stroll and enjoy the houses
and see the remains of the fortifications of the old castle.
What remains of these is a newer tunnel network - named the
Bock and Petrusse casemates. 17 of the original 23 km of
these tunnels still exist, while only a small part of this
is open to the public. This is well worth a visit, and you
will also enjoy some views over the valley floor from the
cannon openings. This can easily be included with one or
both of the classical walks in the valley - the Vauban and
the Wentzel walks (see links at the bottom of the page,
under the official Luxembourg pages).
Today is..castle day!
A whole day was set aside to a visit to
the countryside, including two nice looking castles. The
first was the obvious watchdog of the small village of
Vianden (pronounced with a German `v`, thus `Fianden`) as it
was perched on top of a small hill around which the village
was situated. It was constructed between the 11th and the
14th centuries. Originally the seat of the counts of
Vianden, it eventually fell into ruin during the 19th
century as it was sold piece by piece under Dutch reign,
until as late as in 1977, the family of the Grand Duke of
Luxembourg transferred it to State ownership, thus beginning
its restoration.
You get to walk through most of the
castle, and it is interesting to see the insides, which is
not nearly as pompous as the ones you may find elsewhere.
Another short drive sent us to the Müllertal,
where we found the ruin of the Beaufort castle. This was
what one could call an open-air museum, as the roofs were
long since gone after a fire. The style was clearly
different from the one in Vianden, even though it was built
in the 12th century. Here, we found some very small rooms -
but one of them was obviously for elite visitors, as a
picture showed a knight washing himself in a stone basin,
and the basin was indeed visible - even with an exit hole
straight into the garden!
This castle seemed to belong to a darker age, as we observed
a prison cell complete with chains, as well as a torture
chamber with devices that one would recommend against using
one`s imagination too much to figure out how they worked.
Just outside the castle lies the start of
a footpath through the Müllertal, and we decided to go
there to devour the impressions from the last days. We were
however soon welcomed by thunder, lightning and rain, and
decided to cut the walk short and head back to the car and
the capital.
The return trip begins
Our return trip saw us quickly back to Koblenz via the A13
with a short stop inside the town itself to visit the
Deutsches Eck. This is where the two rivers Mosel and Rhine
meet, forming an even bigger Rhine. The Eck, which
translates to `corner`, has been built into the shape of the
bow of a battleship, and on top of a pedestal as large as a
house sits a huge statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I. The
coat-of-arms of all the 16 regions of Germany is also
displayed in a semi-circle behind the statue.
Koblenz is also the starting point for the most scenic part
of the Rhine valley. A 100 km stretch to the twin town of
Mainz/Wiesbaden sees you through numerous small villages,
and as you drive by you will see castles perched atop
virtually every hilltop. One of the most famous stops is the
Lorelei cliff, rising some 120 metres above the most narrow
part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea,
thereby causing a strong current, which in addition to the
rocks below have caused many boat accidents there. The name
is also that of one of the Rhine `sirens` (similar to the
ones found in Greek myth) who lured seafarers to their doom.
We had originally planned to stay
overnight somewhere in the Rhine valley, as we figured this
would be enough driving and sightseeing for one day.
However, time was on our side, even though we had a strange
incident where the road was closed due to construction work,
which sent us onto a ferry landing to cross the river. This
one turned out not to be operative, so we had to drive back
to the nearest bridge and continue on the other side of the
valley instead - a good thing that there are two roads
leading through the Rhine `gorge`. We managed to continue on
the autobahn past Frankfurt and ended up in Würzburg
before the clock showed 17. As this was not quite according
to plan, it was time to bring out some literature and search
for a hotel. This was done on a Walmart parking lot (of all
places), and we ended up aiming for a castle hotel visit -
namely Schloss Steinburg.
After searching a while for the road leading up there, we
found out that it had an absolutely spectacular placement
with a marvellous view over the entire town, and even had
its own vineyard on the slopes below. Each of the 52 rooms
have been individually furnished, making every visit unique
(unless you request your old room of course...), the stairs
were creaking, and there were coats-of-arms and even a
full-fledged plate armour on display in the breakfast room,
standing watch over the guests perhaps?
The breakfast was great, with a huge decoration of fresh
roses on the main table, and most you would want out of a
breakfast buffet - and something else: white wine jam! I
tried it, and it did indeed taste like white wine, but
presumably with the alcohol removed.
