As our second stop for our epic honeymoon trip, we took the train from Luxembourg to Trier for the day. The ride was super easy – about 30 minutes each way and maybe 13 euro total per person.
From the station we walked straight to the Porta Nigra which is an old Roman fortress dating back to 170 AD. I’ll admit, this kind of thing really gets to me and I completely nerd out touching things that are this old. It’s incredible to think about how long it’s survived. There are also some incredible stone etched images of religious celebrities during the 1100’s which are still in immaculate condition despite how much people like me keep touching them.
From the Porta Nigra you can see incredible views of the entire city of Trier and the surrounding hills. Right below you is the Hauptmarkt, which is the main area of town. It’s worthwhile to spend at least an hour or two just wandering all of the streets and checking out the various shops and sights.
One of those sights, is Louisiana, which is an American restaurant in Germany with absolutely zero Louisiana dishes on the menu, but I’m always amused when I run into one.
Next, be sure to check out the Dom St. Peter and Liebfrauenkirche. They’re both connected to each other and absolutely breathtaking. The Dom St. Peter is massive and you can walk into every side room, attic, and catacomb possible.
Across from the churches is the Weinstube Kesselstatt; a huge restaurant/wine bar with an incredible outdoor patio underneath a shade of vines. Eric and I ended up staying for so long that we went through two bottles of German wine and our delicious entrees shown above. If it didn’t look like it was going to rain soon we probably would have stayed even longer. The entire menu is in German, but the staff will help you navigate the extensive wine list and food menu to find the best options.
On our walk back we ran into a bookstore and map seller called Antiquariat. I’m always looking for the best bookstores, especially used bookstores, and this one hit the spot. I spent a good 45 minutes here just browsing and touching all of the extremely old books, and trying to decide which old maps I should purchase for our house.
As we continued our walk back, we stopped in the Marktkirch St. Gangolf. One of the things I loved about this church and the basilica afterwards was the simplicity of the design.
The last church of the day was the Konstantinbasilika which was the simplest design of all the churches I’ve been to in Germany. The organs were especially cool here with their very modern look.
We HAD to stop at the Karl Marx Haus just to say we’d done it. This is definitely one of the focal points of Trier, but we opted not to pay to go in and instead just take a quick photo outside and step into the lobby and gift shop for a few minutes.
As we headed back to the train, we stopped at Cafe Mohr for a cappuccino pick me up. We were still trying to stay on our wedding diet, but a lot of couples around us had HUGE pieces of cake which looked amazing.
Our final stop a few blocks away from the train station was the Weinhaus Minarski, which is a super cool wine bar with tastings as well as the ability to come in and buy bottles to bring home. We were able to try a lot of wines that we’d never be able to get back home as well as learn a lot more about the German wine country before heading there in a week or so.
That night we headed back to Luxembourg via train and walked back to the hotel to freshen up before the remainder of our short time in the city. The trip to Trier was super easy, and a definite must do if you’re in Luxembourg for more than a day. Any day trips you’d recommend or cities we must see in Germany? Let us know in the comments!
