Hiking Mullerthal, Echternach to Bourglinster, Luxembourg

Noble family home, Echternach

The sun rose long before we woke and although it was still early it coated our room in a warm yellow light. Today was the start of our Mullerthal trail hike and having gotten a glimpse of the lush beach forest and towering jurassic sandstone formations yesterday evening, we were excited to explore the Grand Douchy de Luxembourg region further. 

Time hop forward and a few coffees later with a cheery farewell to our tall and friendly Luxembourg Airbnb host we set off towards the town of Echternach ready to get our hike on! 

The Mullerthal trail which we were endeavoring to do is located in north east of Luxembourg close to the German border and encompasses three circular routes which all together are roughly 112km long. 

View of Luxembourg northwards

However there is also a multitude of smaller, kind of choose-your-own-adventure trails too. Although we would have loved to do all three routes of the Mullerthal trail we were restricted in time and so opted to do two of the trails in a figure eight type loop and miss the extras. 

The small medieval town of Echternach, where we left our car, is considered the oldest town in Luxembourg and was founded in 698 by a monk from North England. 

City of Echternach

However long before that the town was also a thriving Roman settlement. 

Approaching the picturesque city we saw its towering church, the Basilica of Saint Willibrod but continued on outside its historical city walls to the supermarket to stock up on essentials for our next three days of hiking. Salami? Check! Tuna? Check! Wraps? Water? Chocolate? Nuts? Check! 

Soon we were ready but lost a bit of time searching around the pedestrian only streets for the closed tourism office. 

Disappointed that we couldn't get a trail map we considered ourselves lucky enough to find the signposted route leaving from the town's bus station. That should be good enough we assumed but we were also aware that we don't have a great track record of staying on the right path. So off we set anyway, dancing across the cobbles, first taking a narrow path straight out of the town and marching on up the grassy hill. Glancing back we got a wonderful view with the sun bouncing of the tiled roofs; the small city seemed caught in a morning haze.

Picturesque views

Heading down hill

Adorable bridges

Climbing up again

Our first stage of the Mullerthal trail was from Echternach to Berdorf. We steadily climbed further and deeper into the woods enjoying the rising sun on our soon-to-get-sweaty backs. There was hardly a soul around and for the next several hours we were alone on the track immersed in the nature and fresh early morning air. The trail here wound around amazing rock formations, craggy terrain-like cliffs which hid in the rich green woods and had interesting names like Hargottskap, Einsiedelei and Daxelay. We also passed old caves, climbed down into canyons and squeezed our way through towering cracks. It was like getting lost in a world reminiscent of a Tolkien book.

Hollay cave

Walking through the caves

Posing in the crevices

Rock cliffs along the trail

Selfie in the sandstone

John peeking out!

Through the tall rocks

Narrow paths

Green moss covered the path and wild spring flowers popped out along a myriad of tiny creeks. At one point we came out into open farm land and then quickly returned into the dense bush. We soon reached Berdorf, known as the 'Heart of the Little Luxembourgian Switzerland'. We're not quite sure why it's called that but within a blink of an eye we had walked through the tiny town and were back in the bush heading to the village of Mullerthal, the namesake of the trail.

A good rest stop

Overhanging cliffs

The trail goes up!

Beautiful forest floor

Fields approaching Berdorf

From Berdorf we hiked for another two hours to the charming village of Mullerthal where we made a stop for lunch.

After lunch, just when our legs had decided they would rather stay seated, we hit the road again. The path continued along a small creek, the black Ernz, as we cut onto the trail three circuit. 

Here the trail was perhaps flatter but the scenery was still breathtaking! Again we hardly saw a soul. There was nothing but the cicadas, birds and the odd orange slug. 

Huge orange slugs

Lunch stop, Mullerthal village

We hiked on through the forest, admiring the surreal rock formations and took a short break by a large swamp area before plodding again into the thick fairytale-like forest. By 3pm the sun was blazing down on us but we managed to stay well covered under the tall trees.

Enjoying the shade under the trees

Stunning scenery 

Resting in the sun

Chasing the black Ernz

Up we go! 

Taking a rest at the 'ripsmoor'

John down below, plodding along

Mini waterfalls 

Dancing under the trees

Entrance to Bourlinster Castle

By the time we made it to our youth hostel in the village of Bourglinster we were pretty knackered. Our legs, unaccustomed to walking on hills of any sort, were silently crying and our knees were whinging. Ignoring them we showered and quickly trekked a little up the hill in the small village to explore the Bourglinster castle. 

First mentioned in records dating back to 1098 the old castle sits high over the town and although its history is long we felt that its restoration has taken away some of its elegance, so it was a little ho hum. Worn out and exhausted we had an early night and got ourselves ready to tackle more the next day. A great day ended with lights out before the sun had even set. 

Tot siens,

John and Kara

Ferns on the track

Walking in the sandstone