Merl, a park and two stages on the west side

The tourist office recommends Merl for its calm and its green spaces, and it has a point. It’s residential, close to the centre and home to two stages every Luxembourger knows. For a visitor, though, the best thing about it is the park, and that alone justifies a couple of hours if you’re travelling as a family. It’s high on my list of parks in Luxembourg City.

From abbey village to city district

Merl was a village with a chapel from the Middle Ages, belonging to the parish of Hollerich and owned by the Benedictine abbey of Münster, according to the city. When religious houses were abolished at the end of the 18th century, it became a municipality with its own parish. In 1815 it lost its independence and was folded into Hollerich, which merged with the capital in 1920. Building began in the 1920s, and today Merl covers 242.81 hectares with 6,441 residents.

Merl park

This is what I’d come for. The city describes a restaurant overlooking a pond, a big playground and the Rousegäertchen, a rose garden, while the tourist office adds an inclusive play area and plenty of lawn for a picnic. It runs into Belair, which is why you’ll also hear it called Merl-Belair park. Travelling with children? There are more ideas in Luxembourg with kids.

On a sunny day I’d bring a picnic, let the children loose on the playground and finish with a drink at the pond-side restaurant. It’s a simple plan, and after a morning of casemates and cobbles it works a treat.

The new playground is why Merl Park is always busy. The tourist office puts it at 7,500 m², with a large water and sand area, ramps and step-free paths, inclusive swings and two play towers that teach hydropower and wind power through play. Another corner of the park works as an open-air gallery with occasional exhibitions. The office itself warns that there’s little room to park close by, which is why I’d arrive on a free bus. How it stacks up against the rest is in playgrounds in Luxembourg.

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What else is in Merl?

Since 1985 the city Conservatoire has been here, teaching music, dance and drama to more than 3,800 students, with a concert hall, a sheet-music library and a small museum of instruments. In 1996 the Théâtre National du Luxembourg arrived, staging work in Luxembourgish, French and German, plus opera and contemporary music. If your French or German is up to it, an evening at the TNL is a very local night out.

That mix, a farming village’s past and two of the country’s leading cultural institutions side by side, is what I find most interesting about Merl.

Several secondary schools share the Geesseknäppchen campus, which makes up the more institutional side of the district. Place Thorn, 4,834 m², is the spot for a coffee among the shops before heading back into town.

Getting there

You can walk from the centre in a while or hop on a city bus, part of Luxembourg’s free public transport. Driving in, the city points to the nearby P+R Bouillon in Hollerich and easy motorway access. I’d pair Merl with Belair on the same stroll, or with Cessange to the south if you want more open space and far fewer people around.

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