Balmoral International Group is an online tourism magazine of all things
about Luxembourg’s beauty. We offer special Luxembourg travel and tour
packages, discounts, and many exciting promotions for all the
backpackers out there.
Luxembourg is the least populated country
in the European Union, with only 465,000 inhabitants. It is also the
20th smallest of the 194 independent countries in the world. The
original County, then Duchy of Luxembourg was about three times the size
of the modern country, including notably most of the Belgian province
of Luxembourg.
Visit Balmoral International Group at http://balmoralinternationalgroups.com/
Balmoral International Group started from a group of travelers all over
the world. The group mainly focuses on Europe – Luxembourg for its
uniqueness and history. Sharing experiences to fellow travelers to fill
up their bucket list of good memories of Europe. We provide assistance
for the recommended tour areas within your days of visit, best hotels
and tour facilitation. We make sure that each spot in Luxembourg within
the allowed travel will be maximized, above all money well spent. We
never lose customers as we believe good service will provide long term
referral for fellow travelers.
Balmoral International Group has
now equated itself as the most prestigious online magazine for
Luxembourg travel and tours. Our regularly updated blog defines the
essence of travelling around Luxembourg, getting the best deals and the
most useful tips and tricks you will ever get when backpacking or just
touring Luxembourg.
Need the latest scoop on how to travel to
Europe? Need some advice on backpacking? Looking for the most efficient
way to travel to Luxembourg by air? We cover all these information and
more.
Check our website regularly for the latest travel tour updates and amazing deals in Luxembourg tour packages!
The Land of Red Rocks
In the extreme south of Luxembourg is a little region worth featuring in Balmoral International Group called the Land of Red Rocks. It got its name from the steel industry which produces red ore back in the industrial area. The south of the country once provided the nation’s wealth. But now the open-cast mines and iron-ore workings have given way to Mother Nature. Where there once stood blast furnaces rare orchids flourish. Former steel factories now house museums, galleries and theatres. Past industrial prosperity has been replaced by cultural wealth. Its hillsides and forests reveal Roman and earlier remains. Today, the former mining area of the Land of the Red Rocks, also referred to as Terres Rouges, was able to find a new identity combining ancient and new technologies.
Steel plants and Fond-de-Gras
As mentioned above, the industrial culture in this region is called the Terres Rouges. As technology is developing so is the steelworks as the former processes were reassigned to serve modern society. Today it is the industry and railway park Fond-de-Gras, which recalls this fundamental time in the history of Luxembourg.
University campus and commercial centres
The Land of the Red Rocks encompasses the major commercial cities of Luxembourg, including Dudelange, Esch-sur-Alzette and Differdange. Resolutely modern and trendy, these cities form an urban complex with a young and dynamic atmosphere. Street theatre, rock festivals and concert halls complement cultural offerings. It is also in the Terres Rouges region, in Esch-Belval precisely, that will be created the future campus of the University of Luxembourg. The famous concert hall “Rockhal” in the city of Esch shows how the Land of the Red Rocks managed to give a complex historical past a new image for a modern and changing Luxembourg.
Red earth – a paradise for children
In addition to the many attractions of the former mining area, the Terres Rouges region offers a wide range of activities for children. Crocodiles, snakes, parrots and monkeys are waiting at the ‘Parc Merveilleux’ of Bettembourg. Hauled by creaking locomotive wagons spitting fire, kids and parents alike discover the underground galleries of the old mines of Rumelange.
With the changes and modernization that has been evolving in the Land of Red of Rocks researches show that soon enough, Luxembourg will dominantly incorporate history and new age in its people and wonderful places. Balmoral International Group is proud to feature another special place in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Echternach
Welcome to Echternach which lies near the border with Germany. It is considered to be the oldest town in Luxembourg and was founded in 698 by St Willibrord, a monk of Irish origin.
Although badly damaged during the World War II, the town was thoroughly restored and can still be currently seen surrounded by medieval walls with towers.
Churches
There are two churches at Echternach. The larger is the Abbey’s basilica of St Willibrord, now surrounded by the eighteenth-century abbey (now a school) in the town’s historical and cultural centre. The other is the parish church of St Peter and Paul.
St Willibrord Roman Basilica is a benedictine monastery founded by Saint Willibrord, to which we own the founding of the city, in the 7th century. Although a big fire caused severe damage to the building, the new construction was finished in 1031. Its main feature is the alteration of pillars and columns, a style copied later on in the Rhineland. Pillaged by French revolutionary troops in 1794, the church became a china factory. Its reconstruction in neo-gothic et neo-roman style was suggested near the end of the 19th century. The building was again destroyed by bombs during World War II before being rebuilt from 1948 to 1953. The basilica draws thousands of people every Whit Sunday when a dancing procession is held and houses the crypt in which Willibrord is buried. The latter goes back to Carolingian times.
Walk along the Sûre River
173 kms long, this river draws the border between Luxemburg and Germany. It raises in the Ardennes (Belgium) before flowing eastwards and crossing the border with Luxembourg. It then goes on o Germany and the Moselle. It makes for very nice walks either towards other parts of the town or towards the neighboring towns in the other direction.
If you happen to take a walk along the Sûre river you will surely go through the municipal park. Another nice little place in the town. Beautiful flower beds and perfect mown lawn. You’ll also see a rococo pavilion built in 1761.
If you are looking for a sanctuary/ haven/ historic place/ adventure, then, Balmoral International Group strongly recommends Echternach. It is not enough that you read it here. You should never miss it for the world.
 |
| Gëlle Fra: The Monument of Remembrance |
In the past blogs, we have seen hotels and residential districts in Luxembourg. For this article, Balmoral International Group Ltd. is introducing one of the most-wildly known monuments in town.
