The Mullerthal Trail, three loops through Luxembourg's rocks

Some long-distance paths are about the miles. The Mullerthal Trail is about what’s round the next bend. In under 40 km it takes you through sandstone gorges, up iron ladders inside a crack in the rock, into caves where millstones were cut, like the Hohllay cave, past a waterfall with a stone bridge and on to two castles. And it does all that without any serious climbing, as the highest point on the whole network is 420 m.

Three loops that share a hub

The trail runs to roughly 112 km split into three circular routes that link up. Route 1, 36.7 km, heads from Echternach towards the Sûre, Rosport, Moersdorf and Herborn through woods, valley views and orchards. Route 2, 39.7 km, is the rock route through Berdorf, the hamlet of Müllerthal, Hersberg and Scheidgen. Route 3, 37.7 km, starts in Müllerthal and pairs the Black and White Ernz valleys with the castles at Beaufort and Larochette.

Those distances come from the operator, mullerthal-trail.lu. The government portal rounds them to 36, 38 and 38 km, so don’t be thrown if you see both. Each route can be walked over two days, and the website also sets out a full circuit in six stages.

Only one day? Here’s what I’d walk

Route 2, without much hesitation. It’s the one that takes in the Wolfsschlucht gorge, the Perekop, the Hohllay, the Werschrummschlëff maze, the Schiessentümpel and the Kuelscheier cleft. If the whole loop feels like a lot, and an estimated 12 h 50 is a lot, walk Echternach to Berdorf, 6.8 km that the site reckons at two to two and a half hours. Up in Berdorf there’s a bus back.

Route 3 would be my second choice, especially in autumn. It has the roughly 90 m timber staircase above the Black Ernz, the 700 m boardwalk to the Kallektuffquell tufa spring and Beaufort Castle, where the website suggests stopping to taste Cassero, the blackcurrant liqueur still made at the Renaissance castle.

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

Six days, village to village

The operator’s plan splits the 112 km into six stages of 13.2 to 25.3 km, starting and ending in Echternach with nights in Moersdorf, Echternach, Müllerthal, Larochette and Müllerthal again. You’ll find it laid out in the itinerary on this page. If you’d rather not change beds every night, the same site suggests doing the trail from a single base, since buses cover the region well. It names Beaufort, Berdorf, Heffingen-Soup and Scheidgen as bases right on the route. Either way, the operator’s advice is to book your beds in advance and check ahead when the restaurants and places to buy food along the day’s stage are open.

Getting there from the UK and the capital

From London, the straightforward way is Eurostar to Brussels or Paris and then on to Luxembourg City by train; the trail website notes the TGV from Paris-Est takes about two hours. Once in Luxembourg, public transport is free for everyone. From Luxembourg City the direct 201, or the slower 211 and 212, run every half hour to Echternach from the Kirchberg Luxexpo tram stop. Coming from Trier, the site suggests the train to Wasserbillig and the 271 bus. I’d check the day’s times on mobiliteit.lu, as lines change.

Drivers can use the car park at Echternach bus station, which the Route 1 sheet lists as the parking spot. And if you don’t fancy carrying a big pack, the site advertises a luggage transfer service between overnight stops.

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

Before you set off

It isn’t technical, but it isn’t a stroll either. Expect narrow passages, steps, tree roots and dark sections like the Kuelscheier, the Rittergang and the Déiwepëtz; the site asks you to carry a torch and warns that the last two can’t be bypassed. Between Moersdorf and Echternach, through the Haard woods, there are no villages at all, so take water and food.

One thing few walkers think about is hunting. In season, the trail website suggests looking up hunting zones on geoportail.lu before you set off. As for waymarking, follow the red M, which marks the trail throughout.

You don’t need to buy a map. Every route and ExtraTour has a page on mullerthal-trail.lu with an interactive map, an elevation profile and two buttons to download the track as GPX or KML, which is what I’d load onto my phone before leaving, in case there’s no signal among the rocks. The same site lists the local loops too, such as Berdorf’s B2, which isn’t part of the long trail and often gets mixed up with Route 2.

The label, Leading Quality Trails - Best of Europe, comes from the European Ramblers Association, which judges variety of scenery, waymarking and public transport access. You notice it in how well signed everything is. For the bigger picture of the area, start with the guide to the Mullerthal region.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Echternach 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.