🇱🇺 Cross-border drive · Luxembourg → France 🇫🇷
Driving from Luxembourg to Strasbourg
- Drive time
- 2h 25m
- Distance
- 221 km
- Same day?
- Yes, half day
- under 4 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €36
- petrol · diesel ≈ €30
- Tolls
- ≈ €10
- per-km
- EV charging
- Plenty fast
- 35 of 86 ≥50 kW
On this page
Route map
Route options
Other paths OSRM found between the two cities — handy when traffic, tolls, or scenery matter more than raw speed.
Avoids motorways
+1h 23m- Distance:
- 221 km (+0 km)
- Duration:
- 3h 48m
Via: D 955 · N 4 · N 3 · M 351
How else can you make this trip?
Driving is the focus of this guide; here's how cycling, coach, and (soon) train and plane stack up for the same pair.
Trip plan
How to think about the drive: one day, split, or overnight.
Easy one-day drive
Comfortable as a single day for one driver. Leave after breakfast, arrive with time to settle in.
- Distance:
- 221 km
- Duration:
- 2h 25m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Metz 🇫🇷 fr
≈74 km≈ 20.8 km detour from the main route
-
Sarrebourg 🇫🇷 fr
≈147 km≈ 20.3 km detour from the main route
Key moves
Things to know before you set off — borders, sides of the road, tolls.
Multi-country chain · LU → DE → FR
You'll cross 3 countries on this drive — each with its own toll system, fuel pricing, and motorway rules. Skim the must-know section below before you set off, and have your registration plus insurance card in the door pocket for any roadside check.
Tolls on motorways in FR
Budget for motorway tolls — France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal charge per-km, Croatia and Greece by section. Contactless cards work almost everywhere; have one loaded.
Must-know before you go
The things a driver from another country wouldn't think to ask about — fines, stickers, payment cards, opening hours.
City access & emission zones
Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart need a green Umweltplakette
Must knowGermany's low-emission zones (Umweltzone) are simpler than the French system but stricter on entry. You need a colour-coded sticker physically on your windscreen before entering. The vast majority of zones today require a green sticker (Euro 4+ petrol, Euro 6+ diesel). Order via TÜV / DEKRA / certified workshops — about €6–13, ships in days. Driving without one costs €100 even if your car would qualify.
Order your Crit'Air sticker before the trip
Must knowParis, Lyon, Strasbourg, Marseille, Toulouse and a growing list of cities require a Crit'Air air-quality sticker visible on your windscreen — even for a single drive-through. It's €4.51 from the official site and ships by post (allow 2–6 weeks abroad). Without it, expect on-the-spot fines from €68. Your registration document tells the issuer your emission class.
Tolls, vignettes & road payment
Contactless works at every autoroute booth
UsefulFrench autoroutes use a ticket system: take a card on entry, pay on exit. Every barrier accepts contactless tap-to-pay — pull into the "CB / bank card" lane (orange "t" logo means Liber-T transponder only, avoid those). For frequent EU travellers a Bip&Go transponder pays itself off in two trips by skipping the queue.
What your car must carry
Triangle, first-aid kit, hi-vis vest — all three
Must knowGermany requires a warning triangle, a first-aid kit (compliant with DIN 13164, with a "use by" date — €10 at any pharmacy), and a reflective vest in every passenger car. Roadside checks do happen at borders. The first-aid kit is the one foreign drivers most commonly miss.
Hi-vis vest in the cabin, triangle in the boot
Must knowA reflective vest must be reachable without leaving the vehicle (in the door pocket or under your seat — boot is too late). One warning triangle is also mandatory. The 2012 breathalyzer rule was scrapped in 2020 but is still nice to keep. No spare-bulb requirement.
Driving rules & habits
Left lane is for overtaking only — return immediately
UsefulOn unrestricted Autobahn sections (where you'll see no speed-limit-end signs), faster cars expect to use the left lane unobstructed. Drift into it without checking the mirror and a 911 closing at 250 km/h becomes your problem. Indicate, overtake, return right — every time. Slowing in the left lane to "make space" is more dangerous than predictable speed.
Phone-mounted radar warnings are illegal
UsefulActive radar-detector apps (and the "police nearby" feature on Waze / Google Maps) are technically banned in Germany — fines hit €75. Most drivers leave them on without consequence, but if you're stopped for any reason, the officer can ask to see your phone. Switch the warning layer off when crossing into DE if you want to play it strict.
