Explore the Manternacher Fiels

Medium difficulty 10km hike on natural trails with an amazing variety of landscapes and sights.
A shorter 6km version of the trail is also possible.
Start / end at Manternach Train Station. Direct, regular trains from Luxembourg City and Trier.

One of the top ten hiking trails in Luxembourg AND one of the most accessible too? Quite possibly on both counts. So why isn’t the Manternacher Fiels trail better known?

My theory is: geography. Not quite the Moselle region, not quite the Mullerthal and not quite Guttland, the Manternacher Fiels hiking area somehow slips between the cracks, yet successfully combines the very best elements of all three regions.

It’s a non-stop hit parade of pretty footpaths, ancient ruins, spectacular viewpoints, romantic vineyards, rickety bridges and curious rock formations, and all of this only a short train ride away from Luxembourg City.

Starting directly at the train station, the trail first traverses the prim and proper streets of Manternach, passing the “A Wiewert” nature centre. From here you can pick up some leaflets about your hike, fill up your water bottle and make a quick decision: do the “Traumschleife Manternacher Fiels” trail advertised as 9.8km (pink sign below), or the shorter “Sentier Nature et Forêts Manternacher Fiels“, which is approximately 6km (green sign).

After leaving the village the trail heads uphill on narrow, gated footpaths through hillside fields, then enters a lush, almost jungle-like forest strewn with sandstone rocks and home to various species of rare plants. Quite soon, another decision needs to be made: clockwise or anti-clockwise? No stress, it doesn’t matter; the tour is utterly charming in both directions.

What is striking about this trail is the sheer variety of things to see. Competing signs near the beginning of the trail amusingly argue about the number of “Erlebnispunkte“, ranging from 90 to 96. “Erlebnispunkte” are a German trail-evaluation metric (out of a maximum of 100), grading hikes on criteria such as quality of footpaths, consistency of signage, number of resting places and things to see / do. Regardless of the exact “score” given to this trail, it’s obvious that a 90+ rating is exceptionally good.

And it quickly becomes obvious as to why, because the sights just keep on coming thick and fast: a wooden bridge, a rushing river, a railway tunnel, an old paper mill, viewpoints, an abandoned vineyard, a very-much-alive vineyard, imposing rock formations, more viewpoints, a disused canal, resting spots galore… I could go on and on.

One of the most interesting segments comes near the end of the (anti-clockwise) loop, when the path first drops steeply down through an amphitheatre-like vineyard via a series of beam-narrow steps, then arrives at the entrance to the “Fuussebau“, the secluded hideaway of a local engineer with a taste for ancient Greece. During the 1970’s, this mysterious figure (known only as “F.K.”) created his own version of the Garden of Hesperides on this Luxembourg hillside, with classical sculptures and small buildings scattered around a cascading stream. It’s a unique spot and a wonderfully offbeat place to rest for a while and take in the sounds, sights and scents of nature.

The trail continues on narrow, earthen paths laced with blooming wildflowers, following an industrial canal, over the river again and past a dam towards the end of the loop segment. From here, retrace your footsteps for the final 1.5km or so back to the village.

Whichever route you choose, whichever way you want to hike it, the Manternacher Fiels is sublime, one of the very best hiking areas in Luxembourg, and one that I highly recommend checking out.

Disclaimer: At the time of publication (03/04/2025) this trail was officially marked as being temporarily closed. Check the “Traumschleifen” link below for updates. However, we did not encounter any difficulty during our hike and are of the opinion that the trail is perfectly accessible on weekends at the very least.