Gasperich, from farming village to the Cloche d'Or skyline

If your picture of Luxembourg is ramparts and casemates, Gasperich will throw you. In a few short years the Cloche d’Or has raised a skyline of towers, offices and signature buildings in the south of the capital, which the tourist office sells as a modern, forward-looking quarter. Alongside it, the old Gasperich carries on, with village houses, fields and a memorial that’s well worth your time.

The new Luxembourg

The tourist office leads with the Cloche d’Or. Le Bijou, by the architect François Valentiny, stops you in your tracks with its exoskeleton facade clad in aluminium petals. On Boulevard Raiffeisen the JTC building has living green walls, and near the big shopping centre rise the Zénith 21 and 23 towers and other residential high-rises.

For me it’s the counterpoint to the old town. It shows where the city is heading, and it’s easy to reach, since tram T1 has ended at the Stadion stop since 7 July 2024. For the retail side, see shopping centres in Luxembourg.

Farms and Roman roads

Gasperich stayed rural for a very long time. Two thousand years ago it lay near two Roman roads, one of them, the Stengesche Wee, linking the settlement on the Dalheim plateau with the Arlon to Trier road. The name first appears in 1083 in the founding charter of Altmünster abbey. In 1528 there were three households, and at the first census in 1806, 18 houses and 98 people.

Then came a brickworks in 1869 and a tar factory that ran from 1925 to 1983, a school in 1904 and a church in 1933. It belonged to the municipality of Hollerich until 1920. Today it covers 445.14 hectares and is home to over 10,000 people.

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What is there to see?

The big green space is the Ban de Gasperich park, 149,153 m² laid out for walking, picnics, play and outdoor sport. I compare it with the other parks in Luxembourg City on their own page. Around the Cloche d’Or water tower, fields still hint at the farming past, and the city mentions the Kockelscheuer ponds as a nearby place to unwind.

The city’s Photothèque, opened in 1984, holds the capital’s and the country’s history in pictures and is free to consult. And next to the Jardin anglais, a garden with a playground, is the place I wouldn’t miss.

The Deportation Memorial

On Rue de la Déportation, beside the old Hollerich station, a memorial recalls the Luxembourgers conscripted and deported by force from 1942 to Germany and the Eastern Front. The museum was founded in 1996 in memory of some 11,200 deported Luxembourgers. Its permanent exhibition is by appointment only and closed at weekends and on public holidays. I put it in context in Luxembourg in the Second World War.

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

The national stadium

On the city’s southern edge, between the Cloche d’Or and Kockelscheuer, stands the Stade de Luxembourg, the national football and rugby ground, with 9,514 covered seats. The LCTO runs a one-hour guided tour behind the scenes and out to the pitch, with a private guide from €100 for groups of 1 to 20. Under-16s must be with an adult.

How I’d do it

Take the Luxembourg tram to the end of the line, wander the Cloche d’Or looking up, drop down to the Ban de Gasperich and, with an appointment booked, finish at the Memorial. With football fans in tow, the stadium tour rounds off the day.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Luxembourg 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.