Luxembourg City/Vianden, Luxembourg

The four hour drive from Amsterdam to Luxembourg City was the furthest I have driven on the continent in one go. For a change, I tried to get a room at the Luxembourg Youth Hostel but when I got there, the rooms were fully booked (and cost around €22 per night anyway). I then headed for a back-up campsite and I am glad I did, paying just €10 per night with free showers included. I met a travelling Scottish couple from just outside Perth and an English couple from Manchester who were both very friendly and helpful. As it was late, I made camp and headed to town for a quiet beer and to watch Norwich gain automatic promotion to the Premier League.

I spent the next full day visiting the sights in Luxembourg. The place is famous as a tax haven for banks and large corporations so the city is littered with huge glass buildings, men in fitted suits, and the roads are full of big Audis and Porsches. As a tiny country, Luxembourg has been fought over a lot during its history and the city is built over two steep hills with vertical rock faces making it easier to defend.

The two sides are linked with two or three large viaducts and the valley below is filled with green grass and trees. The period buildings in the capital are stunning and even the library (below) looks like a palace. Most of the shops in the city centre are designer stores and jewellers though, so not many tax-free savings for the average traveller! The A.M. Tunnel is well worth a visit, for free, as the large passage under one of the old buildings now houses the photographs of Luxembourg-born Edward Steichen.

In the evening I went to The Tube, a bar I was recommended to go to the night before, which was full to watch the Barcelona Vs Real Madrid game. After the final whistle, the bar emptied quickly though and everywhere in the centre was pretty dead by 11.00pm.

The next morning I headed to Vianden on the Luxembourg-Germany border. I decided to try wild camping for the first time on the trip, as it was only for a night, and cycled down the hill from the layby I parked in into Vianden. The immediate view as you enter the town is of the Castle which dominates the town and is obviously a big tourist attraction in Luxembourg - and the whole reason for my visit too.

I took the ski-lift up to the top of the hill which has a great view of the town and the river in the valley below. A local guy also told me they have a huge hydro-electric system in place which pumps water to and from a large reservoir. You can view all the inner workings too which sounded interesting but I ran out of time as it shuts at 4pm. I watched the Man United Vs Shalke game in the evening with the locals (notice a theme here), and in the morning I filled up with tax-free fuel and headed for Germany.