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Vacances en Luxembourg
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in the Benelux bordered by Belgium, France and Germany, lying at the crossroad of Germanic and Latin cultures. It is the only Grand Duchy in the world.
Climate:
Modified continental with mild winters, although January and February can get very cold and temperatures can fall to as low as -15°C. The summer can be very hot in Luxembourg, with temperatures in July and August reaching around 30+°C.
Terrain:
Mostly gently rolling uplands with broad, shallow valleys; uplands to slightly mountainous in the north; steep slope down to Moselle flood plain in the south.
Cities and Towns:
Luxembourg - Capital
Esch-sur-Alzette
Ettlebruck
Clervaux
Esch-sur-Sure
Diekirch — home to a World War II museum commemorating the Battle of the Bulge
Mertert
Echternach
Grevenmacher
Other destinations:
Vianden - Quaint small town presided over by a rather splendid château.
Remich - For promenades along the Moselle
Mondorf-les-Bains - Spa town located on Luxembourg-France border.
Luxembourgish ("Lëtzebuergesch") is the national language, while French is the administrative language. German is also widely used and almost universally understood. That means outside of large cities where French is spoken on the street, the national language of Luxembourgish is spoken at home. Luxembourgish is a separate and unique language, having previously evolved from a German dialect ("Moselfränkisch"). German (Hochdeutsch) enjoys official status and appears in some media and is used in the court system and is taught in schools. However, everything from road signs, to menus to information in stores will appear in French. French therefore is clearly the most useful of the three languages to know, essentially making Luxembourg a Francophone country for the visitor with the exception of places close to the German border such as Diekirch or Echternach.
Over one third of Luxembourg's overall population is made up of foreigners, and this figure rises to around 50% in the cities. Hence, again knowing French is your best bet if you want to converse with most people, especially as people working in shops and bars usually come from France or Belgium and don't bother to learn the local native language of Luxembourgish. English is widely understood by such personnel as bus drivers, but many shop assistants will only respond if addressed in French. Educated Luxembourgers are fluent in all four of the above languages; it is the "frontaliers" (workers who live across one of the borders) who may not speak English well or at all. Apart from the more elderly inhabitants, virtually every Luxembourger understands and speaks fluent standard German and French.
Location vacances Luxembourg
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