Priorité à droite still applies in towns
UsefulOn urban streets without signs, traffic from your right has priority — even from a side street that looks subordinate. Outside cities the rule is mostly retired, but in residential French villages it survives. Slow at every right-hand junction unless a yellow diamond on your road tells you you're on the priority road.
Fuel stations
Luxembourg fuel is the cheapest in Western Europe
UsefulIf your route passes through or skims Luxembourg, fuel here. Lower excise duty pushes diesel and petrol prices €0.20–0.40/L below FR/DE/BE. Truck drivers detour for it — for a passenger car a 30-litre fill saves €10 easily. Look for stations near the borders (Bertrange, Wasserbillig, Foetz).
Contactless cards work at virtually every motorway pump
TipMajor brand stations (Shell, Total, BP, Repsol, Cepsa, OMV, Eni, Esso) take Visa and Mastercard contactless without an issue. American Express and Diners are spotty south of the Alps. A €100 pre-authorisation hold is normal — it releases within 5 days. Carry €50 cash for the rare independent station.
Smaller stations close on Sundays
TipMotorway service areas (aires) run 24/7 with a fuel-price premium of about €0.15/L. Off-motorway stations in towns under 20k people often close Sunday afternoons and overnight Mon–Sat. If you're fuelling on a Sunday route, plan around motorway stops — supermarket pumps (Carrefour, E.Leclerc) are your cheapest option but typically 9:00–12:30 / 14:30–19:00 on a Sunday, where open at all.
Money & connectivity
EU roaming covers calls, texts and data at no extra cost
TipYour home EU SIM works at home rates across every EU member, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The "fair use" cap on data only applies if you're abroad more than four months. For a 2-week road trip, just use your phone normally — but switch off "data roaming" if you're leaving the EU into UK / CH for any segment.
Emergency & breakdown
112 works everywhere in the EU and continental neighbours
TipSingle number for police, ambulance, fire — works from any phone, any network, any country. On motorways, the orange SOS pillars every 2km connect direct to the regional traffic control centre and pinpoint your location. Use them over your phone if you can — it speeds the response.
Rules, fees, and thresholds change. Always verify against the official source the day before you drive — this page is a checklist, not a legal reference.
Main roads
The highways this route spends the most kilometres on.
-
A 4 Autoroute de l’Est164 km
-
A 31 Autoroute de Lorraine-Bourgogne35 km
-
A 3 Autoroute de Dudelange12 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 97%
- Secondary
- 2%
- Other / rural
- 1%
Drive difficulty
At-a-glance feel: how demanding is this drive for one driver?
Overall
Easy
Straightforward drive. One driver, one day, little to worry about beyond fuel and a toilet stop.
- Cross-border: lu → fr. Keep documents accessible and check border rules.
Elevation profile
Highs, lows, and the total climb / descent along the route.
- Lowest point
- 142 m
- Highest point
- 335 m
- Total ascent
- ↑ 395 m
- Total descent
- ↓ 555 m
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €36
16.6 L × €2.18 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €30
13.3 L × €2.28 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €22
39 kWh × €0.58 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km
Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.
Motorway tolls & vignettes
≈ €10
- FR — €0.10/km on the motorway network (≈ 101 km in-country ≈ €10)
Prices last refreshed 2026-10-12.
Fuel and EV charging along the route
Stations within a few kilometres of the road, sampled at evenly-spaced waypoints.
EV charging
35 at 50 kW or above (fast / ultra-fast).
