The Bock Casemates in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg are on the UNESCO World Heritage List and are the longest casemates in the world so of course they were on our ‘to see’ list! They are also listed in the day trips in the front of the Panther Paws so we needed it to help complete that list as well.
There are actually two sets of casemates in Luxembourg City, the Bock Casemates and the Pétrusse Casemates, although we only visited the Bock Casemates this time. If your like Mr. B your probably wondering what a casemate is, it’s derived from a greek word and means chasm.
Again one of the reasons I love being in Europe is the history. These were constructed in 1745, and it just blows my mind that we now are still getting to enjoy them.
There is no parking at the actual casemates you’ll need to find parking in town, which is not that easy so I suggest you use a parking garage. We parked at the St. Espirit parking garage. It was €3 for 1.5 hours. It was a 5 minute walk to the Bock Casemates. We then put our GPS on pedestrian mode and used it to get us to the casemates as we were not sure where we were in relation to the casemates. Also note the parking in the garage was tight, as appears to the be norm here in Europe, and we were thankful we’d taken the car that day.
Entrance into the Bock Casemates is €3 per adult ages 13 and over, and €2,50 for children 12 and under. It cost us €11,50 for our family of 5 (2 adults, 13 year old, & 11 year old). It is a self-guided tour so your given a brochure in English and off you go. There is also a restroom here if you need to use it before entering the secured entrance.
You must use scan your ticket in order for the metal gate to allow you to enter. The elderly lady in front of me was having quite the time figuring it out and her husband had already gone through.
If you have trouble walking this could be difficult. The stairs are uneven, some of the passages are narrow, and the floor is uneven as well. I do not recommend the spiral stairs at the end of the the casemates in section G. First they are very narrow and can be dangerous when your going down and someone is trying to come up, that was quite the interesting experience for us! Also you go through 2 sets of these crazy stairs only to find out that it’s a dead end and you have to turn around and do them again! Bea did not like them at all, she was terrified she was going to fall. So if your traveling with elderly or little kids they may want to skip that part.
As you can see the spiral staircase is steep, very narrow (literally enough for 1 person) and requires you to balance os short uneven stairs. Not for the non-adventurous folks.
Make sure to stop in all the little ‘rooms’ to view out the loopholes as you can get some great views and pictures!
A few other window views:
It took us about 30 minutes to tour the casemates and that was with stopping for me to take photos.
You can see this cannon in one of the side rooms.
This gives you and idea of how small some of areas are.
It was a neat place to visit and I’m glad we got a chance to check it out. We stopped at the American Military Cemetery on the way, it’s about 10 minutes from the Bock Casmates. We also visited Auchan to check out this french supermarket.
Know Before You Go:
Where: Bock Casemates in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
How To Get There: It’s about 1 hour from Spangdahlem, about 1 hour 30 mins from Ramstein.
What: Bock Casemates, underground tunnels to explore
Cost: €3 adults for ages 13 and up, €2,50 for children ages 12 and under.
How long: Plan on at least 30 minutes.
Where to find info: Above links, Panther Paws
These are so cool! I love all of your adventures.
So glad your enjoying them, I love being able to share them 🙂