12 Things to Do in Luxembourg City and What They Cost

Luxembourg City fits into a weekend on foot, because the UNESCO-listed old quarters and fortifications sit on one plateau and the valley floor is a lift ride below. The spine of a first visit is three things: the Bock Casemates tunnelled through the rock the city was founded on, the Chemin de la Corniche along the ramparts above the Alzette, and the Grand Ducal Palace, which opens for guided tours for a few weeks each summer.

Getting around costs nothing. Public transport across the whole country has been free in second class since 1 March 2020, for visitors as well as residents, so the buses, trams and trains that reach every sight below are free to use. Prices in this guide are the operators’ own 2026 rates, checked in September 2026.

12 things to do in Luxembourg City

The 12 things to do in Luxembourg City are listed below, starting with the fortifications the city is known for and ending with the places worth an hour if you have one spare. Seven of the twelve are free.

1. Go underground in the Bock Casemates

Buy a timed ticket for the Bock Casemates, the tunnel network cut into the rock where Luxembourg City began. Count Siegfried of the Ardennes acquired the Bock promontory in 963 from the Abbey of Saint-Maximin in Trier and built the castle that the city grew around, and the Spanish cut the first casemates into it in the 17th century as an underground defence system. The French and the Austrians enlarged them afterwards, and Luxembourgers sheltered in them from the bombing during both world wars. Entry runs every 15 minutes from 09:45 to a final admission at 17:00, seven days a week except 25 December and 1 January, and the visit takes up to 45 minutes. Adults pay €11 (about $12, £9) in 2026, students and over-60s €9 (about $10, £8), and children aged 4 to 12 €5.50 (about $6, £5).

2. Walk the Chemin de la Corniche

Walk the Chemin de la Corniche twice, once in daylight and once after dark, and you will understand why the Luxembourgish writer Batty Weber called it the most beautiful balcony in Europe. The path runs along the old ramparts built by the Spanish and the French, from the Bock down to the Holy Ghost Citadel, and it is car-free the whole way. Below it the Alzette valley holds the Grund, with the river, the old abbey buildings and the lower town’s rooftops laid out underneath you. It costs nothing and takes about 20 minutes at a walking pace, or an hour if you stop.

3. Tour the Grand Ducal Palace

Book a Grand Ducal Palace tour if your trip lands in the short summer opening window, because guided tours are the only way inside. The palace is the Grand Duke’s town residence and the place where he carries out most of his duties as head of state, and the Luxembourg City Tourist Office runs the visits when the family is away for the summer. In 2026 the season ran from 18 July to 30 August; the following year’s dates are announced by the tourist office rather than fixed in advance, so check before you plan around it. The 75-minute tour takes in the Grand Duke’s office, the dining room and the Salon des Rois, runs daily in Luxembourgish, French, English and German, and costs €18 (about $20, £15) for adults and €9 (about $10, £8) for children aged 4 to 12, with the proceeds going to the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess’s foundation.

4. Take the guided tour of the Pétrusse Casemates

Book ahead for the Pétrusse Casemates, because they are open by guided tour only and each group takes 12 people at most. The tour starts at Place de la Constitution, lasts an hour and runs in French, English and German, taking you through the second of the city’s two casemate systems. Both of them sit inside the UNESCO World Heritage listing for the old quarters and fortifications of Luxembourg City, along with the Corniche ramparts above them. Individual tickets are €24 (about $26, £20) for adults, €19.50 (about $21, £17) for students and over-60s and €12 (about $13, £10) for children under 12. Book it on a separate day from the Bock if you want both, since an hour underground is enough for most people.

5. See the Gëlle Fra on Constitution Square

Stand under the Gëlle Fra, the gilded figure on Constitution Square, and you are looking at the most contested monument in the country. The memorial went up in 1923 for the Luxembourgers who died in the First World War, the Nazi administration had it pulled down in October 1940, and the statue disappeared until two city officials found her in 1980 beneath the stands of the municipal football stadium. She was restored in 1984 and put back on the square in 1985, and she now stands for Luxembourgish freedom and resistance rather than one war. The square is open, free and gives you the view down into the Pétrusse valley.

