Meet Milda and Yurie, two expats turned city tour guides

The Luxembourg City Tourist Office (LCTO) has over 125 active guides with between 10 and 40 years of experience in accompanying travellers and business visitors to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed capital.

Last year, the LCTO recorded more than a million stays in the city. While the majority of visitors to the Grand Duchy come from neighbouring countries such as Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, many tourists also come from further afield.

The city’s tourism board plans to launch a new training program for expat tour guides later this year. But what does it take to become a guide? Guides Milda Palilionyté from Lithuania and Yurie Matsumura from Japan explain what it takes and what they love about showing people around the capital.

From Expat to Expert

Matsumura and Palilionyté have been guides at the Luxembourg City Tourist Office for 12 and 10 years respectively, enlightening tourists and business visitors with city tours in Japanese, Lithuanian and English.

Palilionyte has established many historical links between the two countries. It is this type of information that can bring a tour to life for visitors.

“Lithuania was a Grand Duchy from the 13th^th in the late 18s^th century. John the Blind came to Lithuania three times and, during the last crusade, he was struck by an eye inflammation that later led to his blindness,” she explains as an example. “Paradoxically, a Lithuanian ophthalmologist, Sigita Paruliené, has her practice on John the Blind Street in Limpertsberg.”

Palilionyté establishes the historical links between Lithuania and Luxembourg while Matsumura sees commonalities between his native Japan and the Grand Duchy. © Photo credit: Gilles KAYSER

“Lithuania was a Grand Duchy from the 13th^th in the late 18s^th century. John the Blind came to Lithuania three times and, during the last crusade, he was struck by an eye inflammation that later led to his blindness,” she explains as an example. “Paradoxically, a Lithuanian ophthalmologist, Sigita Paruliené, has her practice on John the Blind Street in Limpertsberg.”

Matsumura arrived in the Grand Duchy 25 years ago with her Luxembourgish husband, whom she met at university in Japan.

“It is a pleasure to serve as a bridge between Japan and Luxembourg,” she said. “I have always been interested in Luxembourg’s culture and history and there were no Japanese tour guides at the time before my application. So I wanted to become a guide to offer Japanese visitors the opportunity to discover Luxembourg.”

Palilionyté has a background in journalism and believes it was her innate curiosity that led her to express her interest in becoming a guide shortly after arriving in the Grand Duchy. She visited Luxembourg on her way to the Netherlands to complete her master’s degree, but later returned for a European Commission “Blue Book” internship in 2008. “I call Luxembourg my adopted Heemescht,” she said.

In-depth training to become a guide

Both women took the LCTO’s mandatory courses for tourist guides in Luxembourgish, German or French, and passed the written and oral exams in English, with Matsumura taking them at the same time as her Luxembourgish husband.

“I learn new things about Luxembourg every day,” Palilionyté said. “The longer I live here, the more I appreciate the different nuances that only time and experience can reveal.”

Matsumura studied for a year to become an LCTO guide, mainly in Luxembourgish, but learning the history of the Grand Duchy in French. “It was a challenge for me to follow the courses, but my husband helped me with some terms and words,” she explains.

The couple visited the LCTO offices on weekends and listened to recordings of previous courses in 2011. Together, they became the first Japanese guides accredited by the LCTO.

Matsumura and Palilionyté are the most requested people to provide their services on the City Walk and the Wenzel Circular Walk, two of the LCTO’s most popular circuits, which include sites such as the Grand Ducal Palace, the Bock Casemates and the Gëlle Fra.

The Grand Ducal Palace is one of the attractions of the City Promenade © Photo credit: Guy Jallay

Matsumura and Palilionyté are the most requested people to provide their services on the City Walk and the Wenzel Circular Walk, two of the LCTO’s most popular circuits, which include sites such as the Grand Ducal Palace, the Bock Casemates and the Gëlle Fra.

Japanese tourists are interested in knowing how Luxembourg can remain a country despite its small size or how it has achieved its current high quality of life and economic success, Matsumura said.

“The culture and habits are totally different, but there are also many things in common. Luxembourgers and Japanese people like good food and a pleasant living environment.”

Ambassadors of Luxembourg

“We are Luxembourg’s tourism ambassadors,” said Palilionyté, who believes that a good tourist guide will arouse the interest and curiosity of those who want to get to know the Grand Duchy “rather than just making a quick stopover on a trip to larger neighbouring countries.”

Both women would be happy to become tour guides if they ever returned to their respective countries of birth.

“When I see visitors having fun, I also feel happiness,” Matsumura added. “The guided tour is my life’s work.”

Do you think you could become a tour guide?

If you are passionate about the history of the capital and would like to share it with travellers from your home country or newcomers to Luxembourg, you can apply to become an official LCTO tourist guide through their training programme by contacting [email protected]

You can also share your inspiring moments on LCTO’s “Urban Adventures by Locals” webpage or provide content for its social media platforms.

Do you want to know the city better?

You can book a thematic tour for one to twenty people with a personal guide, choosing from around forty different tours or creating a tailor-made tour, in the language of your choice (subject to guide availability). You can also join one of the existing tours offered by the LCTO. You can find out more on their website.