Lots of cities have passes whereby you pay a fixed amount to gain entry to a number of attractions in that city. Most of the time, I don’t think that they are worth the money but of course, there are some gems if you look hard enough!
When I visited Salzburg in 2016, we purchased “The Salzburg Card” and I was very impressed with the value for money – you can read my full breakdown of the costs here. So, when I was planning my three day trip to Luxembourg and found that they had an even more impressive card (The Luxembourg Card), you can only imagine my excitement!
Let’s get things straight, this isn’t a “city pass”, The Luxembourg Card is available for use over the whole COUNTRY – exciting right?
As you would expect, a large number of the country’s main attractions (including some lovely hidden gems) are free with the pass (or give you a discount on entry costs). However, the thing that really excited me was the fact that ALL train and bus lines in the country are free with the Luxembourg Card. Coming from a country like the UK where train costs are astronomical, this is completely mind blowing for me. If the UK had an equivalent all encompassing pass, I would be buying it every weekend!
I won’t list all of the available attractions here, but if you are interested in taking a look, they can be viewed here.
A card that encompasses an entire country including all of their transport links must be very pricey right? Think again.
The card can be purchased for one, two or three days and there is an option for individual cards (1 person) or family cards (2 – 5 people).
These prices are correct as at November 2017:
Individual (1 person) | Family (2-5 People) | |
1 Day | € 13.00 | € 28.00 |
2 Days | € 20.00 | € 48.00 |
3 Days | € 28.00 | € 68.00 |
If you had a family of 5 visiting for 3 days, the cost would therefore be as little as €4.53 per person per day!
Below, you can see a breakdown of all of the things we did (over three days) and how much they would have cost without the card. All transport costs are taken as estimates from Rome2Rio.
Detail | EUR |
Travel (Hotel to Vianden) | € 5.00 |
Vianden – Chairlift | € 4.50 |
Vianden – Castle | € 7.00 |
Travel (Vianden to Hotel) | € 5.00 |
Travel (Hotel to Grevenmacher) | € 5.00 |
Grevenmacher – Bike Rental | € 12.00 |
Grevenmacher – Wine Tasting | € 9.00 |
Grevenmacher – Butterfly House | € 8.00 |
Travel (Grevenmacher to Hotel) | € 5.00 |
Travel (Hotel to City) | € 1.00 |
City – Bock Casemates | € 6.00 |
Travel (City to Hotel) | € 1.00 |
Total | € 68.50 |
We travelled Luxembourg at a relatively relaxed and slow pace. We could have done so many more activities (e.g. there are so many museums in Luxembourg City that we never visited – we aren’t big museum fans after all), so you could easily save even more money!With the Luxembourg Card costing €28 per person for three days and us completing activities worth €68.50, we managed to save a whopping €40.50 per person! If that’s not a bargain, I don’t know what is!
If a group of 5 adults completed our exact itinerary using the group/family Luxembourg Card, the Card would cost them €13.60 per person saving an incredible €54.90 per person!
If you want to read about all of the things we got up to in Luxembourg for this price, make sure you read these blog posts:
The Luxembourg card can be purchased online here as well as at many locations throughout the country.
Along with the card, you should receive a VERY helpful leaflet outlining all of the attractions that are free or discounted – use this as your bible! We saw so much in the leaflet that we didn’t know existed and could have easily spent another three days exploring other areas of the country!
The short answer – yes!
The long answer – If you plan on exploring more than just Luxembourg City, this card will be perfect for you. Saving money is obviously a great advantage but it also means your plans can be more spontaneous. With the ability to hop on any bus/train and just see where the day takes you is fab (and saves time queuing/paying for tickets).
However, be aware that a vast majority of the attractions available on the Card in Luxembourg City are museums and if you aren’t big museum fans (like us), a pass may not be worth it if you are only visiting the City.
Have you ever found a great city/country pass? Let me know where – I’m a big fan!
Disclaimer: While I was kindly gifted Luxembourg Cards by the Luxembourg tourism board, all opinions are my own and I certainly would purchase Luxembourg Cards for future trips.
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Loved your breakdown of the city card, I am not good at such breakdowns. One city card I utilized to the fullest and I wish I had more than 3 days to use every penny out of it was the London 3-day pass. I got to see so many places that weren't even on my list because it was included on the card. I like exploring cities using passes as it can enhance your itinerary. I also loved Roma pass as it gave us unlimited public transport use 🙂 Will have to try the Luxemburg pass next!
Hi, is the Grand Ducal Palace included in luxembourg card? Thank you
Hi JCV, from a quick glance at the website, I don't think that the Grand Ducal Palace is included. I would recommend speaking to the card operator to confirm this.