Route 1/Stage 2: Echternach - Moersdorf

Markings: Dark red M on a white background

(S) Market square, cross to the north-east. Pass in front of the Denzelt and the Town Hall. At the north-east end of the square, turn left towards Porte Saint-Willibrord. Then turn right towards the basilica. Pass in front of the entrance to the basilica and continue across the courtyard. At the end, turn right. At the end of the building, turn left and go through the covered entrance. Continue straight ahead and enter the municipal park. You will see the Pavilion on your left. Turn right. At the crossroads, keep to your right and walk alongside the mini golf course. Leave the park and continue under the Sûre Bridge.

(1) Take the^first path on the right. Walk past the skate park. Cross over a stream that flows into the Sûre. Continue straight ahead. Leave the park, keeping close to the riverbank. Cross the bridge over a^second stream. Continue straight ahead. Walk along the Sûre. Pass the water treatment plant. The path climbs back up towards the road.

(2) At the steps on your right, with the safety rail open, climb up, then cross the road carefully and climb up the path opposite. Pass a set of steps and walk between the rocks. Continue up a^second flight of steps. The path becomes a tarmac road.

(3) Ignore the path on your left and turn right towards Steinheim. Follow the road for about 400 m.

(4) At the end of the road, climb up the path on your right. The path winds between rock formations. Cross the stream (dry in November). Follow the path, passing some rock steps. Walk along a rocky outcrop. Take some more steps and then pass Feitcheslay. Go down the steps on the left and pass under a rock. More steps and you will come to Rodersschluff. The path winds again. Go up more steps, pass Alkummer and you will finally reach the road. Turn right and go up the bend to the right.

(5) After the bend, take the path on the left. A few metres further on, take the path on the left towards Rosport. Follow this path of roots, scree and steps for about 1.4 km, keeping a south-easterly bearing.

(6) At the T-junction, turn left. Leave the forest. View of the valley. Follow the open farm track. The track curves sharply to the left and becomes a tarmac road.

(7) At^{the first} Y-junction, as you enter the forest, turn right towards Rosport. Descend. Cross the stream (dry in November). Take the steps. Continue along the path. Take the steps again. Walk along a fence. Pass a viewpoint overlooking Rosport. Continue and leave the forest. The path becomes a road. Enter the town of Rosport. Go to the end of the street at the junction with Rue Giesenbour.

(8) Turn right. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead. At the next crossroads, turn right onto Rue du Cimetière. At the cemetery car park, take the steps in front of you. At the top, continue along the edge of the road towards the church. When you reach the church, cross the road carefully. There is a fountain on the park wall (water is not drinkable). Take the path leading to the Town Hall and the Tudor Museum. Follow it to the intersection and then turn left. Continue along the pond below on your left until you reach the next crossroads.

(9) At the crossroads, take the path on the right. Walk along a small canal below on your left. At the intersection, turn right and go up to the road. Turn left and take the forest path on your left for about 1.3 km. Pass the entrance to a gypsum quarry. It is strictly forbidden to enter the gallery, as it is home to bats and, above all, presents a risk of collapse. On the left, below, you will see walls that were erected to transport the gypsum extracted from the underground gallery on an inclined plane using mine wagons to a loading area.

(10) At the fork (not shown on the map), keep to the right. Leave the forest. View of the valley and the chapel below, along the road. At the road, turn right. Ignore the road leading off to the left and pass in front of a reproduction of the Lourdes grotto. Further up, the road turns left. Pass a fountain with non-potable water. On your left, stairs lead to the 14th-century Girsterklaus Chapel, which is made of stone rather than painted plaster, as is usually the case in Luxembourg. After visiting the chapel, continue along the road for about 100 metres until you leave the hamlet.

(11) Take the dirt track on your left. At the road, note a fountain and a stele on your right, cross carefully and take the path opposite. Go down the wooden steps. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead, go down the stone steps and follow the path that leads to a stream.

(12) Look for the stone steps on your right leading down to the stream and take them. Ford the stream and climb up the other side via the wooden and stone steps. Cross the road carefully and continue straight ahead on the path opposite. This path overlooks the road.

