Echternach Travel Guide

Echternach is Luxembourg's oldest town in the east, on the Sûre River facing Germany across the water; spring to autumn (May–Sep) has the best weather, and it is also the gateway to the Müllerthal 'Little Switzerland' hiking region. In the late 7th century the missionary St Willibrord founded the Benedictine abbey here, which became an important medieval religious and cultural center famous for its fine manuscripts; today the grand Baroque abbey and basilica are the heart of the town, to be visited with reverence. The Echternach Hopping Procession held every Tuesday after Pentecost — continued for centuries, with a unique sideways hopping step, singing and dancing toward the abbey — is listed as intangible cultural heritage. By the town are also an old market square, Roman villa ruins and a lake.