Daytrip from Strasbourg (Alsace)

There is plenty to see and do in Colmar and it is an easy day trip. Your friend is well meaning, but has no idea about the logistics. The other towns must be accessed by bus or train from Colmar and that eats up time during a day trip.

Look up Nancy France on Wikipedia. It would make a great day trip from Strasbourg. It has Art Nouveau and Barroque Architecture! It appears to be only 2 hrs away.

What we like to do in situations like this is flexible planning.

Look up the train and ordinary bus schedules in advance and print it out, research what you'd do/see in those other cities. Pay attention to closing times of wineries, museums, churches. Look also at bus companies such as Kut’zig that offer hop-on hop-off service for the Alsace wine route. You could even take a guided tour from Colmar if they haven't sold out for same-day purchase.

Then when you're in Colmar see how your day is going. If it's 11am and you feel like you've seen all you want then push on. If Colmar turns out to be fascinating or the weather is ugly then maybe you just stay in Colmar or head back to Strasbourg. Personally I thought 2-3 hours in Colmar was enough, but others find it a delightful town and happily spend an entire day exploring every nook and cranny.

While there is enough to fill your day in Colmar, you can easily take a 10 minute train or 15 minute bus to Turckheim. That would be the easiest wine village to add to Colmar without eating up a lot of time.

While the Kutzig Bus is a great idea for those that can give it a full day, for a day trip from Strasbourg it would be too time consuming. The bus circuit alone is about 2 hours. Add in a visit to a couple of wine villages and you will have very little time in Colmar

Most of the guided tours from Colmar to some the villages require an early start, around 9am.

There is a wonderful small tour company l''Alsaciette that offers a half day tour from Colmar departure at 1:30pm visiting 2 villages and includes a winery. However, they require a minimum of 2 participants. So you would need to email them to see if they could add you to a scheduled tour for your dates. They may not have something to offer you until a day or so ahead of time. This would give you time to see some of Colmar in the morning.

We stayed in Alsace and spent a very full day in Colmar, and then took the Kutzig bus another day to see Riquewihr and Kaysersberg (you can easily see two or three of the wine villages in a day using this bus). Another great day trip was to visit Gengenbach in Germany.

The first few days of my trip report might be helpful, and will show you how much we found to do in Colmar.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-alsace-wengen-murren-lucerne

This may not be what you are looking for, but have you considered a trip into Germany? Gengenburg is a beautiful "chocolate-box" village in the Black Forest with half-timbered houses, a charming old town and some very nice restaurants and cafes. And it is only a quick 40 minute train ride from Salzburg. .

The town church (Saint Marion) is quite beautiful, and the medieval gates to the city are really interesting. The Benedictine Abbey is also worth a visit, and behind it are some cloistered gardens that were a joy to wander through. This was one of my favorite places. It was peaceful and inviting and I could have stayed for hours. There were little signs of inspiration scattered around, and some children from a nearby kindergarten playing on one side.

If you get there, don't miss the walk through Engelgasse and Höllengasse streets (near the tourist info center). Here you will find cobblestones and half-timbered houses, flower pots and cats resting on doormats and quaint dolls in the window. I felt like I had walked back in time when I strolled through these quaint and narrow streets. There is also a nice hike you can take that will get you above the town with some absolutely beautiful views of below. The hike ends up at a church called St. Jakob auf dem Bergle that sits above town. The TIC in town will have maps showing you how to get there. it was a really nice hike and as I said, the views are just lovely.

I think Mardee meant to say Gengenbach, Germany, not Gengenburg.

When we stayed in Colmar, we did this to go see the towns your friend mentioned.

We reserved a village tour with Ophorus Excursions & Tours for the afternoon. Our half-day minivan tour to several small villages outside Colmar was very special.

We also stayed in Nancy, and yes, it has some gorgeous Art Nouveau! The elegant Place Stanislas reminded us of Vienna - a beautiful square to enjoy a meal or drink.