Church of Our Lady and City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
257 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 49
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 257 km round trip from Trier - roughly 3 h 49 in the saddle. The stops in between: City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F, La place forte de Longwy, back through La place forte de Longwy and back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F. It crosses Germany, Luxembourg and France - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Scenic road chapters
Luxembourg Mullerthal Route
For about 49 km this is Luxembourg Mullerthal Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
Length
49 km
Named road
Luxembourg Mullerthal Route
Luxembourg Mullerthal Route
The ride follows Luxembourg Mullerthal Route for 39 km.
Chapter facts
Length
39 km
Named road
Luxembourg Mullerthal Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Church of Our Lady
Trier's Liebfrauenkirche stands right beside the cathedral, and from the outside it looks as if two churches had been squeezed onto a plot that was too small. It is one of the earliest Gothic churches in Germany, built in the thirteenth century, and its plan is startling: not a long nave but a Greek cross set inside a circle, with twelve rounded recesses, so that from above it looks like a flower with twelve petals. The French influence is clear, as the builders borrowed from the cathedrals of Champagne and the Île-de-France, and the result is a light, airy interior with slender columns and tall windows that feel far from the dark Romanesque of the neighbouring cathedral.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of Our Lady is where the day begins. Next is City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F.
2. City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F
Luxembourg City is built on a rocky plateau above the deep, green valleys of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers, and for centuries it was one of the most powerful fortresses in Europe, nicknamed the Gibraltar of the North. Spanish, French, Austrian and Prussian armies all held it, and each added to its walls, bastions and tunnels. In 1867, after an international treaty, most of the fortifications were dismantled, but enough remains to make the old quarters and fortifications a UNESCO World Heritage site, inscribed in 1994.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F comes up about 49 km into the recorded legs. Next is La place forte de Longwy.
3. La place forte de Longwy
In 1678, after Louis XIV won Longwy from the Spanish Netherlands in the Treaty of Nijmegen, he sent his great military engineer Vauban to make sure nobody took it back. Vauban did not just fortify the old town; he built a new one, Longwy-Haut, on the plateau, designing a star-shaped stronghold with bastions, ditches and a geometric grid of streets around a central square with a well and church. It is one of the twelve sites grouped as the Fortifications of Vauban on the World Heritage list, and walking the ramparts you can still read the logic of seventeenth-century siege warfare in the earth and stone.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of Our Lady closes the day.
Leg by leg
Church of Our Lady to City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F
Church of Our Lady → City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F to La place forte de Longwy
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F → La place forte de Longwy is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La place forte de Longwy to City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F
La place forte de Longwy → City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F to back through La place forte de Longwy
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F → back through La place forte de Longwy is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La place forte de Longwy to back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F
back through La place forte de Longwy → back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F to Church of Our Lady
back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F → Church of Our Lady is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.