We are going from Frankfurt to Zurich over 16 days....I wanted to pop over for 3-4 days in Eastern France, the country I love the most. I can't decide whether to stay in Strasbourg or Colmar, which I have heard is very pretty.
I love french food, and I love the small villages. I haven't been to either city, so I dont know! We have 2 adults and 3 kids.
Help me!
Mark I've been to both and much prefer Colmar. Its a smaller town than Strasbourg and more charming. Just my opinion.
Colmar is prettier and more expensive, and more on your route. Don't overlook Perouges, Ronchamp, Vitra Design campus, Augusta Raurica, Aarau, Stein am Rhein. If time, Rheinfall. We slept in Ribauville.
This is a frequent question on here and the answers go both ways. You can do a search on here and you'll see lots of threads on it. Here is one from about 6 months ago that may give you some insight: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/colmar-vs-strasbourg
A car in central Strasbourg would be a problem, which is the most interesting part of the city. There is a large free lot in Colmar. We stayed in Colmar and day tripped to Strasbourg, which was a good choice for us. If you have a car, you will be making day trips to the wine villages, Haut Konigsbourg and perhaps the Black Forest in Germany. Your home base choice comes down to large city or large town. You can also split the difference or stay in one of the wine villages. So much depends on what you prefer in your home base. There is no bad decision here, it is a lovely area and you will be glad you visited!
Mark,
I'd also suggest staying in Colmar and taking a day trip to Strasbourg. Strasbourg is a much larger city, and I found it considerably more crowded (it's also one of the headquarters cities of the EU). It didn't seem to have the same "quaint character" as Colmar, nor the colourful small canals. There are some nice restaurants in Colmar so if you like French food, I'm sure you'll be able to enjoy some good meals.
If you decide to stay in Colmar, there's a recent thread on the forum about good hotels.
Colmar makes a great home base in Alsace. We stayed in this charming town last month and really enjoyed it. Great restaurants that serve German food cooked by French chefs! We took easy day trips to both Strasbourg and Freiburg, Germany as well as visiting the pretty villages along the Route du Vin. Enjoy!
COLMAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Loved it so much. So cute. Also try to visit Eguisheim. Lovely.