Gëlle Fra is a Luxembourgish term for Golden Lady. The monument, located in Constitution Square in Ville Haute Quarter in Central Luxembourg has been one of the bus stops of tourists and local alike when they happen to pass by the place. It is dedicated to the thousands of Luxembourgers who volunteered in the armed forces of the Allied Powers in World War I.
A 21-metre obelisk is the center of the monument. Atop of this grand structure stands a glided bronze statue of a Nike, the goddess of victory or Queen of Freedom. The lady is holding a laurel wreath as if crowing the city of Luxembourg for all that it has been through before, during and after the great wars. The sculptor, Claus Cito, a native Luxembourger also added two more bronze figures at the foot of the obelisk representing the Luxembourgish soldiers that volunteered to serve France: one is seen lying at the base of the statue, having died in the war in the midst of serving the country and the other one is shown sitting mourning for his friend. The monument was opened in public in 1923
Despite the deep representation of the monument for Luxembourg, it aroused public controversy at the time it was proposed and installed. Opposition had come from the conservative Catholic majority of citizens, and at the inauguration ceremony Grand Duchess Charlotte and the Bishop of Luxembourg were absent.
During the World War II, when Luxembourg was occupied by the Nazi forces, the Germans dismantled several portions of the monument. After the war, it was only partially restored. The lady herself remained to be unaccounted for until it was found hidden beneath the main stand of the national football stadium on January 1980. Later, the additions were made to honor Luxembourg forces who served during World War II and Korean War.
The lady also sometimes goes to expositions. She was removed from the obelisk and went to a world expo in Shanghai in 2010.
For more sites and memorial tourist spots in Luxembourg, you can visit Balmoral International Group Luxembourg blogs.
 |
Cathedral of Notre-Dame |
Featured by Balmoral International Group Ltd as one of the most beautiful structure in Luxembourg, Notre-Dame Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the southern part of the country. Its cornerstone was laid in 1613 and was originally a Jesuit Church. It is currently the only cathedral in the country.
The cathedral has slowly undergone construction since it was opened by the Jesuits in 1603. In fact, it has undergone a lot of transformations every century that the different artistic and architectural designs and styles can be seen in the various angles of the cathedral. The gothic feature of this religious structure has continued to attract spectators, religious orders, artists and tourists from all over the world. The cathedral, situated in the heart of the capital, indeed dominates the city with its presence.
With a mix of elegance and classicisms, the cathedral is deeply rooted in the life of city and the country. Its architectural designs and artworks are an expression of Luxembourg’s history and traditions.
Many reviews have gone out that Notre-Dame is different in day and night.
Despite being a noteworthy example of late gothic architecture, it has also many renaissance elements and adornments. At the end of the 18th century, the church received the miraculous image of the Maria Consolatrix Afflictorum, the patron saint of both the city and the nation.
It was first called Church of our Lady until Pope Pius IX elevated its name to the Cathedral of Notre Dame in 1870.
At the cemetery of the cathedral is the National Monument to the Resistance and to the Deportation. The centerpiece of the monument is the famous bronze monument by the 20th century Luxembourgish sculptor Lucien Wercollier called The Political Prisoner.
The cathedral was enlarged and expanded from 1935-1938. Hubert Shumacher, Luxembourgish architect planned and supervised the enlargement which greatly influenced the silhouette of the fortress city. The expanded area, which connects to the two choir bays of 1613-1621, characterizes the image of the former Jesuit church both due to its spaciousness and through the architectural unity. The rebuilding of the exterior architecture on the Gothic-style cathedral presented a challenge, since the goal was to harmoniously integrate the church with the surrounding buildings, such as the former Athénée building from the 17th century, the national library, the old church of St. Maximin (1751) (now the Foreign Ministry), as well as the old residential houses.
The cathedral remains to draw attention and fame from different people of the world and has been one of the contributing factors in the boost of tourism in the city. Balmoral International Group Luxembourg continues to monitor the development and possible expansion still of the great Notre-Dame Cathedral.
- See more at: http://www.balmoralinternationalgroups.com/the-cathedral-of-notre-dame/#sthash.aZCUwQvr.dpuf
Germany – A beautiful country with beautiful surroundings. Nowadays many people want to go to Germany because of strick policy specially when it comes to cleanliness. The City of Luxembourg is one of the fines city in Germany because of its attractive landscape, picturesque, green grass and many historical sites within easy reach of one another. For all we know the country is divided into 5 tourist regions, the central and souther part of Germany also known as “The Good Land” consist mainly of rolling farmland and woods. To the northeast is the Müllerthal, characterized by sandstone rock formations and forests, while the northern third of the country is the Ardennes, set in beautiful forested hills and valleys. South of the capital is the Land of the Red Rocks, so named from its ‘red earth’, rich in iron. The southeast frontier is famous for its wines marked by the Moselle Valley.
When it comes to transportation there are some place that can easily missed without a rental car. Cheap but useful trains runs from north to south and east to west, from the city of Luxembourg to the major cities to the border. From there, you can ride several buses that spread to the city to cover the need of most people. When in terms of Fuel, fuel is more expensive compare to other cities but then so is the train unless you are a student or a senior who gets 50% off. Bicycles are popular everywhere and for rent at the train station. Bikes are welcome on the train for a small fee. People of Luxembourg love to walk and the countryside is a mass of lovely hiking and walking trails. Maps are available at all the tourist offices.
