Rindschleiden, a painted church and a woodland path in a village of no one

You can take in the whole of Rindschleiden from the car park. A church, a rural museum, a bistro with brightly painted signposts in its garden, some apple trees and a small park. visitluxembourg bills it as Luxembourg’s smallest village and says nobody lives here, leaving the night to cats, pigs and hens. It belongs to the commune of Groussbus-Wal in the west, and the commune’s website puts it at 473 metres and adds a detail I enjoy, that it was a municipality of its own until 1823.

Why make the trip to Rindschleiden?

For St Willibrord’s church. visitluxembourg describes it tucked into a hollow of the upland plateau and ranks it among the finest sanctuaries in the country, which I wouldn’t argue with. Its 15th and 16th-century frescoes cover more than 170 m² of wall. They were only rediscovered in 1952, when they were uncovered and restored, so they spent centuries out of sight. Some are damaged, but almost every scene can be recognised or guessed at. They weren’t there for decoration, they were painted so that everyone, especially those unable to read, could grasp the main scenes of the Bible. The church is now a national monument.

From a ten-metre chapel to a painted church

The building started out far smaller. It went up in the 10th century in honour of all the saints and was only dedicated to St Willibrord in the 16th. The first chapel measured 5 by 10 metres, and from 1535 it was extended several times, which is why you can pick out different styles. During the last restoration the floor was reworked so that a grille set between the nave and the choir reveals what’s left of the old chapel’s walls.

Outside, St Willibrord’s spring is on record as early as 1590, and stone fonts found on the site are displayed beside it. The official listing adds that before 1437 the parish appears to have answered to Echternach, whose Echternach Abbey Willibrord himself founded.

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

A short walk for thinking

From the village runs the Randschleider Pad, which visitluxembourg calls the Grand Duchy’s first themed meditation trail, set up in 2010 by people from what was then the commune of Wahl. It’s 1.49 km long with twelve stations, graded easy and with just 35 metres of climb. You head into a small fir wood with lines to ponder in the shade and come out by a pond with the village outlined behind. There’s an audio track and a GPX file on the listing. For longer routes, see hiking in Luxembourg.

Farm museum and bistro

The Thillenvogtei is a living rural museum that takes groups back to farm life as it used to be, threshing, digging potatoes, baking bread or sitting at old school desks. An individual visit costs €5, according to visitluxembourg, and the sessions need booking. Next door, at number 2, is the village bistro.

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

Fitting it into a trip

Rindschleiden has no hotel, only the commune’s holiday house in the old presbytery for groups of up to eight, and the walk’s listing points you to mobiliteit.lu for public transport. I’d come by car, as part of a loop through western Guttland, and file it with the other prettiest villages in Luxembourg. If you’ve flown into Findel, a hire car makes this corner of the country far easier.

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