'Don't be afraid to live outside the city'

Join us for 'Making Luxembourg home' as expat families chat with Maeve Ryan of RTL Today about making Luxembourg their home, how they have navigated life in the Grand Duchy, and any valuable advice they'd like to share with newer arrivals starting on their expat journey.

When did you move to Luxembourg and what brought you here? What’s your experience of integrating as an expat family?

I moved here in early 2017. My husband was already living and working here and I joined him when our son was born. In fact, he was only six weeks' old when I moved over from London.

Integration was actually quite easy with a small baby. We lived in Belair and I met lots of friends with babies the same age through fitness and baby classes, and in the many parks and playgrounds.

These are friends I am still in touch with although we have now moved out of the city. It also helped that my husband already had an established social network.

In terms of schooling, why did you choose the international/ European school system and was it easy to find a suitable school, i.e. were there a range of options open to you?

We picked the international school system because we wanted our children to be educated in one of their home languages (English), and we wanted a school with great facilities and a good academic track record – St George’s fitted the bill.

As we knew what we wanted it was quite an easy decision – especially as with those criteria the choice was more limited several years ago, before the expansion of public international schools.

We have had a very good experience with the international system, the teachers are brilliant and despite our children being educated in their home language, their day-to-day experiences at school are truly multi-cultural.

Any advice for parents wondering whether to send their child to a European/ international school?

Visit them, talk to parents with children at the school – they are all very different.

Do you feel that Luxembourg is a good place for families to live? Do you find it supportive for parents?

Yes. There is a lot for children to do – I’m always telling my friends to come and visit because the playgrounds are so amazing! In terms of support for parents, the parental leave options offered by the state are an amazing opportunity to be able to spend more time with your children as they grow up, not just when they are born.

What was your experience of navigating the housing sector in Luxembourg?

The first apartment we rented as a family we found through an internal advertisement at my husband’s work. I think this can be a really good source for finding accommodation. Since then, we have got on the housing ladder – but the Luxembourgish housing market is another story!

Is there anything that has surprised or disappointed you about life in Luxembourg?

We now live in a lovely village not far from the city and I have been pleasantly surprised by how easy it has been to make local friends. Coming from London there are of course things to miss, but Luxembourg is fast expanding its offer and compared to when my husband arrived nearly ten years ago, there is so much more to do.

Have you any advice that would be valuable to newer arrivals starting out on their expat journey?

Don’t be afraid to live outside the city, the countryside is beautiful and welcoming!