Mullerthal: A Gentle Guide to Luxembourg's Little Switzerland

There is a corner of eastern Luxembourg where the forest closes over the road, the air turns cool and green, and great blocks of pale sandstone stand among the beech trees like the ruins of something very old. The Luxembourgers call it the Mëllerdall, the valley of the mills. Everyone else calls it Little Switzerland.

The name is a flattering nineteenth-century invention — there are no snow peaks here, and nothing climbs much above 400 metres. What there is instead is a labyrinth: streams in narrow gorges, tufa springs dripping over green rock, mills turned into inns, and the Black Ernz sliding over a stone ledge beneath a little bridge in what may be the most photographed spot in the Grand Duchy.

It is also, happily, one of the easiest nature destinations in Europe to enjoy slowly. Distances are tiny, public transport is free, and the best-known sights sit minutes from a car park. You can see a great deal of the Mullerthal without ever climbing a ladder into a crevice — though you'll meet plenty of walkers who do.

A little history

The story of this landscape begins about 200 million years ago, when a shallow sea left behind the thick layer of Luxembourg Sandstone that the region's rivers have been cutting into ever since. Water and frost have done the rest, splitting the rock into blocks, canyons and overhangs. Since 2022 the whole area has been recognised as a UNESCO Global Geopark, the Natur- & Geopark Mëllerdall, covering roughly 250 square kilometres and eleven villages and small towns.

Human history here is just as layered. Echternach, the region's capital and Luxembourg's oldest town, grew around the Benedictine abbey founded in 698 by Saint Willibrord, a missionary from Northumbria who died there in 739. Its monks ran one of medieval Europe's finest scriptoria, and their illuminated manuscripts are the town's quiet treasure.

The name Mëllerdall is more humble: it comes from the mills that once lined the Sûre, the Black Ernz and the smaller streams. Several of those old mill buildings are now hotels and restaurants, which is why the valley floor has such a settled, lived-in feel for a place so wild.

The hamlet of Mullerthal, in the commune of Waldbillig.

What to see

The Schiessentümpel

The region's emblem is a small waterfall with a huge reputation. The Black Ernz drops in three parallel falls under a stone footbridge built in the 1870s, framed by ferns and dark trees. It is a five to ten minute stroll from a free car park on the road between Mullerthal village and the Breidweiler bridge — perhaps 500 metres on a broad, nearly level track. There are steps down to the water, but the bridge and the best views are reached without them.

The rocks around Berdorf

The plateau village of Berdorf is surrounded by the region's most dramatic rock formations: the Predigtstuhl, named for its pulpit shape and conveniently placed right beside the road with a small parking area; the Perekop; the Teufelsinsel; and the Hohllay, a cave hollowed out by hand over centuries as a quarry for millstones, reached easily from its car park. Narrower attractions such as the Siebenschlüff crevices involve squeezing and scrambling — admire them from the entrance and feel no guilt.

Echternach

Echternach rewards an afternoon. The Basilica of Saint Willibrord holds the saint's crypt; the abbey museum displays facsimiles and the story of the scriptorium; and the market square is dominated by the Denzelt, a turreted Gothic former courthouse. The town is mostly flat, with cafés under the arcades and benches in the shade. On Whit Tuesday it fills for the Hopping Procession, a centuries-old dancing pilgrimage inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2010 — wonderful to witness, but book accommodation far ahead.

Beaufort and Larochette

Beaufort has two castles side by side: a ruined medieval fortress you wander freely, and a Renaissance manor visited by guided tour, where the tasting of Casséro, a blackcurrant liqueur still made in the cellars, is the traditional finale. Larochette, on the region's western edge, has a castle on a crag above a tight little valley — a fine photograph from the road below if the climb doesn't appeal.

The bridge over the Ernz Noire (Black Ernz) at Mullerthal.

Gentle walks, viewpoints and comfortable ways to see the scenery

The Mullerthal Trail is a 112-kilometre network of three loops, certified as a Leading Quality Trail – Best of Europe. You do not have to walk any of it in full. Short local paths, numbered and signposted from each village, let you borrow the prettiest half-hour of a long route.

• The Schiessentümpel loop. The easiest introduction: car park to waterfall and back, on a wide valley track beside the river. Allow half an hour with stops.
• The Kallektuffquell. A tufa spring in the Black Ernz valley where water runs over cushions of moss and living rock, a short walk from the road. Note that paths near here have been subject to forestry diversions — follow the posted signs rather than an old map.
• Echternach lake. A flat, shaded loop of roughly three kilometres around an artificial lake just outside town, with benches, a café and pedal boats in summer. Probably the most comfortable walk in the region.
• The Aquatower in Berdorf. A water tower with a viewing platform some 50 metres up, reached by lift or stairs, giving a long view over the plateau and an exhibition on water and geology. Opening is seasonal and sometimes by guided tour, so check locally.
• The Predigtstuhl. A genuine viewpoint you can reach in two minutes from the roadside.

