Luxembourg - what's it like?

[Weta]

There's a chance I may be offered a job in Luxembourg (or hopefully Brussels, which I think I'd prefer) - can anyone tell me what it's like to live there?

The only things I really know about it are that it's small and houses are expensive, though I'm sure there must be some more positive aspects!

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I have lived in Luxembourg most of my life and have, after not managing to get a job after university in 94 in London, had to move back to Luxembourg.
In retrospect this is the best thing that happened, and DW concurs.
Luxembourg is safe, clean and has a very high standard of living based on purchasing power.
One issue that people sometimes have with Luxembourg is that it is very small and people do to tend bump into each other all the time, and entertainment (concerts, theatre, etc) can be lacking.
On the other hand, it is slap-bang in the middle of Continental Europe and within 2 hours you are in Paris, Strasburg, Brussels, Cologne, etc etc.
There was a time when we were considering moving to London for work and, over 2 weeks, jotted down pros and cons for Luxembourg versus London. As we are still here, you can guess who won hands down

Thanks DE, it's interesting to hear your experiences. Were your parents from elsewhere or are they natives of Lux?

What are the transport links like?

And what makes the purchasing power good? is it true that houses are very expensive?

DE's DW here.

PILs are not Lux natives - they are from other (different) EU countries. DH moved here in the 70s and so is practically a 'burger and I moved here in early 95.

Transport is OK if you want to get back to London, however, going elsewhere is a bit of a bind as you always have to change somewhere.

Purchasing power at the moment is v. good v. the UK with the pound being in free fall but you can get caught into a rut of shopping at the v. expensive shops that you find here in the town centre. However, you can shop around a bit and get some good stuff for reasonable prices. Still haven't found a reasonable place for children's shoes though.

WRT houses, I wouldn't say that they are v. expensive compared with the UK but the build quality is IME much better.

All in all I like it here but can see why some would not. Fab place to raise children especially as they will end up bilingual if not tri-lingual with little effort.

HTH.

Thanks, that's really helpful.

We live in the south of France at the moment (and I'm from NZ) so unfortunately the low pound makes no difference to us! Again, I guess I'd be comparing house prices with here or in Brussels, which is already a significant step up for us.

My kids are already bilingual as father is French so in some ways I'm not that keen to add in an extra language, though in the end it would probably be fine. I guess my other concern is that people say it's a good place for young children, but so is NZ, and the problem I see is that small children grow into bored adolescents in a place where there may not be that much for them to do...

How old are your kids weta - lux schools are in german first.

I think that, compared with France, the house prices are going to be quite a bit more expensive but in line with Brussels. You could try looking on athome.lu to give you a feel for the sorts of properties there are and the prices. I'm noticing that there are lots of properties that have been on the market for a long time at the moment and so suspect that there could be some reductions in prices coming.

WRT languages, German is an important language to have if the children are to go to the Luxembourg schools but Luxembourgish will be important too. There are French language schools here that have a good reputation but I don't know if these are fee paxing though. If the kids learn Luxembourgish then this opens lots of possibilities in terms of organised activities for the summer holidays etc.

No idea about adolescent entertainment in Lux as my kids are both under 6 and it's a looong time since DH was one so I don't know if his experience is relevant here. OTW I don't think it's too bad and one of the advantages of Lux is that it is so central - 2 hours to Paris, 3 to London etc etc.

HTH.

Aaargh!!! Kids are aged 5 and 1 (oldest will be at least 6 if not more by the time we move though).

Thanks for the link BM, will have a look.

I will be working for the EU, so I think there may also be a European school that might be an option (though ideally we'd have preferred to be more integrated).

Good point about it being central in terms of adolescent boredom Very different from NZ!

I'll flag a chum to come and post as her kids are at the European School here. DH is a graduate of it too.

Will post some more this evening.

i grew up there, and went to european school (go for that over luxo schools, unless you really want your kids to learn luxemburgish..?)

i loved it as a child, and hated it as a teenager- couldnt wait to get the hell out of there. i hated the fact that although very international, it was completely homogenous in terms of class and wealth, i hated the small minded, expat community type life, and i was desperate to live in a "real" place. Lux is so perfect it's like Disneyland... except of course it's not, but you see what i mean.

however most of my classmates are back in lux and loving it, it is extremely easy to get a job, jobs pay very well, quality of life is sky high, everything works, children have a great time, you are within driving distance of many great places. my parents loved their time there (they are back in my home country now), and i can see it is an idyllic place to bring up a family.

it has also changed a lot in the last 15 years- back then we had to go to france to buy a decent and decently priced pair of shoes, now there's lots of great shops etc.

personally i think Bxl is a million times better, but I think even with all the "issues" i had with Lux as a teen, i would still go back for the quality of life....

good luck, and congratulations on landing a EU job btw

I lived there as a teenager and was bored out my mind.
Can see the benefits for a family with small children though

Beforesunrise - interestingly enough we chose to avoid the International School and the European School precisely to avoid the small minded, expat community way of life. We're hoping that since the DCs are in Luxembourgish school they will be exposed to a more "real" set of circumstances. However, I am sure that when they are teenagers they will want to be somewhere even more real and to experience life properly but then again, didn't we all?

WRT languages, personally I think Luxembourgish is really important if you want your kids to have access to the full range of opportunities offered by living here. There is so much offered by our local commune (summer camps, activities at the library, tree planting, forest days etc etc) that some of my friend's children can't go to because they don't have Luxembourgish as one of their languages.

HTH

fair point broguemum- although if you think you might relocate within your children's school life, european school makes more sense.

incidentally, european schools do offer a number of truly amazing opportunities, particularly for international exchages etc. also they are well rated when it comes to sciences and languages.

i would love my dcs to go to one- have considered moving to Culham but just not feasible...

Ha ha! I'm back. Windows Vista CANNOT defeat me!!! Sodding Bill Gates.

Beforesunrise - I agree about the relocating thing. If you are going to relocate again then European / International School makes sense.

Weta - I had a quick chat with my friend who has children at the European school and she is very pleased with it. She is however, not so happy that the English section is not primarily English mother tongue as many parents appear to be choosing to send their children to it to learn English and as a result the teacher is having to spend a lot of time bringing the level of English of many of the children up to scratch.

The French Lycee here is fee paying but I have heard that there is another school - St Sophie - that is also in French. It is also fee paying but so not so much I think.

WRT employment and finding jobs, yes, it is better here than in the UK but at the moment it is a bad time to be looking for a job in the financial industry and since this is one of the major sectors here times are harder than they used to be.

HTH.

Let me know if you need any more info or some contacts and I will see what I can do (with the proviso that Vista doesn't poo all over my lap top again).

Oh, one last point - the creches here can be fab. I can really recommend the one where DS (13 months) is. He is so happy there. They are not so cheap (half time for us is about 680euro a month) but if you're EU you might get one provided.

Thanks BM. We've moved several times in the last 10 years so are keen for our next move to be the last one and to get properly settled somewhere! so hopefully no more relocating for us.

I'll come back and ask some more questions if it does turn out to be Lux rather than Brussels...