The Family of Man, the Steichen exhibition that settled in Clervaux

It isn’t every day that a photography exhibition ends up on a UNESCO register, but this one did. The Family of Man was conceived in the 1950s by Edward Steichen, photographer and director of the photography department at MoMA in New York, and was first shown there in 1955. Today it lives in a castle in a small town in the Luxembourg Ardennes, and I rank it among the most worthwhile things to see anywhere in the country.

What it is and why it matters

There are 503 prints, taken by 273 photographers in 68 countries. The Clervaux tourist office names Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, August Sander and Dorothea Lange among them. Steichen had two aims, to show that human experience and emotion are universal, and to prove that photography could make that common ground tangible to a huge audience. The images are arranged in 37 themes, from love, birth and work to family, education, war and peace.

visitluxembourg describes it as a manifesto for peace and equality, made with the humanist photography of the post-war years, and says it has drawn more than 10 million visitors since it was created. After touring more than 150 museums worldwide, the last complete version was installed permanently in Clervaux Castle in 1994, keeping the original layout of the prints. In the same town, Clervaux Abbey opens its daily 10am Mass, sung in Gregorian chant, to visitors. In 2003 it joined UNESCO’s Memory of the World register, one of the listings covered in the guide to Luxembourg UNESCO World Heritage.

Opening times and prices for 2026

The 2026 season opened on 18 March and closes on 1 January 2027, with doors open Wednesday to Sunday between midday and 6pm. It’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays unless they’re public holidays. A standard ticket is €6, reduced €4, and it’s free up to 21, with the Kulturpass and with the LuxembourgPass.

The multimedia guide is free and runs on your own phone via a QR code at the entrance. It offers a basic audio route with interviews, background on the collection and its history, and video material, in French, German and English. For a British visitor that works well, since you get every interview in English without paying for a tour. Bring your own headphones.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Clervaux for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Guided tour or on your own?

If you can, go on a Sunday. The CNA, Luxembourg’s national audiovisual centre, which looks after the collection, runs a free guided tour every Sunday at 4pm, with a booked ticket. Private tours cost €80 for 60 minutes and €95 for 90, and there’s a combined two-hour tour with Clervaux’s open-air photography trail, Cité de l’Image, for €110. They’re offered in Luxembourgish, French, German, English or Dutch, for groups of up to 20, and the CNA asks for three weeks’ notice.

Inside there’s also a documentation area with current and historical books on the collection, Steichen and the photographers, open during exhibition hours for reading on site.

And between January and March?

The 2026 season began on 18 March and ends on 1 January 2027. By the end of September 2026 no 2027 dates were out yet, so if your trip falls in January or February, I’d check the CNA website before heading up to Clervaux. Within the season, on the other hand, the CNA accepts guided tours on request outside normal opening hours, aimed at groups.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Clervaux for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

What to pair it with in the castle

The same building holds the Battle and Castles museum, covering the Battle of the Bulge and models of 22 Luxembourg castles. Its hours are 10am to 5pm every day except Wednesday, and it costs €5. The two overlap on Thursday to Sunday afternoons, which is when I’d go to see everything in one day.

How I’d see it

I’d give it at least an hour and a half, unhurried. It’s an exhibition that works cumulatively, room after room, and what stays with you is the sum of it. If you’re under 21 it costs nothing at all, which makes it one of the best-value afternoons in the country. Afterwards I’d head out to the free open-air exhibitions of Cité de l’Image, which take under an hour and sit very well with what you’ve just seen.

To get there, Clervaux has its own station, and line 10 trains cost nothing in second class inside the country. There’s accessible parking at the castle’s side entrance. If you’re staying over, I’ve covered the hotels in Clervaux.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in The Family of Man on GetYourGuide.

If you would rather go at your own pace, see the car hire deals in Luxembourg: the earlier you book, the more cars are left to choose from.

Before you fix your dates, compare tickets to Luxembourg: the same journey can cost very different amounts from one day to the next.