For the scenery without the walking, drive. The road from Echternach up to Berdorf, down into Mullerthal and on to Beaufort and Larochette is a continuous pleasure of rock walls, tunnels of trees and sudden valley views, with laybys and village cafés throughout. It is barely 40 kilometres end to end, so take all day over it.

There is no cable car or scenic railway in the Mullerthal itself. The nearest lift of any kind is the chairlift at Vianden, about 30 kilometres north, which rises gently over the Our valley to a café terrace with a famous view of the castle; it runs in the warmer half of the year, roughly April to October.

A woodland path in the Mullerthal.

A day trip nearby

Thirty minutes east of Echternach the landscape changes completely: the Moselle valley, all terraced vineyards and white wine villages along a broad, slow river that forms the border with Germany.

The comfortable way to see it is from the water. The excursion boat MS Princesse Marie-Astrid cruises the Luxembourg Moselle from roughly Easter until September, calling at Wasserbillig, Grevenmacher, Wormeldange, Remich, Schengen and Trier among others, with a restaurant on board and step-free access along the promenade decks. Wasserbillig is about 20 kilometres from Echternach by a pretty riverside road; Remich, with its long plane-tree promenade, is a little further.

Make a half-day of it: a short cruise, a glass of Riesling or Pinot Gris at a terrace in Remich, and a plate of friture de la Moselle — tiny river fish fried crisp — before driving back into the woods.

Honest advice for comfortable travel

• Choose your base on the valley floor. Mullerthal village and the mill hotels along the Black Ernz put you within minutes of the waterfall and the scenic road. Echternach suits those who want shops, restaurants, a lakeside walk and bus connections without needing a car.
• Stairs and ladders are optional, but they exist. Many signposted gorge routes include wooden staircases, metal ladders and narrow passages between rocks. The valley-bottom and plateau paths generally do not. Ask at the tourist office for the local numbered walks described as easy, and don't be shy about turning back.
• Sandstone stays damp. Rock steps, roots and boardwalks are slippery even days after rain. Walking poles and shoes with real grip matter more here than fitness does.
• Summer heat is mild and the forest is cool, but July and August bring crowds to the Schiessentümpel car park. Go before about 10am or after 4pm and you may have it nearly to yourself.
• Public transport is free across Luxembourg — buses, trams and second-class trains — which makes the bus from Luxembourg City to Echternach a genuinely easy option. Village-to-village services in the countryside are infrequent, though, so check return times before you set out.
• Distances are short but roads are narrow and winding. Allow more driving time than the kilometres suggest, and be prepared for cyclists on the valley roads.
• Facilities are decent. Echternach, Berdorf, Beaufort and the Mullerthal waterfall car park all have public toilets, and most villages have at least one café. Carry water anyway; the forest sections have none.

Mullerthal Trail and local trail signposts beside the Black Ernz, near the Schiessentümpel.

What to eat

Luxembourg's cooking is hearty, French in technique and German in appetite, and the old mill inns of the Mullerthal serve it generously.

Look for Judd mat Gaardebounen, the national dish of smoked pork collar with broad beans; Bouneschlupp, a green bean and potato soup; Gromperekichelcher, crisp fried potato cakes sold at markets and fairs; and Kniddelen, soft flour dumplings usually served with bacon. Trout and other river fish appear on many menus in the valley. Regional producers here make good cheeses, smoked sausages and fruit liqueurs, including the Casséro of Beaufort.

To drink, the Moselle wines next door are excellent and underrated — dry Riesling, Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, and the sparkling Crémant de Luxembourg, which locals order as casually as a coffee. Portions tend to be large; a shared starter and one main course is often plenty.

Getting there

Woodland and rock scenery in the Mullerthal.

Our verdict

The Mullerthal is a destination for people who like landscape at close range: not the vast panorama, but the mossy boulder, the dripping spring, the bend in a green river. It asks nothing heroic of you. A free bus, a short drive, a level path to a waterfall, a terrace at a converted mill, and you have had one of the most restful days in western Europe.

It is not a place for grand set pieces, and anyone expecting the Alps the nickname promises will be puzzled. Come instead for the quiet, the shade and the strangeness of the rocks. Pair it with Echternach's abbey town and a Moselle cruise, give it three nights, and Luxembourg — a country most people only pass through — will turn out to have been the gentlest stop of the trip.

“Here the mountains lie on their side, and the only climbing is done by the moss.”

Photo credits

• 20200829 Mullerthal 16: Flocci Nivis, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Waldbillig, Mëllerdall 101: GilPe, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Mullerthal Cascade Bridge 01: Cayambe, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• 20200829 Mullerthal 08: Flocci Nivis, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Waldbillig LU, Tal der Schwarzen Ernz -- 2015 -- 4499: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Mullerthal 01: Arths-at, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons