Trier: Roman Germany, fifty minutes away

Trier is the closest thing Luxembourg has to a second city, and a surprising number of residents have never been. It sits on the Moselle roughly fifty minutes away by train, it contains the largest concentration of Roman remains north of the Alps, it is a proper university town with the food and bookshops that implies, and the whole thing is walkable from the station. For a Saturday with no plan, it is the most reliable option within an hour of Luxembourg City.

Getting there

• By train from Luxembourg Gare Centrale, roughly fifty minutes on the direct regional service along the Moselle. Trains run frequently through the day.
• Public transport is free within Luxembourg, so you pay only for the section beyond the border. Buy that portion before boarding.
• By car, roughly the same time by the A1 and the German A64, with parking on the edge of the old town. The train is easier because the centre is pedestrianised.
• Trier Hauptbahnhof to the Porta Nigra is a ten-minute walk, and everything else follows from there.

What to actually see

The Porta Nigra

The Roman city gate, black with age, standing at the head of the main pedestrian street. It is the image of Trier and it is genuinely extraordinary at close range: a fortified gatehouse built without mortar in the second century and still standing because a medieval hermit lived in it and it was subsequently made into a church.

The Aula Palatina, or Konstantinbasilika

An enormous fourth-century imperial throne hall, now a Protestant church, and the largest surviving single-room structure from antiquity. The interior is austere and the scale is difficult to convey in a photograph. It is a five-minute walk from the cathedral and it is the building most visitors skip.

The cathedral and the Liebfrauenkirche

Two churches sharing a site, one Romanesque and massive, the other early Gothic and much lighter. The contrast between them in fifty metres is the reason to see them together.

The Kaiserthermen and the amphitheatre

Imperial baths with an extensive underground service network you can walk through, and a Roman amphitheatre on the hillside above. Both are outdoors, both are better in reasonable weather, and the underground passages are a hit with children.

The Rheinisches Landesmuseum

The regional archaeological museum, and the place that ties the Roman sites together. If it is raining, start here.

Eating and drinking

Trier is a German university town on a wine river, which is a useful combination.

• Moselle Riesling is the local wine and it is taken seriously. Wine bars around the old town pour by the glass and the quality relative to price is considerably better than in Luxembourg City.
• German bakery and café culture is the correct mid-morning move, and the standard is high.
• The Hauptmarkt and the streets around it carry the tourist restaurants; walk two streets further out for better value.
• Prices are noticeably lower than in Luxembourg, which residents notice immediately and which is part of the appeal.

When to go

• Spring and autumn are the best combination of weather and quiet.
• December brings one of the better Christmas markets in the region, set in the Hauptmarkt and around the cathedral, and it is busy for good reason.
• Summer is warm and the outdoor sites are at their best, though the town fills with coach parties.
• Sunday is the day to know about: German shops close, but museums, churches and restaurants open, so it is a good day for the sites and a poor one for shopping.

A workable day

• Morning train from Luxembourg, arriving mid-morning.
• Porta Nigra first, while you have energy for stairs.
• Walk the Simeonstrasse to the Hauptmarkt, then the cathedral and the Liebfrauenkirche.
• Lunch off the main square.
• Konstantinbasilika, then the Kaiserthermen and, if the weather holds, the amphitheatre.
• A glass of Riesling before the train back.

That is a full but unhurried day. Adding the Landesmuseum makes it a long one, and it is a reasonable second visit rather than something to squeeze in.

With children

Trier works better with children than most historic towns, because the Roman sites are physical rather than glass-case: gates to climb, underground passages to walk through, an amphitheatre to run around. The pedestrianised centre removes the traffic anxiety, and the ice cream is good.

The practical constraints are the walking distances between sites, which add up over a day, and the stairs at the Porta Nigra. With small children, pick two sites rather than five.

Beyond the Roman sites

If you go back a second time, or if the queues at the Porta Nigra are long, Trier has a quieter half that most day visitors never reach.

• The Karl Marx house, where he was born, now a museum covering his life and the reception of his ideas. It is better done than the subject usually is.
• The Petrisberg, the hill above the town, with gardens laid out for a horticultural show and the best view over the Moselle valley.
• The Roman bridge, whose piers are original and still carrying traffic after eighteen centuries.
• The Palastgarten, the baroque garden between the basilica and the baths, which is where the town goes on a warm afternoon.
• The Sankt Matthias abbey, south of the centre, a pilgrimage church with a considerable history and almost no visitors.
• The Moselle path, running along the river in both directions, flat and easy, and the best way to walk off a long lunch.

Trier rewards a second visit more than most day trips, because the first one is spent on the obvious things and the second on the town itself.

Three questions we are asked about Trier

Is a day enough?

For the main Roman sites and the old town, yes. For the museums as well, or to combine it with the Moselle vineyards, stay the night. Hotels in Trier are considerably cheaper than in Luxembourg City, which is an argument in itself.

Do I need German?

No. Trier deals with international visitors constantly and English is widely spoken, and a good number of Luxembourg residents speak German anyway. A few words are appreciated as everywhere.

Can I combine it with the Moselle wine route?

Easily by car, which is the main argument for driving rather than taking the train. The vineyards downstream toward Bernkastel are among the steepest in Europe and the drive along the river is worth doing for its own sake.

Why we write these

Households that settle happily in Luxembourg are usually the ones who worked out early that the country is a base rather than a destination. Trier, Metz and the Moselle are all inside an hour, and that changes how a two-year posting feels.

Every strong property choice contains a trade-off, and beyond the roman sites is no exception. For the question raised by “Beyond the Roman sites”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

For the question raised by “Beyond the Roman sites”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

One of the easiest mistakes around three questions we are asked about trier is judging the visible result while ignoring the process that produces it. For the question raised by “Three questions we are asked about Trier”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages. Then ask what happens when one assumption fails.

A stronger reading of getting there starts by asking what would change for the resident on an ordinary weekday.