6. Visit the Cathedral of Notre-Dame

Step into the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, which is unusual in that it is built into the street rather than standing apart from it. One entrance opens off an ordinary row of houses on rue Notre-Dame, and even the main door on the small square has another building attached to the far side of the church. The crypt holds the tombs of the grand ducal family, which makes this the most important place of worship in the country. Entry is free outside services.

7. Cross Place Guillaume II for the city hall and the statue of William II

Cross Place Guillaume II and you get two sights on one square, both free. The equestrian statue of William II of Orange-Nassau, who ruled Luxembourg from 1840 to 1849 and gave the country its first parliamentary constitution, was made by two sculptors rather than one: Antonin Mercié did the figure and Victor Peter did the horse. Behind it stands the neoclassical hôtel de ville, finished in 1838 on the site of a former monastery, which is also where the Luxembourg City Tourist Office sells the tickets for the casemates and the palace. Before 1838 the city administration had no fixed home, because the French had taken over the building that is now the Grand Ducal Palace in 1795.

8. Look at the parliament building

Find the Chamber of Deputies next door to the Grand Ducal Palace, connected to it and to a second building across the street by a glass bridge. The pairing is a good illustration of how Luxembourg City handles its heritage: when something needs extending, the new part is built as an obviously modern piece rather than a copy of the old one. You cannot walk in without arranging a visit, but the exterior takes two minutes and it is on the way between the palace and the Chocolate House.

9. Ride the free lifts into the Grund and Pfaffenthal

Ride the panoramic lift at Pfaffenthal down into the Alzette valley, because it is free and it drops 71 m through a glass shaft with the valley in front of you. The lift connects the Ville Haute at Pescatore park with the Pfaffenthal district below and runs daily from 05:45 to 01:00, closing on the first Monday of each month for maintenance. A second free lift runs from the Plateau du Saint-Esprit down to the Grund, which is the quickest way into the lower town and back out again without the climb. Walk one way along the Corniche and come back up in a lift, and the day gets considerably easier on the legs.

10. See the statue of Grand Duchess Charlotte

Find Grand Duchess Charlotte’s statue on Place Clairefontaine, another free stop and a short walk from the palace. Charlotte reigned from 1919 to 1964, spent the war years in exile broadcasting to the country, and came back to lead the rebuilding afterwards. She is credited with the growth of Luxembourg’s tourism industry and with the decision by several European institutions to base themselves in the country. The square around the statue is quiet enough to sit in, which is not true of much of the old town in summer.

11. Break for cake at the Chocolate House

Order a chocolate spoon at the Chocolate House, across the street from the Grand Ducal Palace on rue du Marché-aux-Herbes. The menu runs to dozens of chocolate drinks and creations made in-house at 20 rue du Marche-aux-Herbes, and the lunches are good enough to justify the stop on their own. I had a quiche that left room for dessert, which turned out to be the right decision: the cake portions are enormous and my slice of tiramisu cake was about the size of my hand. Jen of Luxe Adventure Traveler rates it too, in her write-up of food and wine in Luxembourg.

12. Spend an hour at Mudam

Walk out to Mudam, the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, when you have exhausted the old town. The museum sits on the Kirchberg plateau on the site of Fort Thüngen, and Ieoh Ming Pei designed the building so that it works with the surviving fortress walls rather than against them. Exhibitions change and cover painting, installation, photography and sculpture from Luxembourg and abroad, and there is a café and a shop if you want the building without the art. The tram from the city centre reaches it in about 15 minutes and costs nothing.

Practical information for Luxembourg City

Three practical questions decide a Luxembourg City trip: how to arrive, how to move around once you are there and where to sleep. Each is answered below.

How do you get to Luxembourg City?

Fly into Luxembourg Findel Airport, which is about 6 km (3.7 mi) from the centre and roughly 10 minutes away by road. Buses run from the terminal into the city and, like every other public service here, cost nothing. Compare fares and routes on Trip.com before you book, because Findel is served by fewer carriers than Brussels or Frankfurt and prices swing accordingly.

Arriving by train is the easier option from Belgium. I travelled in by rail, and direct services run from Brussels and from Liège to Luxembourg’s station at the southern edge of the centre. Fares and timetables for the Brussels and Liège services are on the Belgian railway booking site, and long-distance coaches are the cheaper alternative if you are coming from further away. Driving works too, though you will not need the car inside the city and parking on the plateau is expensive; keep it for the castles and the Moselle valley.

