Bascharage, where the national beer is brewed

People come to Bascharage for the beer, because this is where Bofferding is brewed. It’s the main locality of Käerjeng, a commune in Luxembourg’s south-western corner, it has a railway station, and it was where the sculptor of the Gëlle Fra, the golden monument in the capital, kept his workshop.

The Brasserie Nationale

The Bofferding and Battin brewery, the Brasserie Nationale, stands at 2 boulevard J. F. Kennedy and opens its doors to visitors. A guide takes you through the story of this family brewery, the brewing stages, the raw ingredients and the range of beers, and through them the history of the country. visitluxembourg describes an interactive multimedia circuit past the brewing vessels where water, malt, hops and yeast are combined, the conditioning tanks where the new beer rests for weeks and the bottling line. It then moves into a museum on over 200 years of brewing and ends in the bar with a tasting.

The tour lasts about two hours. Children, according to the listing, are offered water from the brewery’s well while the grown-ups try the beer. There’s also the BrauAtelier microbrewery, where visitors make a batch of their own, as well as tastings and sessions on how to pull a proper pint.

Every Saturday between 15 June and 15 September a scheduled tour sets off at 3pm. Outside that window you’ll need an appointment, which the brewery offers Monday to Saturday through [email protected]. The official listing doesn’t give a price. For the wider picture of the country’s brewing, see the guide to Luxembourg beer.

Claus Cito and the Gëlle Fra

Bascharage is the home town of Claus Cito, the sculptor behind the Gëlle Fra, the remembrance monument on place de la Constitution, unveiled in 1923. He had his workshop here. He also made the grieving mother statue on the Rodange memorial to the war dead, unveiled by Prince Félix in 1949.

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A village with a medieval charter

The commune records that Bascharage, together with Linger, Hautcharage and Pétange, received its charter of liberties on 4 April 1281. Under the French it headed a cantonal municipality and soon became seat of the mairie that also took in Hautcharage and Linger.

Walking and getting there

visitluxembourg publishes an 8.68 km walking circuit of medium difficulty that starts from the Op Acker car park on avenue de Luxembourg and takes a little over two hours. Direct trains from the capital pull into Bascharage-Sanem station on rue de la Gare, and as everywhere in the country second class costs nothing. A station-to-station walk to Dippach-Reckange starts there too. After the tasting, the train is the best way back, and with no fare to pay in second class there’s no excuse to drive.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Esch-sur-Alzette for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Esch-sur-Alzette on GetYourGuide.

If you would rather go at your own pace, see the car hire deals in Luxembourg: the earlier you book, the more cars are left to choose from.

Before you fix your dates, compare tickets to Luxembourg: the same journey can cost very different amounts from one day to the next.