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Ardennes
Home » Luxembourg » Luxembourg: Major Cities and Regions » ArdennesThe Ardennes brings to mind images of World War One and trench warfare during the Battle of the Ardennes Forest. The Ardennes is also generally associated with Belgium, but it extends into northern Luxembourg, where the region includes nearly half of the entire country and several of its major cities.
The Ardennes is a forested and mountainous region and is known for its hiking, camping, and cycling possibilities. In addition, it is off the beaten path of European tourism, so you can explore small, quiet European villages that existed centuries before the United States.
The region’s history of warfare gives rise to two of its major museums: the National Museum of Military History in Diekirch and the General Patton Memorial Museum in Ettelbruck. The former museum recounts the Battle of the Bulge of World War Two as well as the history of the Luxembourger army.
Many tourists also visit the city of Vianden in order to see two very different homes. The first is a medieval castle and the second was the home of Victor Hugo (the French author of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”) while he was exiled from France.
Vianden, on the banks of the Our River, only has two thousand people, but it does have a youth hostel and a small tourist office. Other Ardennes towns include Clervaux, Ettelbruck, Diekirch, and Esch-sur-sure, but each of these towns has fewer than ten thousand people, so there is only a minimal amount of lodging. Each of the towns does, however, offer camping nearby, and if you are backpacking through Europe, you might prefer that option anyway.
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