Colmar, France and surrounding area

We stayed 2 nights in Strasbourg last December after our Best of Munich, Salzburg, and Vienna tour. We LOVED Strasbourg! Are you looking for day trips or to spend a night or two there? We stayed in a great location on Place Kleber, Hotel Maison Rouge. Even if you don't stay overnight you really should consider visiting the Cathedral. It is spectacular and I got quite verklempt at its awesomeness! The astronomical clock is something worth viewing as well. WE loved the food.....truthfully the christmas markets are what kept us busy. Two days was hardly enough for us because of the time of year. I can't speak of the other cities mentioned but I give you a big thumbs up for Strasbourg!

Climb the stairs to go to the roof top of Strasbourg Cathedral.

Colmar's Unterlinden Museum is wonderful and not small. The Isenheim altarpiece is the best-known holding and is an acknowledged masterpiece. The town is full of lovely half-timbered buildings, so you can spend a lot of enjoyable time just wandering.

Nancy is known for Art Nouveau architecture and has a a fine museum of decorative arts from the same period. Its Art Nouveau buildings are sort of scattered. The tourist office has a useful map.

It's not a good idea to drive a long distance while jet-lagged, and car rental in Switzerland will probably be more expensive than France. It's possible to get from Zurich to Colmar by train in about two to two-and-a-half hours, changing at the main Zurich city railway station and Mulhouse.

I agree with Phillip. Driving jetlagged is akin to driving under the influence. viamichelin.com estimates almost 2 hours driving time on unfamiliar roads. Take the train to Colmar and enjoy the day. If you can't get a rental car there (there's only one agency in Colmar), then on the 7th, take a morning train to Strasbourg and rent a car - there are several rental companies there.

With a car, you should consider staying in one of the nearby villages. I stayed at a B&B in Eguisheim. It was faster to get to the roads than going through the traffic to the historic center of Colmar.

We were in Colmar/Strasbourg for the Christmas markets in December 2015 and loved the area. Stayed in Colmar at the lovely Villa Elyane for three nights - walkable from the train station and walkable into the heart of Colmar - highly recommend the location! Especially loved the smaller town feel of Colmar, for staying and for exploring. Easy trains into Strasbourg from there, too, for exploring the bigger city. As others mentioned, maybe train from Zurich while jet-lagged, then rent a car in Colmar for exploring the other towns you wish to see.

I agree that my recommendation would be to take the train from Zurich airport to Colmar. I think I might also do the day trips to Strasbourg, Freiburg, or Basel by train and then rent a car to see some of the villages in the area and drive to Nancy. I wouldn't want to get off the plane jet-lagged and drive over 2 hours to Colmar, not to mention the cost difference, including the Swiss Vignette, unless of course you also plan to do more driving in Switzerland and end up back there.

Another recommendation for the train, and rent the car in Colmar. (where's that "agree" button we were all wishing for in that other thread?)

Where else are you going? Returning a car in a different country than where you rent it is almost always going to add significantly to the cost. We rented in Germany, drove to Colmar and around the region, then drove back to Freiburg to return the car, then trained to Zurich airport. Need to consider where all you need to drive vs. where it makes more sense to train -

We enjoyed a RS recommended mini-van wine tour out of Colmar. It was an excellent way to see other cute towns in the area, learn about the wine industry in Alsace, and drink a bit. :-) Unfortunately I tore the Alsace section out of my guidebook and can't pass on the company name.

I would sleep in Zurich, myself, then get an early start to Colmar.