Minett Trail: Bettembourg – Schifflange

21.6km – Easy, but long and occasionally muddy

The all-new Minett Trail shimmies and stumbles across the south-west of Luxembourg for 90km. Looking at it on the map you’re instantly intrigued by its rather curious shape, sort of rippling outwards from Esch like the prized work of an angry toddler (and oddly reminiscent of the crack on my iPhone screen).

There are no defined “start” and “end” points on this trail, so we commenced our exploration of the Minett by the railway station in Bettembourg, combining Stages 7 and 8 into one longer day-hike to Schifflange before zipping back to our starting point by train.

The first eight kilometres of the trail matched the weather: grey, limp, mundane. Don’t misunderstand me, there’s nothing particularly wrong with Bettembourg, Peppange and Livange, but they’re not exactly the sort of places you would usually visit in hiking boots.

That said, there is something pleasant about actually having an excuse to walk through an otherwise bland part of the country. Heck, I was even beginning to enjoy my Sunday afternoon. Sure, it isn’t the Mullerthal Trail…

Next up comes a very pleasant section through the surprisingly large Bétebuergerbësch – six kilometres of classically-enjoyable hiking through a labyrinth of (occasionally muddy) forest paths, passing several pretty ponds and plenty of information boards (mostly in German).

Finally leaving the forest, we traversed the neat and tidy village of Bergem before approaching the indisputable highlight of our 20+km – the Dumontshaff nature reserve. For it is here – and probably ONLY here – that you can have a close encounter with water buffalo in Luxembourg. Yes, water buffalo!??!!

Tip: The Dumontshaff Nature Reserve can also be visited on the 5km "Sentier Nature Dumontshaff" hike, starting from near Schifflange. More information available here. (In French)

These enormous bovines have been resident here since May 2021 (the cover photo for this post was taken in September)… and are currently making a bit of a mess of the Reserve’s pathways. For the time being, expect a lot of mud. Once over the Alzette, the path raises up onto a camera-and-boot friendly series of wooden walkways, with a bird observation tower giving you the chance to watch the local wildlife from a different point of view.

Soon after Dumontshaff, the trail reaches the prim and proper suburbs of Schifflange before heading for one final time into the forest. We expected to get our first glimpse of the region’s famed red rocks here… but no. Those will have to wait for another day. What we did get, however, were great views over this gritty industrial town, soaking them in before the final descent down to the railway station and our 8-minute train ride back to Bettembourg (every 30 minutes, free of course!).

It’s not exactly pretty, it’s certainly nothing spectacular, but it was a refreshing change from the fairy-tale castles and the imposing viewpoints of the Eislek and the picture-book perfectness of the Mullerthal. And the best thing of all…? I know that it’s going to get even better.

Free parking available at or near Bettembourg train station.

(c) 2022 Jonathan Orr