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[[Image:Luxembourg Grund.jpg|thumb|View from the 'Grund' up to the Old Town]]
[[Image:Luxembourg Grund.jpg|thumb|View from the 'Grund' up to the Old Town]]
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The city of '''Luxembourg''' is the capital of the country of [[Luxembourg]].
Its
spectacular
valleys
and
plateaus
led it to be nicknamed the "[[Gibraltar]] of the North".
+
The city of '''Luxembourg''' is the capital of the country of [[Luxembourg
|the namesake country]], and with a population just short of 100,000 it is by far the smallest country capital of the [[European Union
]].
Very different in character from the bustling metropoles of the continent, Luxembourg is defined by its mountainous location and
spectacular
elevations afforded by the deep
and
narrow valley of the river Alzette it was built upon. Th city has historically been an inconquerable fortress, which
led it to be nicknamed the "[[Gibraltar]] of the North".
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Luxembourg may not feature on most tourists' bucket lists, but it sees a very generous share of incoming visitors every year for a city of that size. This is due to its importance in the European financial sector, with many banks and institutions having their headquarters or subsidiaries there. Moreover, as one of the founding members of the European Union, Luxembourg hosts a number of EU institutions. Finally, Luxembourg has favourable taxation regulations for international holding companies, so that many multinationals locate their European seats there. This all makes the small city have a very upscale and business feel, and the tourist industry there is geared towards the business traveller.
==Understand==
==Understand==
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==Get in==
==Get in==
−
If
you
are
in
Luxembourg
,
chances
are
that
you
are
staying
in
Luxembourg
City
,
so
getting
in
will
not
be
a
problem
.
If
you
are
staying
elsewhere
then just remember that all buses and trains lead to Luxembourg City. See
[[Luxembourg#Get in
]]
for
details
on
getting
into
the
country
.
+
Getting
into
the
country of
Luxembourg
basically
means
getting
into
the
City
of
Luxembourg,
as
all
major
connections
to
Luxembourg
terminate
there
.
Do
follow
the
advice
given
in
[[Luxembourg#Get in
|our
guide
to
the
Grand
Duchy
of
Luxembourg]]
.
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+
=== By plane ===
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==== Findel Airport ====
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Luxembourg is served by the '''Findel Airport''' in Sandweiler, a municipality just northeast of the city. Compared to other major airports serving European capitals, it has quite limited connections - there are no long-haul flights scheduled to Findel, and the European network only encompasses several other capitals and destinations, meaning that flying in from many European airports requires a transfer on your way.
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The airport is dominated by the country's flag carrier, Luxair, who operate a network of connections to selected other European capitals, some [[Germany|German]] cities and holiday destinations in the Mediterranean. This is complemented by some of the Star Alliance European members flying singular connections to Findel from their hubs (Luxair is not a Star Alliance member, but is partially owned by the Alliance's founding partner Lufthansa and shares its frequent flier programme with them). Oneworld is represented by British Airways flying in from [[London Heathrow]], while SkyTeam's presence is limited to KLM Cityhopper's connection to [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol]].
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Two low-fare carriers serve Findel - easyJet from London Gatwick, Milan Malpensa and Lisbon, and Vueling from Barcelona. On top of that, a small regional airline called Hahn Air flies from Findel to Dusseldorf Airport (and NOT [[Hahn]] as the name might suggest).
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Interestingly, while passenger traffic is limited to regional jets and private aviation, Luxembourg Findel Airport is a major cargo hub thanks to the prominence of the cargo airline Cargolux with its base there. Both Cargolux and other major international players in the cargo market fly in huge intercontinental jets in and out of Findel daily.
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==== Other airports ====
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An alternative to flying in directly to Luxembourg, which may be costly and time-consuming from some locations in Europe, is taking a low-fare flight with the likes of Ryanair or WizzAir to either [[Charleroi]] in Belgium or [[Hahn]] in Germany, and taking a direct coach transfer to Luxembourg from there.
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=== By train ===
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Luxembourg has only one train station, the imposing neobaroque ''Gare Lëtzebuerg'' adored with a clock tower and huge windows. It is relatively well served by connections from neighbouring countries.
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* The domestic train operator CFL has EuroCity-class trains going to [[Paris]] and [[Brussels]]
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* CFL also obviously connects ''Gare Lëtzebuerg'' with pretty much every other station within the country of Luxembourg
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* The Belgian SNCB/NMSB also has trains connecting Luxembourg with ''Bruxelles-Midi''. Some trains continue to [[Strasbourg]] in France and [[Basel]] in Switzerland
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* Deutsche Bahn operates the IC35 ''Ostfriesland'' from Luxembourg through [[Koblenz]], [[Cologne]], [[Dusseldorf]] and [[Munster]]
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* Additionally, Deutsche Bahn's regional services operate the ''DeLux Express'' from Luxembourg to [[Trier]]
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* The French SNCF operates a high-speed TGV train from ''Gare de l'Est'' in [[Paris]] to Luxembourg. There is also a slower ''Intercite'' connection via [[Nancy]] all the way south to [[Nice]]
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* '''TER Lorraine''' line 1 goes from [[Nancy]] via [[Metz]] and [[Thionville]] to Luxembourg
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* The Swiss SBB operates several long distance trains from stations in [[Switzerland]] such as [[Zurich]], [[Geneve]], [[Chur]] and [[Interlaken]] to Brussels that stop in Luxembourg on their way
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