(13) Go down the stairs and immediately turn right. Keep to the right at the entrance to the meadow. Follow the path. Take the stairs up and down. Ford the stream three times in a row and then climb the stone stairs.

(14) After the last steps, turn left and do not go straight ahead. The path zigzags. Climb a few more steps. When you return to a wide forest path, continue to the left.

(15) At the crossroads, turn right and after about 1.2 km, at the road, turn left. After the bend, at the pylon, leave the road on the right. Follow the open path. At the end of the path, turn left onto a tarmac road. After the bend, continue downhill to the crossroads.

(16) You have two options:
- if you wish to stay at the Born campsite, continue straight on towards the village centre,
- otherwise, follow the route on the map and turn right onto the path. At the gate to the meadow, turn left. The path becomes a trail. Follow the fence, then the trail turns right and continues in the open. Enter the forest.

(17) At the crossroads, ignore the path on the left and a few metres further on, turn right uphill. The path winds its way up, climb a few steps and join a forest track which you follow to the left.

(18) At the crossroads, ignore the signpost on the right and continue straight ahead.

No markings

A few dozen metres further on, ignore the^first path that branches off sharply to your left and take the^second path on the left. The path becomes a trail. Further down, ignore the path that branches off sharply to your left (not shown on the map). Continue straight ahead. At the crossroads, before the belvedere shelter, turn left and descend to the road, then turn right.

(19) At the T-junction, continue to the right and at the junction with the CR135, turn left, pass in front of the church entrance, and at the crossroads, turn right and return to the cemetery car park (E).

Accommodation available in Born: Camping um Salzwaasser: room rental, mobile home, pitch.

No accommodation in Moersdorf on the Luxembourg side, but available in Metzdorf on the German side, via the footbridge: campsite + Gasthaus Alter Bahnhof inn, return by bus no. 485 from Moersdorf to Echternach.

Trails may be muddy in places.
Good footwear is necessary due to leaves and rocks made slippery by moisture.

From October to December, bear in mind the hunting season.

During

Dentzelt: former courthouse, dating back in part to the late^14th century
Basilica of Saint Willibrord: Merovingian crypt with the tomb of the founder of Echternach Abbey. 11th-century frescoes. The Basilica of Saint Willibrord, whose current form dates from the 11th and 13th centuries, was severely damaged during the Battle of the Ardennes and was partially rebuilt in the Neo-Romanesque style. The crypt dates from the Carolingian period and has remains of frescoes. It houses a sumptuous white marble sarcophagus containing the mortal remains of Saint Willibrord. There is also the St. Willibrord fountain, Renaissance confessionals and stained glass windows.
Pavilion in Echternach municipal park
Statue of Abbot Bertels on the bridge over the Sûre
Rock formations: Feitcheslay, Rodersschluff and Alkummer: imposing dolomite gorge. The dolomite forms steep cliffs and is divided by a network of vertical cracks and fractures (crevices). Water flows through the crevices in the dolomite and accumulates on the underlying marl, a clay-rich rock. Over time, the dolomite rock faces slide down the softened marl and break up into large stones. The narrow, accessible rock passage "Alkummer" was created because the blocks did not completely tip over here.
St. Michael's Church in Rosport
Tudor Museum: interactive museum dedicated to electricity and batteries from a scientific and historical perspective in Rosport
Gipskaul: underground gypsum gallery: In the 1940s and 1950s, gypsum was extracted from an underground gallery on the slope of the "Giischterbësch" forest. It was transported on an inclined plane by means of mine wagons to a loading point. Following the law of gravity, these loaded wagons pulled the empty wagons uphill, while a braking system regulated their speed. There was also a specific track connecting to the Prince Henri Railway line, which served the Sûre valley. Every day, 8 to 11 wagons of gypsum stone were sent to Belgium and the Netherlands. The slope consists of a marl-limestone sedimentary formation comprising numerous layers of gypsum. These were formed at a time when the region was covered by a sea. It is strictly forbidden to enter the gallery as it is home to bats and, above all, there is a risk of collapse.The remains of the inclined plane's technical installation are still visible.
^14th-century Girsterklaus Chapel: former Marian pilgrimage site of the Grand Duchy
St. Martin's Church in Moersdorf