How do you get around Luxembourg City?

Walk, because the old town is compact and the two free lifts take the climbs out of it. When you do need transport, all buses, trams and second-class trains in Luxembourg have been free since 1 March 2020, which makes it the first country in the world to do this nationwide; you only pay for first class or for a journey that crosses into Belgium, France or Germany. The tram runs from the station through the centre to Kirchberg, which covers the walk out to Mudam. A guided e-bike tour of Luxembourg City covers the ground in three hours with a maximum of 10 people if you would rather have the hills done for you.

Where do you stay in Luxembourg City?

Stay within walking distance of the old town rather than out in the business district. I have used two hotels in the city on separate trips, and the difference between them was almost entirely the walk. Novotel Luxembourg Kirchberg sits in the European quarter close to Mudam, with a large, well-equipped room, but the old centre is a 40-minute walk away. Park Inn by Radisson Luxembourg City is 10 minutes from the historical centre on foot, and the room was big, the staff were helpful and the breakfast buffet was good; it is the one I would book again. Compare live rates at Park Inn by Radisson Luxembourg City and at the Novotel Luxembourg Kirchberg, or browse the whole Luxembourg hotel map if both are full.

What is on in Luxembourg City?

Check the official calendar rather than a blog for dates, because Luxembourg’s fixed events move around the calendar. Visit Luxembourg’s What’s On listing filters by date and by region and is the source the tourist office keeps updated. Two dates are worth planning around: the Schueberfouer funfair takes over the Glacis in late August and early September, and the Christmas markets run from late November into early January. National Day falls on 23 June, and the ceremonial changing of the guard at the palace is held on a handful of announced dates around it and through the summer.

Travel insurance for Luxembourg

Insure the trip, because the things that go wrong are rarely the things you planned for: a cancelled booking, a broken camera, a broken leg. SafetyWing sells flexible plans that you can start after you have already left home, which is unusual. They were the first travel insurer to cover COVID, and when I caught it they reimbursed my expenses without an argument.

Staying connected in Luxembourg

Add a mobile hotspot if you are travelling from outside the EU, since EU roaming rules will not cover you. Airalo eSIM sells day passes and monthly subscriptions with 4G in Luxembourg and across Europe. The code HARRY5578 takes €3 off a first order. I use the daily passes outside the EU and as a backup inside it, for the trips where I know I will run past my phone’s data allowance.

WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

The 5 tips below come from two weekends in the city and from checking every ticket and opening season against the operators’ own 2026 pages, and each one saves you money or a wasted walk.

1. Buy no transport tickets at all. Second-class public transport across the whole country has been free since 1 March 2020, for visitors as well as residents, so the buses from the airport terminal, the trams and the trains to every sight in this guide cost nothing. Book no airport transfer.
2. The Grand Ducal Palace opens for weeks, not months. In 2026 the season ran from 18 July to 30 August, guided tours are the only way in, and the following year’s dates are announced by the Luxembourg City Tourist Office rather than fixed in advance. Check the dates before you build a trip around it.
3. Book the Pétrusse Casemates well ahead and on a separate day. They open by guided tour only, each group takes 12 people at most, and the tour runs an hour from Place de la Constitution. An hour underground is enough for most people, so pair it with the Bock on a different day rather than the same one.
4. Walk the Corniche one way and take a lift back up. The panoramic lift at Pfaffenthal drops 71 m through a glass shaft and costs nothing, running 05:45 to 01:00 and closing the first Monday of each month, and a second free lift links the Plateau du Saint-Esprit to the Grund. The climb out of the valley is the part that ruins an afternoon.
5. Order one cake between two at the Chocolate House. The portions are large enough that my slice of tiramisu cake was nearly the size of my hand, and the quiche before it was already a meal.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the first-hand notes in this post come from her own weekends in Luxembourg, including the two hotels reviewed above and the cake at the Chocolate House. The team covers Luxembourg City and the rest of the Grand Duchy for independent travellers, including the tours, hotels, travel insurance and connectivity worth booking, and checks the ticket prices and opening seasons on this page against the operators’ own sites.