
How do I arrive to Echternach?
Echternach is
a small border town so there are some nearby town and cities but it isn't not very well communicated by public transportation.
- Bus: there are 8 daily buses to Diekrich (aprox. 40 minutes) and at least 1 bus every hour from Echternach to Luxembourg City (45 min). Larochette has also connections with Diekrich (aprox. 20 minutes) or Luxembourg City (1 hour). Echternach has also connections with Germany, cities like Bitburg (aprox. 25 minutes), in Rhineland-Palatinate.
- Car:
in case you rented a car Echternach can be reached from Beaufort (aprox. 10 minutes), Larochette (aprox. 20 minutes), Diekrich, Luxembourg City or Mersch (aprox. 30 minutes). It is located in the border with Germany so it can be reached from many places in Rhineland-Palatinate such as Bitburg (aprox. 25 minutes) or Trier (aprox. 35 minutes).
History
What can I visit in Echternach?
Echternach is a very nice small town and is considered one of the most beautiful towns in Luxembourg. It has an important monastery history and a beautiful square, Place du Marche. Every Whit Tuesday takes place the Dancing procession of Echternach around this town, attracting many tourists and pilgrims. In Echternach surroundings hiking and other outdoors sports can be practised.
These are Echternach's main attractions:- Dënzelt: building located in Place du Marche where the justice court was placed in the past. It was built in the 15th century but rebuilt in the 19th century, having elements in Neogothic style.
- Basilica of St. Willibrord (9:30-18:30): basilica rebuilt after the destruction during WW2 of the shrine where St. Willibrord (a Northumbrian missionary from the 7th century) was buried. The crypt where his tomb was located resulted undamaged.
- Abbey of Echternach (10-17 Tue-Sun from Jul to Aug; 10-12 and 14-17 from Sep to Jun; free): Benedictine abbey first founded in the 7th century by St. Willibrord but had to be rebuilt in the 18th century, adding a French-style garden. Inside it can be visited the Echternach Abbey Museum (10-17 from Jul to Aug; 10-12 and 14-17 from Sep to Jun; 3€/ 1.50€/ free adults/ retiree/ kids), a small museum which shows Echternach scriptorium (one of the most important in north Europe), its manuscripts and teaches a bit about St. Willibrord's life. It also shows videos and objects related to the dancing procession of Echternach, the last traditional procession of its kind, part of UNESCO Intangible Cultural list since 2010.
- Echternach Prehistory Museum (10-17 Tue-Sun from Jul to Aug; 10-12 and 14-17 Tue-Sun from Jul to Aug; 2€/ 1€ adults/ kids): museum that describes the technical evolution of tools and weapons from the Paleolithic over a period of more than a million years with objects from all over the world. It's placed in Hihof house, a 15th century building with a Gothic façade.
- St. Pierre-et-Paul Catholic Church (12-17 from Apr to Nov): church that was first built in Merovingian times, on the remains of a Roman fort, and modified several times afterwards. Currently its most characteristic style is Gothic.
- Museum of Rural Architecture (10-18 from Apr to Nov): small museum located in a Rococo-style pavilion which has scaled models of buildings.
- Roman Villa Echternach: place has some rests from a former Roman manor which was 1 km long, found during the construction of a dam. It has a Didactic Museum on the Life of the Romans (10-12 and 13-17 Tue-Sun; free), a didactic museum which shows what was the life of the romans like through scenes of the daily life.
- In the east of Echternach can be found Müllerthal trails, a group of paths that go across gorges, forests and streams in this area of Luxembourg, Müllerthal. Route 1 (which goes into Wolf's gorges) and Route 2 (the most beautiful one) both start in Echternach.
- Going 10 km north there's the 2,816 inhabitants town of Beaufort (Beefort in Luxembourgish, Befort in German). The town has two castles: one of them is Beaufort Medieval Castle (9-18 from Apr to Nov; 5€/ 4€ adults/ students and kids), a 12th century castle that was neglected during many years until in 1928 its owner started the cleaning and repairng works. The other ones is Beaufort Renaissance Castle (Thu-Sun from Apr to Nov; booking in advance from Dec to Mar; 10€/ 5€ adults/ students and kids), castle built around 1645 by Jean Baron de Beck whose main characteristic is a preciously equipated interior. The castle is also home of a berry liquor company.
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Larochette Castle |
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Mersch Castle |
Where can I eat in Echternach?
There aren't many culinary offers in Echternach but some of them are Gelateria Venezia () with tasty ice creams, GriMouGi () with Mediterranean food or Oktav Amadeus ().
Beaufort has a nice restaurant, L'Auberge Rustique (), specialised in trout.
Beaufort has a nice restaurant, L'Auberge Rustique (), specialised in trout.