Luxembourg - Return Stopover Recommendations!

bigmo476

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Hello Team, heading to Luxembourg in June and staying in Vianden for 3 nights. We’re looking for recommendations for a good overnight stop on the way back to Calais.

I’m thinking Cambrai, only because we stopped for lunch in the town square on the way down last year and it looks like a decent sized town for restaurants and evening beers.

Any hidden gems in Cambrai, Arras, Douai, Lens? May have a few hours free in the morning as well. Are there any must see WW1 sites we could fit in as well?

Mods feel free to boot this thread to the correct area if it’s not strictly Benelux related.
 
Places I have stayed on the way out or back not too far from the Channel:

St Omer: Wapping and I concur, use the Ibis Budget with its gated car park. Short walk into town. If you like meat cooked over fire, reserve a table in https://www.restaurantles3caves.fr/ which is a 10 minute walk away

Bruges: lovely town but very popular and can be busy. Prices reflect it being Belgium and touristy. Martin's Hotel is very nice, underground parking https://g.page/martinsbruggehotel?share

Arras: it's okay but prefer St Omer or Bruges if you want close to a port.

This place is superb but maybe a bit far south. It would give you plenty of opportunity to enjoy roads in Luxembourg and the Ardennes https://goo.gl/maps/XJk9wX86EsZysNURA located in Étréaupont in an old manor house with very good restaurant. Covered, off road parking.
 
St Omer, as per Wessie.

There is more WW1 stuff that you can shake a stick at, anywhere from near enough St Omer, south to Verdun and then to Switzerland. I’d suggest Vimy Ridge or the Newfoundland Memorial. If you do either of these, see if you can book onto one of the guided tours.
 
We have used: -

Bruges - Novotel Brugge Centrum, which IIRC sits opposite an Ibis or similar. Plenty to do/see, but hellish busy on a weekend.

Ghent - the Gent Marriott.

Ypres - The Novotel. See the WW1 sites & last post at the Menen Gate

However, it's not exactly far from Lux so, dependant on crossing times, we usually stay somewhere like Bouillon (Hotel Panorama) or La Roche & then bimble west along the old N40 road back to the port/tunnel.
 
not sure what your timings are for travel, but you would easily reach Calais from Vianden. Coming back from the Black Forest we stopped one night at Hotel De la Source ,this is right next to the Spa race track in Luxembourg
 
not sure what your timings are for travel, but you would easily reach Calais from Vianden. Coming back from the Black Forest we stopped one night at Hotel De la Source ,this is right next to the Spa race track in Luxembourg

is that a different Spa to the one in Belgium?
 
When you say ‘we’ is that you and partner or a load of hairy apes ?
If it’s the former then I can recommend Manoir Ogygia in Poperinge.
Fabulous place with lovely rooms and stunning food .
Not the cheapest place but worth it.

465a5b679ab0a488b22e427e571ec303.jpg
 
OP, depending on where you want to go (ie. along which type of roads *) how much and for how long you want to see ‘WW1 stuff’ and, not least what time you have to be in Calais (let alone what time you plan on leaving Vianden) will have a large bearing on where a possible over night stop might be, over a distance that is about 280 miles overall.

You mention Cambrai, as a likely contender. I guess this sort of (or exactly) fits with what you have in mind and that its location fits in with your return journey via Calais the next day? If so, go for it.

* Are you a D road only merchant? Do you avoid motorways, like you’d avoid the plague? Do you favour goat tracks? Do you like to roll out of bed at 09:00 AM, enjoy a leisurely breakfast and ride off at 10:30, only to stop for fuel at 10:55 and then at 11:45 for a coffee and a bun?

I can see a suggestion of Bouillon. That’s somewhere I sometimes stop en-route for a coffee in the morning, en-route to Calais from Vianden’ish. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for an overnight stop-off between Vianden and Calais, particularly if you wanted to be in Calais around 08:30 the next morning to get your crossing to England, whilst avoiding all motorways. It does though highlight the challenge in suggesting places, as outlined above. Bouillon is often a destination from Calais, in its own right.

Fill in some more key details and we might be able to help you more and, not least, better.
 
Arsey - yes, hairy apes, wouldn’t want to soil that lovely looking place with their presence but I’ll keep it mind for a future visit with the wife.

Wapping - thanks, I agree Bouillon too close to Vianden for an overnight. Would probably just be a couple of hours free in the morning for looking around wherever we end up. The tunnel is booked mid afternoon. I’m liking the St Omer suggestion, I’ll put it to the main route planner!
 
I've stayed in Arras and St. Quentin - lovely town centres especially the Arras squares (places).
 
I've stayed in Arras and St. Quentin - lovely town centres especially the Arras squares (places).

that reminds me, the Florence Hotel is just outside the St Quentin town centre and has decent off street parking. 2* and eminently suitable for a group of simians.
https://goo.gl/maps/wUCwQsmVhBqkPYZU6

St Quentin has a massive war memorial https://goo.gl/maps/kRDiXLQgcqj9gDLe7 the other side of town, over the river.
8768100217175801.jpg


There is an Ibis Budget across the bridge just off a small square with a cluster of bars and restaurants.
https://goo.gl/maps/1KgrNnecQHKFu3RG9

Both of these are good for an overnight.
 
All good tips from Wessie.

Whilst I very much favour using family run hotels, I am not at all adverse to using an Ibis Budget for a simple, basic, overnight stay. This is true though only if the hotel is not:

A. Miles from anywhere, by which I mean I can walk for no more than 20 minutes into the middle of town.

B. On some industrial estate, slap bang next to the central railway station or not perched on a motorway.

And, not least, the town itself has a reasonable number of reasonable restaurants and a coupe of reasonable bars. Most or all of this can be found out in Google Street View.
 
Good work team, I’ll let you know what we decide and put a post on after the trip if we come across anywhere new or unusual!
 


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