2 months in Mulhouse

Time of year? Since you mention children, I'm guessing mid-summer, but I might be wrong.

I suggest traveling with at least a good guidebook covering that part of France. There's a whole string of picturesque towns between Mulhouse and Strasbourg. In addition to being lovely (and having the tourists to prove it), Colmar has a magnificent museum, the Unterlinden. If you tire of being one of a large number of tourists in the little wine towns, check out Selestat with its pretty historic architecture but almost no tourists.

Elsewhere in France: Dijon is no more than 75 minutes away. Pretty, old town. Probably the world's only mustard-vending machine (warning: those little glass jars are heavy). Beaune is as little as 94 minutes by train; see the Hospices de Beaune. Travel time to Paris is as little as 2 hr. 41 min. Certainly not a day-trip, but if some of your group haven't been to Paris, they might take a couple of nights away from Mulhouse and do a blitz trip.

Switzerland: Basel is closest and is worth a visit. Of course you can go farther into Switzerland, but keep in mind that Swiss rail fares are very high, per mile, and for sporadic, brief visits, you may not find purchase of the half-fare card worthwhile.

Germany: This country has some excellent deals on rail day-passes. They save a lot of money for groups of people traveling together, so I hope you'll be able to take advantage of them. I don't know how workable it will prove to be to take a trip along the Rhine and get back to Mulhouse the same day, but I'd try to do it. Schaffahausen is a town that looks very pretty from the river. Lake Contance/Konstanz/Bodensee is really beautiful and much more popular with European than American tourists. It's beyond day-trip distance but would be very nice for 2 days or so away from Mulhouse. Mainau Island in the Bodensee has a very good botanical garden, and there are picturesque villages along the lake shore.

The flood of tourists to the Cinque Terre in recent years is often discussed here. Do everything you can to pick a time that will be less rather than more overrun: Check online info about ships in port at La Spezia, go as far off-season as you can, and try to avoid weekends. And still, be prepared for a distinctly crowded experience.

For checking train times, use the Deutsche Bahn website. To check fares within France, use the SNCF website. Anytime a TGV is involved, you'll benefit greatly by buying your tickets early. For TERs (regional trains) it won't matter.

I think that seriously seeing the scenic parts of the Rhine would be too long a day trip from Mulhouse.

Don't miss the auto and rail museums in Mulhouse, they're world-class.

Vicki,

We took a day trip from Basel to Mulhouse last year, short train ride. Basel has so much to see it is worth the trip. In Mulhouse we had a City Greeter (google City Greeter and select your desired location). I can't remember her name, but she wrote a book on the history of Mulhouse. She spoke English and took us all around the city center and told us about the history of the town. It is a free tour and very worth your while.

Thanks for all this great advice. Very helpful. Yes, we'll be there in June and July. That can't be helped since there are school age children involved.
It's our first house exchange. Does anyone have advice on do's and don'ts, other than the obvious?
Thanks