Kautenbach, the railway village where the Wiltz meets the Clerve

Kautenbach is a small village with a big advantage for car-free travellers. It sits exactly where the River Wiltz meets the Clerve, in the Kiischpelt commune, and it has a station on the northern line. That’s why two of the Ardennes’ great walking routes start or finish here.

A village the railway made

The commune says Kautenbach lived from farming and from bark-stripping hedges until the Luxembourg-Liège line and the Kautenbach-Wiltz branch arrived between 1860 and 1880. The station brought jobs and the population rose to around 300. In 1914 it replaced Alscheid as the commune’s seat. The Battle of the Bulge hit it hard, and the rebuilding pointed it towards tourism, with hotels, restaurants and a large campsite by the Clerve.

According to the commune, the fast Liège-Luxembourg trains still stop here, which matters if you’re arriving from Belgium rather than via Luxembourg City, and this is where the branch to Wiltz begins. Second-class travel is free within Luxembourg. Because of engineering works, CFL runs buses instead of trains between Ettelbruck, Kautenbach, Wiltz and Gouvy on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October 2026, and again on the 17th and 18th.

Mile zero of the Escapardenne

The Éislek Trail starts here, 106 km in five stages to La Roche-en-Ardenne in Belgium, about 50 of them in Luxembourg. The first stage runs 24 km to Clervaux. And the Lee Trail finishes here, arriving from Ettelbruck over about 55 km in three stages, the last one 15 km from Hoscheid. Together they make up the Escapardenne trail, and the government portal warns that both need hiking experience.

For something shorter, visitluxembourg suggests CFL trail 4, station to station between Drauffelt and Kautenbach, 16.13 km and about 4 hours 50 minutes. The commune also mentions cycle paths towards Wiltz and Wilwerwiltz.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Clervaux before prices climb.

Schuttbourg, a castle to admire

Upstream, on a narrow slate spur above the Clerve, stands Schuttbourg Castle, a fortress plus a Renaissance house. visitluxembourg dates its origins to the 15th century, while the commune speaks of 13th-century foundations. It’s in private hands and closed to visitors, so enjoy it from the footpaths. For castles you can actually walk into, see the full list of castles in Luxembourg.

How I’d plan it

The idea behind the CFL trails is simple. You walk from one station to another and ride back, with no car to collect. I’d sleep in Kautenbach, walk the first Éislek Trail stage to Clervaux and take the train back the same afternoon. If you’ve done station-to-station walks in the Peak District or along the Settle-Carlisle line, it’s the same logic. The commune boasts of viewpoints along all its walks, and with two rivers and two deep valleys meeting here, the claim sounds believable.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Clervaux before prices climb.

Where to stay

The commune mentions hotels and a large campsite in Kautenbach, and STATEC counted one hotel and three campsites across Kiischpelt in 2025. For a night with more options, Clervaux lies at the end of the Éislek Trail’s first stage.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Clervaux and choose by the reviews.

A car frees you from timetables: search car hire in Luxembourg on DiscoverCars and compare companies.

So you do not pay over the odds, look at trains, coaches and flights to Luxembourg on Omio and pick the one that suits you.