Where to live in Luxembourg?

Getting around is easier than you think

In a country with over 600,000 inhabitants and 200,000 cross-border commuters, mobility is key. While many enjoy living in one of Luxembourg’s urban centres – Luxembourg City, Esch-Alzette and the 'Northern City' encompassing Ettelbruck and Diekirch, which are the country’s economic hotspots – getting to those centres from outside is not a problem either.

Although traffic jams are a topic during rush hour, efforts to incite people to renounce going by car are starting to bear fruit, fueled by the free public transportation system and the rapidly expanding network of bicycle lanes. Parking in the urban centres can be expensive, rising up to €28 a day in certain car parks in Luxembourg City.

Carsharing services are one alternative avoid expensive parking fees. 2 operators offer their services in the country and have been enjoying some success.

Public transportation is especially dense on the main roads linking the urban centres and the axis that run towards Belgium, Germany. In Luxembourg City, the tram network is being continually extended, which will make travelling within the city much easier.

If you want a maximum of flexibility but don’t want to take your car into one of these urban centres, many towns have so called 'mobility hubs', where it's easy to leave your car and continue by train or bus. For cyclists, there are also the bikeboxes at key locations, secured boxes to store your bike while you are away.

In the countryside, the versatility of a car is definitely an advantage though, to drive kids to their after-school activities, pick up groceries or travel on weekends, when less buses and trains run. Most big infrastructures are within a 10-20 minute drive, although this may increase in the northern part of the country, which is less densely populated.

Quality of life

Luxembourg enjoys a high quality of life, something major rankings regularly confirm.

The southern sprawl in the Minett region with Esch-Alzette enjoys many parks and recreation areas (e.g. the Gaalgebierg and the Giele Botter nature reserve) surrounding the busy city centres. And Luxembourg City's many parks, playgrounds and quiet suburbs make you forget in an instant that you are actually in a European capital. These urban centres also host the larger cultural, sports, leisure and administrative infrastructures, but smaller infrastructures throughout the country are just as diverse.

Luxembourg's rural areas are very idyllic and very easy to reach from the urban centres. The forests and fields around them are popular hiking and biking areas, especially in the summer. Associative life is given a lot of importance in the villages, and joining a band or sports club is the best way to integrate quickly and meet new people. The event calendar in even the most rural communities is usually brimming with concerts, art exhibitions, sports events, etc., so make sure to check it out.

Sports, culture and health

Sports infrastructures, e.g. swimming pools and stadiums, are many. Although the main infrastructures are located in or near Luxembourg City, i.e. the national stadium and the national aquatic centre 'D'Coque', every municipality has its own local infrastructures.

As for culture, the main infrastructures will again be located in or near Luxembourg City, such as the National Library, many national museums and the Philharmonie concert hall, or in Esch-Alzette, such as the Rockhal, the Kulturfabrik or the National Audiovisual Centre. However, many decentralised culture hotspots cater to all kinds of tastes, with local museums, concert halls and art festival having long exited the shadow of the large national institutions and events. Wiltz, Echternach, Niederanven, Marnach, Grevenmacher, Clervaux and of course Esch-Alzette have a bustling artistic scene and are well known beyond the country's borders for their museums, concerts and festivals.

Need regular healthcare? Luxembourg's hospitals are concentrated in and around Luxembourg City:

• Centre hospitalier du Luxembourg (Luxembourg City);
• Centre hospitalier du Kirchberg (Luxembourg City);
• CHL Clinique d’Eich (Luxembourg City);
• ZithaKlinik (Luxembourg City);
• Centre hospitalier Emile Mayrisch (Esch-Alzette);
• Centre hospitalier du Nord (Ettelbruck).

Alongside these general hospitals, there is also a number of specialist hospitals.

Moreover, the GPs in Luxembourg ensure a 24/7 on-call service in so called 'Maisons médicales'. These medical health centres are open during the night, on weekends and on holidays. They are located in Luxembourg City, Esch-Alzette and Ettelbruck.

Real estate prices on the rise

Real estate prices for Luxembourg City are nearly on par with cities such as Paris or Munich (2021: 13,000€/m2). Especially boroughs such as Weimerskirch, Belair, Limpertsberg, Kirchberg, Pfaffenthal and Gasperich have seen prices for flats rocket. Recent government programmes seek to counter this evolution with large-scale housing construction, but owning real estate remains expensive in the capital.

Elsewhere, prices have been rising too, especially in the vicinity of the capital and the main roads leading to it. Accord to the Housing Observatory, the municipalities of Bertrange, Kopstal, Mamer, Strassen and Hesperange along the western axis, Sandweiler, Niederanven and Contern along the eastern axis and Steinsel, Walferdange and Lorentzweiler along the northern axis have the highest prices for apartments and houses.

Lower prices are usually associated with the regions furthest from the capital, i.e. in the Luxembourg Ardennes region, commonly called Eislek, which is more sparsely populated and has less dense infrastructure.

Putting children first: Education and childcare

Childcare facilities operate for younger and older children all throughout the country. Every child between 0 and 4 years has a guaranteed spot in a day- or childcare facility in Luxembourg.

Most municipalities have centralised education facilities for preschool and fundamental education. A locally organised bus service brings the kids to school and back to their villages or community free of charge.

Secondary schools are located in the country's main cities and towns. Luxembourg City alone has 11 state run institutes of secondary education, plus three private schools and 5 international schools. Esch-Alzette follows with three state-run schools, one private school and one international school. However, a large number of secondary schools exist in the rest of the country, including the well-known European School in Luxembourg-Kirchberg and Mamer.

A number of higher education institutions also operate in the country – see our page about higher education institutions in Luxembourg for more information.