Euro-Roadtrip 2026 Day 3: Barefoot in Luxembourg with Kids
- Aug 9
- 3 min read
Having fallen almost immediately in love with the tranquil and beautiful Luxembourgish forest, we decided to sack off our original plan to head 30 minutes south into Luxembourg City simply to tick off the capital, in favour of exploring the woodland surrounding us instead.
We were already clued up on the nearby Mullerthal region – Luxembourg's "Little Switzerland" – with its trails, waterfalls and caves, but at check-in yesterday we were told about somewhere just ten minutes up the road in Medernach called the Barfußpfad. The English translation is literally "barefoot trail".
We are FOREVER trying to get the kids to put their shoes on outdoors, so an attraction specifically requiring them to take their shoes off seemed like a fairly unique and fun way to spend the morning – particularly on yet another 30+ degree day on the continent.
The trail is designed as a sensory walk through the forest, featuring alternating surfaces including wood chips, stones, sand, bark, clay and water. It's intended to stimulate the nerves in your feet, improve balance and generally connect visitors with nature.
Best of all, perhaps, it's completely free. Parking can be found at the nearby Camping Auf Kengert, also for free – an excellent bonus considering we managed to spend more than £100 on outings alone on Day 1!
The trail itself was great fun and incredibly peaceful; almost completely devoid of other people. The woodland offered very welcome shade from the blistering sun and quite a range of underfoot sensations!
Interestingly, between the purpose-built textured sections you're simply walking barefoot through ordinary woodland, so be warned: there will be twigs, little stones, gravel and leaves underfoot. That was absolutely fine by us though, and certainly made it more fun.
The kids also found an assortment of interesting bugs along the way, plus some mice and even a shrew as we worked our way around.
The whole trail took us about an hour. On the way back we stopped for a drink and morning snack beside a little man-made pool surrounding a natural spring, with water trickling down the edge of a rock face. It was only a few minutes from Hu Birkelt but felt like another little hidden corner of the forest.
After lunch back at our lovely little chalet, we spent the entire afternoon enjoying the holiday village. We toured the pools, explored the sports pitches and parks, played some volleyball, hung out around the games rooms and restaurant area and – perhaps our greatest achievement of the day – succeeded in spending NO MONEY AT ALL. The kids favourite was the slip and slide; a huge pillow filled with water with spraying gushes of water all over it; kids lined up and ran at it, throwing their bodies across on knees, stomachs and backs to skid right across. Never seen running in being encouraged in a pool before, but the whole indoor water-dome seemed to have some kind of non-stick floor rather than tiling. Ideal!
Honestly, this is one of the very best places we've ever had the pleasure of staying. There don't seem to be any other Brits here (that is purely an observation rather than a causal relationship!). Walking down the little streets between the chalets, we've spotted almost exclusively NL and B number plates.
It's incredibly quiet and peaceful, and yet there are children everywhere: playing with remote-controlled cars in the road, batting badminton shuttlecocks around, swimming and exploring, while families sit outside barbecuing on their verandas. It just seemed really respectful and twee!
It's really lovely.
And boiling hot.
We spent the rest of the day doing very little indeed. Colouring on the veranda, playing games, swimming, eating fajitas and ice cream, and having a few ciders.
After everything that has happened this year – and after two fairly relentless days of driving, museums, war history and sightseeing – it was exactly the kind of day we needed. And probably the kind of day we'll always remember.
Sorry, Luxembourg City. Hopefully we'll see you next time!
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