Pharmacies in Luxembourg: opening hours, the pharmacie de garde and how to get medicines after dark

Pharmacies are the front door to everyday healthcare in Luxembourg. They dispense prescriptions, sell over-the-counter remedies, and the pharmacist can advise on minor ailments. But because most close in the evening and stay shut on Sundays and public holidays, it helps to know how the out-of-hours system works before you need it.

Typical opening hours

Most pharmacies (pharmacies / Apdikten) open Monday to Friday, roughly 8:00 or 8:30 until 18:00 or 19:00, with shorter hours on Saturday. Some smaller pharmacies still close over lunch, and almost all are shut on Sundays and public holidays. Outside those hours, only the on-duty pharmacy will dispense medicines.

The pharmacie de garde (on-duty rota)

Luxembourg runs a national on-duty service so that at least one pharmacy is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, including nights, Sundays and holidays. The official garde service starts at 8:00 in the morning and ends at 8:00 the next day.

There are several ways to find the pharmacy on duty:

• pharmacie.lu — the Syndicat des Pharmaciens website lists the duty pharmacy for any date.
• The published rota displayed in every pharmacy window and in the press.
• Signage on the pharmacy door, which points to the nearest open one.
• In an emergency, call 112.

At night a duty pharmacy may look closed. Ring the bell and present your prescription through the hatch or window. A small out-of-hours supplement applies: about €6.87 between 19:00 and 22:00 and €15.11 between 22:00 and 08:00, and on Sundays and holidays.

Prescription vs over-the-counter

In Luxembourg, many common medicines are pharmacy-only — you cannot buy them in a supermarket, and a pharmacist must hand them over even when no prescription is required. Broadly:

• Prescription-only medicines need a doctor's ordonnance (prescription).
• Over-the-counter products — painkillers, cold remedies and similar — are sold without a prescription but still under the pharmacist's supervision.

The pharmacist is a healthcare professional: they check dosages, flag drug interactions, advise on minor problems such as headaches or coughs, and refer you to a doctor when symptoms are serious. If you take regular medication, it is worth keeping the box or the leaflet so the pharmacist can match the active ingredient, since brand names sometimes differ from those used abroad. For an ongoing treatment, ask whether a generic is available — it contains the same active substance and is often cheaper. Pharmacists can also answer questions about how and when to take a medicine, possible side effects, and what to avoid combining it with, which makes a quick visit a useful first step for many everyday health concerns.

Your CNS card and reimbursement

Bring two things to the pharmacy: your prescription and your CNS social-security card. Medicines on the national positive list are reimbursed by the Caisse nationale de santé (CNS) at one of three rates — 40%, 80% or 100% — depending on the medicine.

Thanks to the third-party-payment (tiers payant) system for medicines, you no longer advance the full cost. When you present your CNS card and a valid prescription, the pharmacist applies the CNS share at the till and you pay only the remaining, unreimbursed part.

If it is a real emergency

A pharmacy is not the place for urgent medical care. Outside surgery hours, an out-of-hours GP (médecin de garde) sees patients at the maisons médicales in Luxembourg City, Esch-sur-Alzette and Ettelbruck, generally from 20:00 to 07:00 and at weekends and on holidays; after midnight, call 112 for advice. For accidents and serious problems, head to a hospital A&E — four hospitals run drop-in emergency services, and the Kanner-Klinik at CHL is open 24/7 for children under 14. In any life-threatening situation, dial 112. (See our companion guide to the médecin de garde and hospital emergencies.)

Last reviewed: June 2026. Opening hours, fees and reimbursement rates can change — always confirm the current duty pharmacy on pharmacie.lu or by calling 112.