Guttland Trail Mamerleeën

Glorious 8km hiking trail on natural paths through a rocky woodland landscape.
Highlights include the “Hunnebur” springs, the “Huellee” cave and, er, the longest picnic table in Luxembourg?
Park and hike at the Monument de l’Indépendence, Rue Quatre Vents, Mersch.
Difficult to access by public transport. Nearest bus stop: Mersch Uewermiersch (1km from start).

A personal anecdote, if I may.

One fine summer evening in 2010, I was out running in the woods near Mersch. My route led from a striking turquoise pond up a steep, steep hill to a viewpoint over Schoenfels Castle. As I paused to catch my breath, I noticed the mouth of a cave… and caught the unmistakable scent of incense. Curiosity got the better of me. Inside, in the dim light, a circle of eight or ten people sat chanting, dressed in flowing, new-age outfits, swaying gently to some unseen rhythm.

My unexpected entrance broke their trance. After a few awkward seconds, I was invited to join in. I mumbled a polite no, backed out into daylight, and continued my run, unsure what kind of ceremony I’d just witnessed.

What I do know is this: that same evening, quite by accident, I had also discovered one of the finest hiking routes in central Luxembourg. Today, it’s been reimagined and rebranded as the queen of the Guttland Trails: the Mamerleeën.

*Signage for the Guttland Trail Mamerleeën*

Starting from the soaring Monument de l’Indépendence on the outskirts of Mersch, this is a trail of almost relentless highlights. Begin your hike clockwise and you’ll pass through a wonderful natural hedge tunnel to a pretty pavilion overlooking the Mamer valley. Do it anti-clockwise and you’ll soon find yourself in the Wollefsgriecht, a dark, moody canyon with a ramshackle leaf-litter covered hut. Either way, you’ll figure out quickly that this is a top-quality hiking experience.

But the real highlights of the trail come right in the middle of it. Hiking anti-clockwise – as we did on this occasion – and you’ll come first to the Hunnebur, a supernaturally turquoise-blue pond and spring deep in the woods. It’s a popular spot for Sunday afternoon picnics and family barbecues, and it’s easy to see why:

It is advisable to rest at the Hunnebur for a while, not only to admire its serene beauty, but also to replenish your energy for the steep climb up towards the Priedigstull viewpoint (a relative disappointment: the views over the Eisch valley are obscured by trees) and across the thickly-forested Miescherwald plateau towards the Mamerleeën caves themselves.

TIP: Fallen trees have obscured at least one sign on the climb up from the Hunnebur to the Priedigstull. Be vigilant and, if in doubt, keep to the right.

If you’re feeling hungry, never fear: you’ll soon arrive at another good place to stop, home to what is surely a candidate for Luxembourg’s longest picnic table, comically extending far beyond its wooden shelter.

And what is a hike in Luxembourg without a view over a castle? Again, the pesky growth of trees means that you can now see far less of Schoenfels Castle than I did on my run fifteen years ago, but its gabled and turreted rooftop is still more than enough to have you reaching for the camera.

From the castle viewpoint, peek down towards your left and you can see the entrance to the Huellee cave. Assuming that there is no new-age ceremony going on in here, it’s a wonderful spot to explore and admire the views over the Mamer valley, for humans and four-legged friends alike.

What comes after the Huellee is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful – and most frustrating – sections of the trail. Beautiful because it simply is: a rollercoaster path weaving around the base of towering sandstone cliffs, dotted with caves (some of them explorable), and winding through a cathedral of beech trees.

Frustrating because, just beyond the foliage, the spell is broken by sound: first the constant murmur of the Mersch-Kopstal road, then the full-throated roar of the A7 motorway. Hidden from view, but impossible to ignore. By the time this roar is finally receding, you’re almost back at your starting point and beginning to acknowledge that this minor irritation does not detract much from what is, quite simply, a superb trail that is well worth an afternoon of any hiker’s time.