Guttland Trail Bildchen

6.5km – Easy / medium – 2 hours
One of the best short hikes in central Luxembourg, from Mullerthal-style rocks to utter forest serenity, with ponds, viewpoints and shrines peppering the route.
By car: Park on Rue de l’Ecole, Rollingen (near Mersch)
By bus: Rollingen, Verainsbau

Did you ever think that you knew something when, actually, you didn’t?

I’ve been hiking all over Luxembourg for more than twenty years and, although I knew that I had never been on this particular trail before, I was sure that I had visited here somehow. The Guttland Trail Bildchen is, after all, pretty much slap bang in the middle of the country, starting directly from a road that used to – pre-A7 – be the transport spine of the Grand Duchy. I couldn’t possibly have missed it.

Well, I was wrong. I had never been here before.

And it’s absolutely lovely.

Starting under the sun-kissed facade of Rollingen’s pretty church, the path first meanders through village streets, then opens out with a gargling stream on one side and an archaeological dig on the other. And not just any archaeological dig: the remains of a major Merovingian settlement, occupied for almost four centuries as the Roman world gradually became the medieval one. A good omen for an interesting walk.

The path rises as it leaves the village. It’s imperceptibly gentle at first, but by the time I cleared the last house and entered the forest, the gradient was substantial enough to leave me mildly short of breath. I paused to admire the view over Rollingen and Mersch (and replenish my oxygen levels), then continued into one of the prettiest sections of woodland in Luxembourg.

Although cranky pre-caffeinated geologists may say otherwise, this isn’t the Mullerthal – we’ve barely left Luxembourg City! – but the towering cliffs, giant beech trees and soft sand underfoot rival much of its more famous neighbour. Although closely resembling Consdorf, the Rollingen forest retains its distinct personality through a quirky human touch: tiny green benches, comically dwarfed by massive rocky overhangs (see photo on left, for example). They pop up with amazing regularity, meaning you’re never short of a cute place to sit and admire the wonderful scenery.

Eventually this rocky path meets the smoother valley floor rising up to meet it, and from here you are soon at the Dräiburen (“three springs”).

This is a stunningly beautiful little corner of the forest, with mini-waterfalls, a wooden bridge, and the springs themselves spouting into a small pool (which in turn feeds a larger pool). Here you will also find a large picnic area and forest shelter, which come in handy for a well-deserved half-way break.

Picnic over, the trail climbs up to the feature that names it: the Bildchen. Risking the wrath of cranky pre-caffeinated historians and linguists, Bildchen in Luxembourg are generally little devotional images or shrines, and you can find them all over the country. What surprised me here, though, was that there wasn’t just one: I found three of them, and maybe there are more?

The largest of the three, in a sacred rock known as the Muttergotteslay, is dedicated to the Mater Dolorosa (Our Lady of Sorrows), and a pilgrimage to the site still takes place from Rollingen every second Sunday in September, processing from the village church up through the woods to the shrine. A bit like this trail, come to think of it.

A niche in the sandstone (above right) has contained a Pietà – a statue of Mary cradling the body of Christ after the crucifixion* – since Napoleonic times. It has been stolen at least once, and pilgrimages to the site were banned by the Nazis during WWII, but the site – and the pilgrimage – are still lovingly maintained today, a testament to the resilience and determination of the people of Rollingen.

(*For the record, I have learned how to spell “crucifixion” today.)

You’ve barely walked 4km by now, yet seen rock formations, water features, religious history, sweeping farmland and an archaeological dig. What’s left? Ah yes, just some classic Luxembourg forest bathing.

Climbing up away from the shrines, the trail traverses a swathe of serene forest. There was no-one there and, on an ordinary Friday morning, I doubt there ever is. The only movement on this still late-summer morning was the occasional autumnal leaf fluttering down from the canopy and a young deer, completely oblivious to my presence and even the click of my camera. I stood there, motionless, right in the middle of the path, for a good two or three minutes silently observing it. Eventually it skipped, carefree, back into the undergrowth, allowing me to continue my descent back towards Rollingen.

Walking back down towards my car, the village spire directly ahead of me, I reflected on my morning. This trail is scenic, varied, peaceful and full of unexpected character, but I must confess: I chose to come here on this day to “tick it off my list”, another step towards my goal of completing all the “Guttland Trails” before the end of the year.

But what I got was something completely different: a welcome reminder that Luxembourg can still surprise me, even after all these years. I wonder what else is out there?