Easy Hike in Little Switzerland, Luxembourg

We stumbled upon a lovely little hiking loop in the Little Switzerland region of Luxembourg last month when Grammy was visiting.  If you are visiting Luxembourg, or you live here and have family in town and are looking for something "Luxembourgish" to do, this could be the post for you!

Hiking in Little Switzerland is popular among both residents and visitors, but it can be difficult to get to the trails without a car.  We drove to this spot in Beaufort, but as my pre-car days in Luxembourg aren't too far in the past, it occurred to me afterward that this could be a good option for public transport users looking for a walk in the woods.

The hike starts at Beaufort Castle, which is quite close to the town and the key to its accessibility.

The national public transport site/app is mobiliteit.lu, which I honestly find a bit difficult to navigate at times, even when it's set to automatically translate.  There are a few bus lines that go to Beaufort from the city center; some have transfers, but a direct line is 107 and takes just over an hour.

Stop "Beaufort Härewiss" was about as close as you can get to the castle as far as I could tell, so you can use that as your destination stop

Härewiss stop shown near traffic circle on the right.  Castle is just above the CR 128 sign on the left.

Here you can see the castle walls and and the parking lot just across the street from it

It's about a 10 minute walk to the castle from the traffic circle

You can visit the inside of the castle (which we haven't done yet, and it was closed this last time).

here's the castle website

At the parking lot directly across from the castle there's the entrance to a trail.  The hike we took was basically this route which is mapped on the posted trail sign:

I can't remember if it was this exact image, but this is close enough.  And, I realized we totally heard a woodpecker in the spot marked with a woodpecker!

I'm afraid I also can't remember the loop's exact distance, but I can tell you that it took us an hour and a half, and that we were not breaking any speed records.

starting down the trail

The first half the hike follows the stream and is quite flat and easy.  Choose a partially sunny day for the best effect of the light through the trees as you walk.

Halfway through you make a turn up a hill to loop back around toward the town.  It's fairly obvious where to go so you're not likely to miss it if you're paying attention.  Follow the little wooden signs with birds on them.  There are also some purple trail dots painted on trees, as well as lamp posts when you get back to the town.

looping back, stream is below

the hill back up isn't too steep at all

When we had nearly reached the town, we were met with this sign blocking our trail but pointing the other direction.  Danger of Death!  Hmmm.

The only thing we can figure is that there were several fallen trees partially blocking the path along the way which we had to go around, but it wasn't anything drastic that we couldn't climb past with relative ease.  There must be workers there during the week to take care of this, hence the "travaux forestiers."  There was no sign stoping anyone from the other side of the trail.  Anyway, full disclosure:  I am recommending a hike with a death warning.  Just be careful and maybe stick to the weekend for now?

At the end of the trail, you emerge from the woods and walk through the town and back down the hill a bit to the castle.

you'll see one or two purple dotted trail signs as you go through town

You can walk back to the castle if you parked at the lot, or head back to the bus stop.

And there you have a bus-friendly hike!  I have vowed not to forget my carless days!

For more of our Luxembourg castle visits, see my Where We've Been page.