Boston to Colmar.

Liz - Fly into Zurich airport from Boston's Logan and take the train to Colmar. Colmar is 2 hours away by train from Zurich.

https://www.thetrainline.com/en/train-times/zurich-hb-to-colmar

Basel is probably closest, unless there is an airport in Strasbourg. However, there won’t be any direct flights from the US into Basel. Look at either Paris or Zurich and choose the one with a direct flight from Boston. Paris is 2.5 to 3 hours away from Colmar by train; Zurich is 2 hours or slightly less.

Most likely you want to fly to CDG and use the airport CDG station for TGV to Strasbourg. Alsace is tough without a car. Return airport depends on the rest of your trip, which you have not disclosed.

Have you been to France or Europe before? We didn't go to Colmar until our ninth time in France.

You can take the TGV directly to Strasbourg from CDG and then transfer to a train to Colmar. It’ll take about 2 1/2 hours. Take into consideration the difference in airfares going to CDG vs. other airports and that the rail station is in the airport.

If you fly into Paris, buy your rail ticket from the SNCF, not from RailEurope. RailEurope is likely to charge more; it has service fees, and sometimes the tickets themselves are marked up.

Strasbourg does have an airport, however it serves few destinations. List here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations
Basel airport has more flights, but no intercontinental ones. List here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EuroAirport_Basel_Mulhouse_Freiburg#Airlines_and_destinations

If you are coming intercontinental, your options are Zürich, Paris Charles de Gaulle or Frankfurt airports. Then in all 3 cases onward by train to Colmar.

BTW, which Boston are you coming from? If it is Boston Lincolnshire (the original one) you could do it all by train, no flights needed:

Boston dep 10:50, Grantham arr 11:42
Grantham dep 12:18, London Kings Cross arr 13:31
London St. Pancras dep 14:22, Paris Nord arr 17:51
Paris Est dep 18:54, Colmar arr 21:18

I think there are buses to Strasbourg from Frankfurt airport and then you can hop the train for the 50-minute ride to Colmar.

Thank you for all your help. My husband and I, retired teachers, have been spending a month in Europe since 2007. We rent apartments and watch the word go by, staying a week or longer in each town. We have spent at least three months in France through the years, renting apartments in Paris, Sarlat, Provence, Honfleur and now we have an apartment in Colmar for nine days, then on to Eguisheim for four days.

Can we fly into CDG and take a train from the airport to Colmar?

Thanks for all your help.

Elizabeth306
Boston Massachusetts

Elizabeth - Unfortunately, there is no direct train from CDG to Colmar. From CDG, take RER train to Gare de l'Est in Paris then hop on a TGV train straight to Colmar. Your best bet I would say is to Fly into Zurich and head to Colmar from there via train.

Can we fly into CDG and take a train from the airport to Colmar?

Yes. but not a direct train, you will need to change trains somewhere.
You can either, as RJean suggests, get an RER (local train) into Paris (Gare de l'Est) and then get a TGV (High Sped train) from there via Strasbourg to Colmar
Or, you can get a TGV direct from CDG to Strasbourg and then a second train to Colmar. TGV's from CDG to Strasbourg are less frequent than going via Paris.

You can also fly into Frankfurt and take the train directly from the airport. You will have to change trains in Offenburg and Strasbourg. (We've used Frankfurt a couple times for stays in Strasbourg and it has worked well.)

I want to thank everyone for their advice!

Elizabeth306
Boston Massachusetts

I am happy to see a couple of people mentioned Frankfurt. We like flying in there, spending a night (we know a terrific Italian restaurant there), then taking the train the next day. Getting to Colmar was easy from Frankfurt..