Hiking Esch-sur-Sure to Vianden, Luxembourg

The view down to Esch-sur-Sure

We trudged up the steep embankment. It was already 23 degrees and although the wind was cool, the sun warmed up our backs. Around us the bush echoed the noises of birds and the breeze rustled the dry leaves on the ground.

It was hard going, we seemed to be going higher and higher, zig-zagging our way up without plateauing. We had arrived in the small village of Esch-sur-Sure located in the north of Luxembourg under an hour ago and were already tackling the first part of our four day hike. 

Quaint bridges out of town

Our drive down had taken almost 3.5 hours but we felt refreshed and ready. 

Behind us, looming tall over the small town of the same name, the ruins of Esch-sur-Sure castle looked like something from a fairytale. Sweeping around the village, surrounding it, was the crystal clear river Sure glistening and promising protection. 

We wondered if the entire trip would just be an uphill battle, for it was quite a change from walking the Netherlands' lowlands but to-be-promised views of magical crumbling castles deep within the mountains spurred us on.

Heading up the hill

Walking pants on!

We were very excited to be out hiking, having longed for the mountains and their surrounding dense nature. We had decided to start off slowly and tackle a shorter distance today which lead to us being in the secluded and medieval village of Esch-sur-Sure. With the intention of following two circular walking routes we arrived, parked the car and went off in search of the first trailhead with only a fuzzy map to guide us. We got a little disorientated with the road layout and ended up climbing into the castle.

The cobbled streets

Down past the church

View from the Esch-sur-Sure castle ruins

Another view

The old roman-style tower

The church steeple and part of the castle ruins

The cobbled-street village of Esch-sur-Sure was first built around 927 when the land was sold by a local abbey to a Nobel family, who began to build a large Romanesque tower atop the tallest hill and surrounded it by farm buildings.

Down across Esch-sur-Sure

Later in the 13th century the tower was expanded on creating a more traditional gothic-style castle. A small village grew up around the castle and eventually the town built a defence wall around its entirety. 

However by the 1700s the small castle had been deserted by the common folk after the French had conquered Luxembourg city and today its ruins stands proudly above the little town. 

We clambered over the ruins admiring the view and looking for our path. Locating it we trudged back down only to begin our ascent back up!

Castle ruins

View towards the old tower

Picnic lunch with a view! 

Kara climbing the tower

Fast forward 8 kilometres through the pine trees, the rolling fields and the crunch of leaves under foot we were back in the village for lunch. With a view of the village we munched our food and decided to visit a few more castles rather than walk the second circular route. Happy with our decision, we jumped back in the car and cruised towards the town of Ettelbruck, through the almost untouched farm lands following the winding Sure river.

Driving in Luxembourg

Empty roads

First view of Bourschied Castle

Lost between the heavily bush-clad hills and the sweeping valleys is Bourscheid Castle, the largest castle in Luxembourg. Built over a thousand years ago when knights and banner men roamed the countryside fighting just causes. The large castle was home to the Lords of Bourscheid, loyal to the Duke of Luxembourg.  Although the imposing castle fell into ruins after it was abandoned in the 19th century there have since been efforts to restore it.

Old remnants of a time long past

Inside the Bourschied Castle ruins

Our parking spot under the castle

The inner courtyard, Bourscheid Castle

Located on a steep hill high above the Sure river with a clear view to the horizon, it has probably witnessed its fair share of battles and as we approached we couldn't help but imagine how grand it once must have been for a weary traveler returning home. Protected by an inner wall, outer wall, eight fortified towers and a moat the castle stone walls were the impenetrable skin that held everything together. We took our time looking around the inner courtyard, peeking through the cracks within the small stone walls. What a different unfamiliar life they must have lived. 

Exploring around the castle

Castle outer walls

Spring flowers, Vianden

Soon we were on the road with one more stop before making our way to our Airbnb for the evening. Our next stop was the delightful historic town of Vianden with its stunningly restored medieval castle, spectacularly situated on a rock high above town.

Think charming cobblestoned streets with typically pastel-coloured Luxembourg mansions and a gorgeous green valley backdrop. 

Hiking up through town, Vianden

The history of Vianden goes far back, with evidence of an old Roman castle preceding the town's current castle. 

However, the earliest documented mentions of the town, then called Viennensis, date from the end of the 7th century. 

See the castle behind the flowers?

Old streets in Vianden

Building of the current castle began in the 11th century over the old Roman ruins and Vianden soon became the seat of the Counts of Vianden, with the city gaining its charter in 1308. The castle was one of the largest and most beautiful feudal residences of the romanesque and gothic periods in Europe. 

Vianden Castle, high on the hill

Until the beginning of the 15th century it was the seat of the influential Counts of Vianden who could boast their close connections to the Royal Family of France and the German imperial court. 

The town flourished in the Middle Ages, when it was known for its craftsmen but when the Counts of Luxembourg left for the Netherlands (combined with the effects of fire and an earthquake) the castle slowly deteriorated. 