Fastest first
- Fastned - Thionville Yutz — Yutz 400 kW
- Rue Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi — Luxembourg 350 kW
- Mobilize - Renault Thionville — Terville 320 kW
- Mobilize - Renault Saint-Avold — Saint-Avold 320 kW
- IECharge - Hambach — Hambach 320 kW
- Atlante - Terville - CCV Thionville — Terville 300 kW
- Carrefour Energies - Thionville — Thionville 300 kW
- Fastned - Aire de La Maxe — La Maxe 300 kW
- Electra - Woippy - Hôtel Ibis — Woippy 300 kW
- Engie-Vianeo - A31 - Aire de Saint-Rémy — Woippy 300 kW
- Engie-Vianeo - A4 - Aire de Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold Nord — Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold 300 kW
- Engie-Vianeo - A4 - Aire de Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold Sud — Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold 300 kW
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5°
0°
|
7°
1°
|
11°
3°
|
13°
5°
|
18°
9°
|
23°
13°
|
23°
14°
|
24°
14°
|
20°
12°
|
15°
8°
|
9°
4°
|
6°
2°
|
| 116mm | 60mm | 83mm | 68mm | 74mm | 50mm | 85mm | 78mm | 114mm | 97mm | 84mm | 63mm |
hot mild cold
🇫🇷 Strasbourg
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
6°
1°
|
9°
2°
|
13°
4°
|
16°
6°
|
20°
11°
|
26°
15°
|
26°
16°
|
26°
16°
|
22°
13°
|
17°
9°
|
9°
4°
|
6°
2°
|
| 82mm | 53mm | 83mm | 88mm | 99mm | 84mm | 136mm | 82mm | 99mm | 115mm | 110mm | 81mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Strasbourg
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Sun 25
☀️
8° / 8°
—
-
Mon 26
⛅
13° / 7°
—
-
Tue 27
☀️
18° / 7°
7.4mm
-
Wed 28
☀️
14° / 10°
2.2mm
-
Thu 29
☀️
13° / 5°
—
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 16 manoeuvres
- Tunnel René Konen (N 57) 0.6 km
- Tunnel René Konen (N 57)
- Tunnel Albert Bousser (B 3) 0.4 km
- Autoroute de Dudelange (A 3)
- Autoroute de Dudelange (A 3) 12 km
- Autoroute de Dudelange (A 3) 2 km
- Autoroute de Lorraine-Bourgogne (A 31) 35 km
- — 0.4 km
- — 0.5 km
- — 0.3 km
- Autoroute de l’Est (A 4) 10 km
- Autoroute de l’Est (A 4) 42 km
- Autoroute de l’Est (A 4) 102 km
- Autoroute de l’Est (A 4) 10 km
- Place de Haguenau (M 263)
- Place de l'Homme de Fer
Cycling from Luxembourg to Strasbourg
Touring-pace bicycle route generated by BRouter, with elevation gain and matched against the EuroVelo cycle network.
- Distance
- 220 km
- vs 221 km driving
- Riding time
- 11h 22m
- Touring pace; experienced riders cut this 20–30%.
- Total climb
- ↑ 1.029 m
Routed on the BRouter trekking profile — balanced for paved leisure tourers; gravel and fast-bike profiles produce different lines.
On the EuroVelo network
Sections of this route follow signed EuroVelo cycle routes — well-maintained, signposted, and bike-friendly:
- EV5 Via Romea (Francigena) · 99 km
Total: 99,0 km on EuroVelo (45% of the route).
Show route on map
By coach from Luxembourg to Strasbourg
Indicative duration of the fastest direct long-distance coach found in the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus EU schedules.
- Travel time
- 2h 45m
- Direct
- Operator
- FlixBus-eu
- Departures / day
- ~1
- Approximate based on the published schedule.
Show coach corridor on map
Schedules sourced from the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus GTFS feeds via transport.data.gouv.fr. Times are indicative; verify on the operator's site before booking.
Booking link coming soon.
By train from Luxembourg to Strasbourg
Fastest cross-border rail itinerary from the public Transitous planner. Times reflect a typical Monday-morning departure on the next available service-day.
- Fastest journey
- 2h 8m
- 2 changes
- Lead operator
- SNCF VOYAGEURS
- Alternatives
- 4
- Itineraries returned by the planner.
Trains on the fastest itinerary
- TGV INOUI 9879
Includes a high-speed rail leg (TGV, ICE, AVE, Frecciarossa-class).
Show route on map
Routing via the public Transitous OTP planner (community-run MOTIS instance). Cached 24 hours; verify on the operator's site before booking.
How this page is built
Compiled by COD Solutions Oy from open European data — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for the route geometry, BRouter for the bicycle route, EuroVelo GPX (ODbL) by the European Cyclists' Federation for the cycle-network overlay, Open-Meteo for monthly climate normals, OpenTopoData SRTM 30m for elevation, EU Weekly Oil Bulletin for cross-border fuel-price bands, and Open Charge Map for EV charging stations. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.