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VIANDEN |
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Probably the most strikingly sited of all Luxembourg's provincial
towns, VIANDEN is still surrounded by ramparts and dominated by its
hilltop castle (daily 10am-4/6pm; ¬4.50; www.castle-vianden.lu ), a
mostly eleventh-century edifice garnished with everything from
Romanesque to Renaissance features. Inside, some rooms have been partly
furnished in period style - the Banqueting Hall and the huge Counts'
Hall decorated with seventeenth-century tapestries - but much has been
left empty, notably the long Byzantine Room and the octagonal upper
chapel, surrounded by a narrow defensive walkway. For more authentic
mustiness, peek down the well just off the old kitchen, and leave
through the Gothic dungeon. You can survey the castle from the hill
above by taking the chair lift to its 450-metre-high summit (Easter-Oct
daily 10am-5/6pm; ¬4.50 return) from rue du Sanatorium, just off rue
Victor Hugo. At the top there's a restaurant with a terrace, and you can
walk down to the castle by way of a footpath.
Buses to Vianden stop on the far eastern edge of town on the route de la
Frontière, about five minutes' walk from the tourist office (June-Aug
daily 8am-noon & 1.30-5.30pm, Sept-May Mon-Fri 9.30am-noon &
1.30-5.30pm; tel 83 42 57, www.tourist-info-vianden.lu ), on the main
street, rue du Vieux Marché, by the bridge. For somewhere to stay, try
the hotel -lined Grand Rue where the best of the budget options include
the Hôtel Collette , at no. 68-70 (April-Nov; tel 83 40 04;
£10-15/$16-24/¬18-27), and the Hôtel Heintz , no. 55 (tel 83 41 55,
www.hotelheintz.lu ; £15-20/$24-32/¬27-36), a comfortable, friendly
place with a first-rate restaurant. On the other side of the river is
the equally pleasant Auberge de l'Our , rue de la Gare 35 (tel 83 46 75;
£15-20/$24-32/¬27-36). There's also a HI hostel at the top of Grand Rue
at Montée du Château 3, a strenuous twenty-minute walk uphill from the
bus station (tel 83 41 77; £5-10/$8-16/¬9-18; mid-March to mid-Nov). The
nearest campsite is Op dem Deich (tel 83 43 75; mid-April to early Oct)
by the river near the bus station. For food , the restaurant of the
Auberge de l'Our serves a good range of local specialities, though its
riverside terrace means it gets very busy; alternatively head for the
Café de la Poste on Grand Rue.
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