I always imagined Luxembourg as a grand and prestigious kind of place, and the city did not disappoint! There are a lot of great old sites, but there’s quite a bit of new construction and remodeling going on too. It’s amazing how clean they seem to keep the city; it’s beautiful!

When you get out of the train station you’re met by a wide boulevard to the right that runs through the city to Pont Adolphe (a bridge) overlooking Parcs de la Pétrusse, a big beautiful park down near a small river where there are paths, historic landmarks, and a new skate park (Skatepark Péitruss). If you continue across the bridge you come to a concentration of shops, restaurants, and more historic sites, and eventually, you’re likely to find yourself looking across another river (the Alzette) to the northeast. Across the river, on another peak, you’ll see some high rises and what I believe is a developing new area. I see listings for nice-looking hotels, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, and the Parlement européen building on Google, so it might just be a business district. I’m interested to see what comes of it though. I walked through part of it, but it felt cold and not quite so welcoming due to a lot of construction. Maybe I’ll get back in a few years and see what it’s developed into.

This was a 3-night stay…

• Accommodation –  $313.77* (additional information below)
• Getting around locally – $0  (just a lot of walking, as usual, but I heard the public transportation in the city is actually free)
• Living expenses – $119.94 (groceries and eating out)
• Activities – $0
• Mobile phone/data  – $7.46 (I use Google Fi which provides service in most countries. If you’re interested and based in the U.S., you can use this paid link to sign up, which will give me a referral fee at no extra cost to you.)
• Medical insurance – $6.91 (I’m using SafetyWing; rates are determined by age, and mine is slightly above the base. If you’re interested there is a paid link/banner on the right side of the page)

Total $448.08 / 3-nights = $149.36 per

*Hotel info

• I booked the Hôtel Grey through Booking.com. The hotel was alright, probably a little older, and could use a refresh. It wasn’t filthy by any means, but you can tell they haven’t remodeled in a little while, or done a deep clean, but the biggest drawback for me was that it lacked places to store clothing and things, which made it feel quite small. I knew the room was small going in and the size would have been fine if there was just a dresser or some shelves to place things on; it felt like there was space in the room. I live out of my bag full time, but it’s nice to be able to take the things used most often out as soon as I get to a location. I think this is the same for anyone traveling, so it’s surprising they only had a folding luggage rack (this was the only saving grace, but not a solution), 2 hangers, and a tiny table that was taken up by the water kettle, a tissue box, and some hotel info material. The shower was actually in the room with only the toilet separated in a separate small space. For the cost, compared to others, I guess I have to call it a good place for a short stay. If I go back I’ll try to dig a little deeper to upgrade to a larger room though.

Transportation to and from varies a lot, so I left it out of the above breakdown along with most incidental/one-time personal costs. But for those interested, in this particular case, I took a train booked with SNCF from Strasbourg to Luxembourg. It was a direct train and my seat was in 2nd class and the cost was 36€ ($39.77). All other standard day to day expenses are included to give an idea of how much basic living costs in the area are. Groceries will sometimes include personal care items (i.e., toothpaste, deodorant, etc.).

** I try to use Rakuten whenever it’s an option; why not take the money. It works with a browser add-on, and there is also a mobile app. Note from the Ratuken site, “Stores pay us a commission for sending our members to their websites, and we share it with you. It’s that simple!” If you haven’t signed up yet, and are interested, please consider using this referral link to help support me, and get a signup bonus. I use it regularly and recommend it, but take a look for yourself to decide if it’s right for you. When you sign up using the link, use it spending $, we each get $! The $ varies, I’ve recently seen at $40 and $30. They state “Offer may be modified or canceled anytime.” Payments are made by PayPal, or you can have a check sent to you.

*** Of course, the currency exchange varied during the stay, so for simplicity, I used a rate of 1 USD = 0,905€ for cash transactions. The accommodations and some daily purchases made on cards were entered at the converted cost charged.

**** Since this is my living situation, I don’t go to top-rated restaurants or paid entry to tourist attractions too much. I do eat out a lot, but nothing too special; to some extent, it’s somewhat more cost-effective this way… at least that’s what I’m telling myself. I try to be cost-conscious, eating as a local would… maybe you could say like a broke college guy that is LOL! I try to note any differences to this above.

I’m striving to provide useful information for people planning trips or a nomadic lifestyle, so if you have any ideas to make these posts more helpful, please let me know. You can comment/DM on social media, in the comments below, or email at (MeanderingMax@gmail.com). I appreciate your support!