Top picks: Playgrounds
Luxembourg is full to brimming with play parks for kids. Every commune boasts at least one play area and recreational spaces attached to primary schools are often open to all children outside of school hours.
If you fancy packing a picnic and tiring out the tiddlers in a new playground, here's a few of our suggestions.
Pirate Ship Park – Luxembourg City
Anyone who has been in Luxembourg City for more than a few minutes will stumble across this pirate-themed park on Avenue Monterey. Kids can climb the rigging, disappear down the tube slide, ride the tyre swings or splash about in the water play area (bring a change of clothing or bathing suit). There is even a small kiosk selling ice creams from May to October. It's a great place to stop off after a bit of shopping. The park re-opened in 17 June 2022, after six months of refurbishment which included a brand-new ship, soft flooring and maintainence of other equipment.
Merl Park
This park on Boulevard Pierre Dupong has it all – trampolines in summer, long tube slides, zip wires, climbing frames, sandpits and a lake with ducks. The pavilion cafe is a great place to refuel on ice-cream, but also serves hot and cold dishes if you want to make a day of it and soak up the sun on the beautiful terrace overlooking the lake. There's also a rose garden to explore.
In autumn 2023, the city's parks department will start work on a redesign of parts of Merl park to encourage inclusion. It will feature a swing area, a pond for mini sailboats (and a place to rent them), a splash pad, plus a racetrack for bikes and a picnic area. Work will not be completed until spring 2024.
Airport Park – Cents
You probably wouldn't be too pleased if you were taking this wooden plane on a real flight, but it is perfect for tiny tots. The airport park on Op der Heed even has a check-in, a plane hangar, a departures and arrivals area, and kids can play in the sandpit while the real aeroplanes fly frighteningly close overhead. Probably the only drawback is that there is no shade, so bring a parasol.
Farm-theme park – Gasperich
There are plenty of farms in Luxembourg, but you might not want your little ones to be rolling in the mud. Farm-mad kids can go crazy at this playground on Rue Abbé Francois Lascombes, complete with wooden tractor, barn, a pigsty and, of course, a cow. The park has picnic tables and football goal posts too. Older kids might prefer the skate park on Muehlenweg.
Kaltreis – Bonnevoie
The recently renovated space-themed Kaltreis recreational park boasts a rocket ship, an outdoor fitness area and chess board, ping pong tables, and a bowling alley. Watch out for the water jets.
King of the castle – Belair
It's fitting that a wooden castle park complete with turrets and a carriage should be on Rue Charlemagne in Belair as a testimony to Charles the Great. The castle has chickens, mice, crows, and horses, in addition to a knight. There's even a prison for naughty children.
Tony Neuman Park – Limpertsberg
If you need to escape the heat, this shady park has swings, slides, a climbing frame and sandpit. It also boasts a collection of sculptures, many by famous local artists, and some fantastic flower beds and redwood trees. The main entrance is on Avenue de la Faiencerie close to house number 162A, and you can try out The Roses circular trail if your kids fancy learning about the rose-selling history of this quarter.
Laval Park – Weimerskirch
Relax by the Alzette while your kids try out the unusual recreational activities available in this park's two playgrounds (the rotating ball is an ideal child exhaustion machine). Set in sand with picnic tables, you can chill out while the kids behave like monkeys on the tyre swing or try out the mini-assault course.
Park Bambesch
Next to the sports centre and tennis club, this park gets busy at weekends for a reason. It's full of unusual wooden play equipment. It boasts a fort, some little houses, several see-saws, animal-themed roundabouts, a zipwire and what we call the “shaker box” which tips if enough children stand at one end. There are wooden sun loungers and plenty of benches for picnicking, plus several themed walking trails into the forest. You can access two car parks on Rue de Bridel.
The park reopened on 24 May and bus line 33 now travels from the city to it, so you don't need to take your car.
Echternach Lake
On the banks of the lake next to the roman villa you'll find a lovely play park with a wooden boat and a good range of slides and a zipwire. You can park by the Youth Hostel which also boasts a climbing wall and in summer has a trampoline for kids (fees apply).
Park Am Brill – Mamer
Head to Mamer (behind the municipal buildings) for some ball games. There's a football and basketball pitch as well as a skateboarding park. Younger ones can try out the swings while older kids go crazy on the zip wire or climb the wooden tower for the tube slide. A pavilion serves drinks, ice cream and snacks.
More recently a climbing/bouldering area has been added. Bloc Brill and Bloc Cap are open, although it's advised to use climbing shoes and have a crashpad for safety. A route and grading system is being put in place.
The area also incorporates a pond for wildlife spotting.
There's a new wooden park being constructed at Capellen, near the scout hut and tennis club, with swings, a castle and a zipwire. It's close to the "jardin de circulation" which is a great place for children to practise cycling on the road (with mini traffic lights and road markings).
Park Bertrange
Bertrange boasts two parks that are fun for kids. The first off Rue Pletzer, or Rue de Luxembourg, is closer to the shops in Helfent, and has a wooden rope bridge and climbing tower as well as swings and slides and a climbing frame.
You can walk by the River Petrusse into Bertrange village's central area and take a second play stop at the smaller play parks near the Centre Atert. Here you'll also find some nice restaurants and cafes.
Park Molter - Mondercange
Opened in the summer of 2021, the Op der Millen park houses a bakery (complete with oven and bread), a watermill play house, and also has a zip line and trampoline. In addition to the playground you'll find a beach volley ball court, and three petanque fields. Created again mostly from wood, there's a see-saw and slide, swings and a roundabout, plus a cute wooden baker coaxing a donkey.
Municipal Park Mersch
At one with nature, this wooden park that turns old tyres into tiring fun for kids includes a zipwire, several different swings, a lookout tower and a lake. The sturdy equipment will even take the weight of a middle-aged mum. Swings, logs to balance on, and a football pitch, are perfected by an open air cafe that serves ice creams by the lake (home to fish and ducks).
Rosport Adventure Playground
On the banks of the Sûre on the border with Germany, this park has a wooden castle complete with slides, tyre swings, and a rope bridge. It also has plenty of water play equipment.
Clemency play parks
If you're located out west, there are two lovely little playgrounds in Clemency, one with a wooden castle, complete with knights and crows and a slide, the other with a giant frog and various play equipment.
Brasserie Op der Gare Kënzeg directly in front of both parks makes a nice spot to have lunch.
Where to find other parks
There are also some great play parks in Crauthem, Hesperange, Esch-sur-Alzette, Howald, Kockelsheuer, Remich and Wasserbillig.
You can find information on playgrounds in Luxembourg here, whilst the SpillPlaz website has details of every park in Luxembourg if you're searching for something local. An interactive map it also has photos of the equipment so you can see what's available at each play place.
Ville de Luxembourg publishes a pdf you can print, listing all the parks in the districts of the city.
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