Discover the Petrusse Valley

With a setting to make Byron or Shelly jealous, the Petrusse combines steep slopes, strange rock formations and the ruins of fortifications and bastions into a beautiful park that will take your breath away.
Posted: Thurs 5th September 2014 

Slightly hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the city, the Petrusse valley with its extensive parks represents a hidden gem that is one of the unique features of Luxembourg city. During countless millennia, the Petrusse inexorably carved its path into the hard rock, to create a large valley that became heavily fortified over the course of the 16th to18th century.

The huge fortifications walls, some of which are over 50 meters high and made out of millions of stones present an awe-inspiring sight that drawfs visitors at the bottom of the valley. The gaping dark holes within the walls, well visible along the footpath of the Petrusse, indicate where once cannons guarded the valley jealously to deny access. With the tranquil Petrusse peacefully flowing past the ruins, the steep slopes on both sides leading back to the city and its strange rock formations, a walk through the valley is a must-do when visiting Luxembourg.

The Petrusse walk
The valley is bridged by one of the iconic bridges of Luxembourg, the pont Adolphe (‘aal Bréck’), built around 1903. We suggest this to be also one of your starting points and from there you can walk down into the valley and continue towards the ‘Passerelle’, the 2nd bridge, and the former citadel leading to ‘the Grund’. Finally take the elevator at ‘Holy Ghost’ to get up to the top of the city again. Overall walk distance is about 1.5-2km.



Good to know
Travel info
There are in fact numerous access points into the Petrusse valley, most notably also next to the ‘Golden Lady’, Luxembourg’s national monument at the ‘place de la constitution’.
(The stairways are a little bit hidden, about 50m from the monument itself).
Good idea
You can combine a walk along the Petrusse with visiting the Casemattes either at ‘Place de la Constitution’ or the ‘Bockfels’. The Luxembourg city tourist office (LCTO) has information on both.
Event details
location:
Start: Pont Adolphe, walk down a little road next to it. Once at the bottom of the valley, proceed towards the citadel and the city judicaire on the 'Holy Ghost' plateau.
time:
about 1h
length:
1-2km
Essential information
where: Petrusse valley, city central
what: great walk that showcases the cities' impressive fortifications
time: about 1h at a leisurely pace
Fox comment
'To visit the Petrusse Valley is one of the most spectacular but equally also most underrated (because somewhat hidden) things to do in Luxembourg. The beautiful park with its excellent walks provides a great contrast against the ruins of the fortress and the faded grandeur whose spirit still lingers when walking this tour (about 1-2km). You can return uptown at any moment in time as there are numerous ways to return uptown.
Next to the riverbed, old remnants of the Bourbon-barrier can be distinguished which was build in 1728 and used to flood the valley in case of an  attack.'
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