The mine train
A ride into the hill.
GilPe — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Musée des Mines — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Musée des Mines — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GilPe — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zinneke — CC BY-SA 4.0
The National Mining Museum takes you inside a former iron mine in the Kayldall Valley in southern Luxembourg. Set in the Red Lands area that built the country's industrial wealth, it offers a real underground tour by small mine train, an outing that suits families and fans of industrial history. The museum occupies the Walert mine, within the iron ore basin running between Luxembourg and French Lorraine. Only a small share of this large European deposit lies in Luxembourg, yet it underpinned the country's steel industry for decades. The museum keeps alive the memory of the miners' work, with their machines, equipment and living conditions, in a place where they actually laboured. You ride the train into the hill, then continue on a guided tour of about 900 m lasting around 90 minutes, through red rock tunnels. Along the way are carts, yellow equipment and drilling machines from different periods. At the entrance stand the old machine house with its cream front, a huge pump, small colourful locomotives and ore wagons still loaded with red stone. The museum lies about 18.5 km from Luxembourg City and 7 km from the Belval Blast Furnaces in a straight line. The temperature in the mine stays around 10°C all year, so bring a jacket even in summer. Tours run by advance booking at set times, so check before coming, and they may not suit anyone uneasy in enclosed spaces.
A ride into the hill.
Iron ore rock around the passages.
Machines and carts from different periods.
Kayldall Valley, Rumelange, south Luxembourg
A jacket and closed shoes, as it is about 10°C in the mine.
Usually yes, as tours run at set times, so book through the museum.