Escapardenne Lee Trail

The Lee Trail runs for three days through the Éislek, the Luxembourg Ardennes, along the schist ridges that give the route its name: 'lee' is Luxembourgish for ridge, and you climb more than a dozen of them. In total 52 kilometres with 2,380 metres of climbing, split into stages of 18, 13 and 21 kilometres. The trail holds the Leading Quality Trail - Best of Europe label, awarded to only a handful of long-distance routes on the continent.

The character is narrow forest paths and constant ridge-and-valley hopping: the route crosses the Sûre repeatedly, climbing to viewpoints like the Gringlee, the Napoléonsknäppchen and the Molberlee before dropping back to the river. Waymarking is excellent throughout, and the stage villages, Michelau, Bourscheid with its medieval castle, Dirbach and Hoscheid, give each day its own rhythm.

The surfaces are natural terrain, so after rain the schist gets slippery and muddy. Count on five to seven hours a day, with most of the climbing on the last stage.

Practical. Both endpoints sit on railway lines and public transport in Luxembourg is free; trains run hourly between Ettelbrück and Kautenbach, so a shortened version with an exit at Goebelsmühle is easy. You sleep in the valleys: campsites with trekkers' huts at Bourscheid-Moulin, Goebelsmühle and Kautenbach, plus a handful of hotels. May to mid-June and September are the best months; book huts and hotels in the Bourscheid valley ahead for summer weekends.