The final blow came in 1820 when William I of the Netherlands (who then owned it) sold it to a local merchant, reducing it to a ruin. 

John and the castle view

Street in Vianden

Today however it has made a full swing around and has been amazingly restored. As we hobbled around under the late afternoon sun we noticed that it was a very popular place to be. There were people everywhere! 

Lots of people walking to the castle

An old king on the bridge

Heading up the street

Interesting shaped homes

The one road in town

We hiked up to the castle and had a short look around the exterior then returned to the quaint little town. Around the town there were blooming spring flowers and with the sunshine it made for a beautiful afternoon to end our first day in Luxembourg. 

Tot siens,

Old town church

John and Kara

Beautiful little streets

Giethoorn, Overijssel, Netherlands

Welcome to Giethoorn

It was a gorgeous morning this Sunday, a welcoming change after our bitterly cold and even snowy past week. Eagerly we left home mid morning to explore a new part of North Holland with friends visiting from the UK.

We were off on a bit of a rural adventure to the small northern village of Giethoorn and while we were there, to cruise the nearby Noordoostpolder 100km Tulip route.  

The busy main canal

Located in the province of Overijssel the historic town of Giethoorn (pronounced as ‘Hee-thaw-rn’) was founded by a group of fugitives from the Mediterranean region around AD 1230. 

The fugitives gave the small settlement the name 'Geytenhoren’ meaning Goat Horns due to the large quantities of wild goat horns they found, possibly after the goats had drowned in a flood. 

Boats on the water

Today, the small and idyllic island village is most famous for its lack of roads (it actually has no roads and is only accessible by water) and its almost magical-like series of floating islands that are connected together by over 150 old wooden bridges. 

It was a relatively longish drive from Amsterdam with several stops as we waited for raised road bridges to descend but we eventually arrived and excitedly parked on the outer fringes of the old town. Our first point of call was to get ourselves a boat, the cars of Giethoorn, if you will! 

With several outlets offering basic electrical boats we chose the closest one to the carpark and silently set off. 

Kara and the crew

Choosing our electric boat

Sailing around in Giethoorn gives you a feeling that you're in a fairytale. You hear birds chirping and the green leaves hanging down from branches rustle in the wind. 

Fancy a lake for a backyard

Heading under the bridges

Farm houses of Giethoorn

Quiet little roads of Giethoorn

18th century Dutch houses

We sailed beneath lovely wooden-arched bridges as voices of the other punters faded. We passed by classic 18th century Dutch-style houses and quaint farms nestled over the dark canals surrounded by immaculately kept lawns.

We saw thatched cottages adorned with red and white flowers, decorative lace curtains at window sills and boats parked out front against weathered jetties. 

A beautiful lawn!

Coming around another bend

Like a water-way drive way

Most houses had typical Dutch-styled thatched roofing made of grey coloured reed, and chimneys on top. Some houses had a hump-backed roof and small semi-circular shaped windows in the attic made it appear like the house had eyes of its own! What was fascinating was that each house is situated on its own island and we wondered how they built them so long ago- perhaps just hard slogging. The little islands were connected to each other only by a bridge or by boats on the canal.

Meandering down the village

Little waterways

Surrounded by a beautiful lake! 

We continued on and Kara had a go at driving; we made a turn at the town's windmill and reached the ‘outskirts’ of the village. For a town with no roads, these outskirts were obviously a huge lake! This water is only three feet deep (supposedly) but stretches out as far as the eye can see. 

Part of Giethoorn village

On the lake

Rest stop in the middle of the lake

Cute house surrounded by water

After our tiki tour on the canals we stopped for lunch and then made our way towards the region of Flevoland which is Holland's biggest flower-growing region.

Lets take the Tulip Route

Laying 4 meters below sea level, this area located in the northeast of the country was built up from reclaimed land of the Zuiderzee around the time of WWII and has the perfect conditions for growing tulips.  Starting in the small town of Emmelord the spectacular 100km Tulip Route meanders through over 2500 acres of flowering fields. 

The route has become the longest and most colourful route in Holland and even, according to National Geographic, one of the world’s ultimate road trips!

One of our favourite fields 

Partners in Tulips!

Happy, Happy, Happy

Kara in the fields

White and rose coloured tulips

Although we had spent a bit of time exploring the tulips to the south of Amsterdam over the last two weeks we were excited to see more of the Netherlands' beautiful tulip fields. They didn't disappoint, in fact they were the brightest most vivid tulips we've seen yet! Making several stops within the first ten kilometres we clambered constantly out of the car and roamed around the rainbow of flowers.

Rays of sunshine!

A sea of orange!

The driving was slow as we stopped at almost every field we saw until it started to get a bit much and we began to do a few drive by, open window, point camera type shots. In the end, we only did about 1/3 of the total 100km route before we felt we had probably tortured our guests enough!

Tot siens,

John and Kara

Royal crimson 

Drive by photo