Where to park in Luxembourg without overpaying

Parking on the street in Luxembourg City has its rules, and the main one is the colour of the zone. Before you start circling the old town for a space, I’d suggest a different plan, which in a country with free public transport seems the most sensible one to me.

How the colour zones work

Street parking is divided into coloured zones, and you pay during the working day. Orange is the dearest, €2 an hour from Monday to Saturday, with a two-hour limit. Yellow is €1 an hour. Green is €2 an hour for one to three hours and €1.50 for four to five. Violet is the bargain, fifty cents an hour, and you can stay as long as ten hours.

It’s all paid through the Indigo neo app, so I’d download it before you set off. The logic is simple. The dearer zones are meant for short errands and the cheaper ones for people staying all day, and if you’re sightseeing for hours, violet is the one you want.

Why not park in the centre at all?

Because you don’t need to. Since 1 March 2020 trams and buses have been free for everyone, and the city has interchange car parks on the network. Héienhaff P+R and Luxexpo are interchange stops on tram line T1 in Kirchberg, and bus 29 calls at the Lux-Sud P+R in Howald. Leave the car there and a few stops later you’re in the old town or at the station without paying a fare. Closer in, the Glacis car park in Limpertsberg holds over a thousand cars with the tram and buses at the gate, according to the tourist office, except for the three weeks a year when the Schueberfouer takes over the square.

What I couldn’t read are the park-and-ride charges, because the city’s page loads them in a way that doesn’t show as text. I won’t make up a figure, so check the sign at the entrance. Everything on the tram line, its stops and its frequency is in Luxembourg tram.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Luxemburgo before prices climb.

If you’re out in the evening

A quick note on hotels first. If you’re driving, ask whether yours has its own car park before you book, because in the centre street parking is time-limited and an overnight space solves the problem in one go.

The City Night Bus runs on Friday and Saturday nights until 03:30. Its CN1 line covers the old town, Hollerich, the Gare, Clausen, Neudorf and Cents and serves the Glacis and Bouillon car parks every 10 to 15 minutes from 21:30 to 03:30. Handy if you leave the car at one of them and head out for dinner. When it’s time to fill up, the maximum price per litre is in petrol prices in Luxembourg.

Wherever you stop, check the sign or the app rather than assuming a street is free, because the city page only publishes the tariffs and not a map I could read, and a fine is a poor souvenir.

Parking at the airport

The classic mistake is staying in Kiss & Fly. Kiss & Fly is for dropping people off, because once the free quarter of an hour is up, the daily rate jumps to €71.50. For several days, the covered car park next to the terminal or the cheaper open-air E are better bets, and both prices are in the table above.

If you want a guaranteed space, book online, since the cheapest options with a shuttle bus are only sold that way. If you’re flying, the rest of the terminal is in Luxembourg airport.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Luxemburgo before prices climb.

Vianden, Echternach and Clervaux

People ask about these a lot, so I’ll be straight with you. I didn’t find parking charges or car park maps for those towns on the official sites I read, so I won’t quote a price or name a car park. What I would say is that in high season I’d arrive early, and if you’d rather not bother, public transport reaches many of those places for free as well. How to put it together is in Luxembourg road trip.

My plan with a car

If I’m staying in the capital with a car, I look for a hotel with its own parking or near a park-and-ride, leave the car alone and get around by tram and bus. I only take it out to leave the city, for the north, the Mullerthal or the Moselle. Road rules are covered in driving in Luxembourg, and hiring a car in car hire in Luxembourg.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Luxemburgo and choose by the reviews.

A car frees you from timetables: search car hire in Luxembourg on DiscoverCars and compare companies.

So you do not pay over the odds, look at trains, coaches and flights to Luxembourg on Omio and pick the one that suits you.