It was time for a bit of sightseeing in Würzburg,
the main attractions being the Schloss Marienberg and the Würzburg
Residenz. We chose to go for the Residenz and nothing else,
and this turned out to be quite an experience of pompous
baroque decorations! With that being said, it was quite a
magnificent structure. Construction started in 1720 and it
was finished in 1744. Sadly, almost all of the town,
including the old parts, was ruined by a British bomb raid
in 1945, even though Würzburg had no military
significance. It took 20 years to painstakingly rebuild what
was ruined, while the restoration of the Residenz wasn`t
finished until 1987 - some of this work is on display and
explained in detail along the hallways of the Residenz -
quite fascinating reading. The magnificent staircase, which
was designed by the artist Balthasar Neumann and decorated
by the Venetian Giovanni Battista Tiepolo has an amusing
tale of its own: sceptics would say that the staircase,
being roofed by an unsupported vault, would collapse
eventually, while the designer claimed that it would shrug
off cannonfire. No tests were done however - until the
fateful air raid in 1945 where the building was heavily
damaged - but the staircase survived intact. The ceiling
fresco is one of the largest ever made, measuring 18 x 30
metres.
More return trip
The rest of the return trip was covered by
the A7 autobahn, apart from a small detour and overnight
stop in the old town on Goslar. Situated at the northern end
of the smal Harz mountain area, it is probably one of the
best preserved complete old towns in the country. There are
some 1500 houses which all make up the UNESCO World Cultural
Heritage town, some of them dating as far back as the 16th
century. This is definitely a place where it is easy to get
lost, as the narrow roads wind left and right and might lead
you in the opposite direction than what you intended to in
the first place. A good map is recommended here. Some of the
major sights include the town Marktplatz with the church,
old houses and more old houses - and some different-looking
but still old houses :)
We tried dining at a chinese restaurant
here, named Goldene Palast, right next to the church. This
was a very pleasant experience, and we tasted for the very
first time a drink imported from Japan - delicious sweet
plum wine on the house. This is definitely a place to return
to if Goslar is re-visited (and it was indeed).
Hannover was our final stop before the
port town of Kiel. In addition to being Germany`s tech city,
there are some neat other sights here - including the 1913
Rathaus (which is town hall - the German name sounds amusing
when pronounced in English, of course :)
There`s also the EXPO sights, including a rainforest house,
and the large baroque Herrenhäuser Garten.
After an overnight in Kiel, it was time
for the final leg of the journey - the ferry ride back to
Oslo. This time we ended up with a quieter night, and had a
nice sunset as well as a pleasant breakfast in the `Crystal
Room` of the ship Prinsesse Ragnhild (Color Line), although
this ship has been replaced since then.
What was originally planned as a 14 day
trip, turned out as a 9 day trip - a lesson learned was not
to underestimate the efficiency of the German autobahns and
the generally excellent infrastructure there.
General information
Both Germany and Luxembourg are countries
in which it is easy to get around. The infrastructure is
really good, and efficiency and road culture is well above
average. Driving is not a problem, but the autobahns with no
speed limit may seem a bit scary at first. However, there
are always at least two lanes, often three when near bigger
cities, but slower moving traffic such as lorries, buses and
trailers will fill up the rightmost lane and cruise at
around 90-100 km/h. A recommended average speed depending on
traffic density is around 120-130 km/h. Construction work is
abundant, as are speed reductions, so pay attention to the
road signs. If there are any sudden stops, you will often
see cars in front of you turn on their disaster lights - to
warn drivers coming from behind - you should follow this
good unwritten rule as well. Also, open up your radio for
incoming traffic info, as you will hear important
information about traffic jams (staue) here - these tend to
happen even on the autobahns near the big cities such as
Hamburg and the Ruhr area during rush hour.
Also, remember that Germany is the only
European country with no speed limit on their autobahns -
when you cross the border to a neighbouring country, speed
limits will again apply - in Luxembourg it is 120 km/h on
the motorways.
Get a good road map which covers the area
you will drive through - mine showed all entry and exit
points with numbers matching the ones found on the signs - a
great help indeed. A good one should also show the locations
of possible `Raststätte`, most of which have high
quality cafeterias and very clean toilet facilities.
In Germany, `Ordnung muss sein` - `there
must be order`, and people will point out if you do
something wrong traffic wise - but it is out of helpfulness,
not a desire to complain.
Language barriers do exist - Germans tend
to prefer to keep to their own language, and some will
refuse to speak English - accommodation wise, this may vary
but tends to follow the standard of your chosen overnight
stop as well as the location - generally, higher standard
hotels have english speaking staff.
UNESCO sites visited on the journey:
Hanseatic
City of Lübeck
Cologne
Cathedral
City
of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications
Upper
Middle Rhine Valley
Würzburg
Residenz with the Court Gardens and Residence Square
Mines
of Rammelsberg and Historic Town of Goslar
Links:
Official Lübeck tourist site: http://www.luebeck-tourism.de/
Trier info: http://www.trier.eu/
Official Luxembourg site: http://www.visitluxembourg.com/
or http://www.lcto.lu/
Castle Vianden: http://www.castle-vianden.lu/english/index.html
Offician Goslar tourist site: http://www.goslar.de/englisch/index.htm
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