ICE trains from Strasbourg to Paris

No problem getting on at Strasbourg! You would have to change trains in Strasbourg anyway, and you would be free to leave the station and come back in: not taking that first train doesn't change anything.

Linda, Yes, you don't have to use the Colmar-Strasbourg leg, you can just use the ticket for the Strasbourg - Paris ICE.

• I cannot comment on whether the ICE will run during a strike. I have no info on the strike. However if either the station staff, or the signalling staff go on strike no trains can run.
• Colmar - Strasbourg trains are TER; that is no reservations/booking. They do not keep a check on who is or is not on the train. Depending on how buy the train staff are, you may or may not get your ticket checked.
• Getting a car (I assume you mean a taxi, not a self-drive rented car) from Colmar to Strasbourg could be difficult on a strike day.
  • It will also not be cheap, it is a long way.
  • You would have to start earlier. Colmar-Strasbourg trains are 200 Km/Hr (125 MPH). Driving will take a lot longer than the train.

Thanks for that help. I don't travel from Colmar to Paris until the 11th so hopefully I will have some idea of what is running before that and could book a driver/taxi a few days ahead if necessary. On google maps the drive from Colmar to Strasbourg appears to be under 1 hour. I know a drive to Strasbourg will be expensive but it seems a faster and easier option (We're seniors) than driving ourselves all the way to Paris. While I don't relish spending the extra money, I feel I may have to go over my budget in order to get the most out of the trip.

It's about 45 miles from Colmar to Strasbourg, and you'll have to pay for the round-trip if you use a taxi or other form of private transportation.

It appears that Flixbus has one departure from Colmar at 7:30 AM on your travel date. The bus is scheduled to get to Strasbourg at 8:40 AM. Flixbus is now operating in the US, and the website is pricing the tickets at $5.99, plus a $2.00 service fee per transaction. That sounds like about $14.00 for the two of you if you buy now; I imagine the fare will increase as the travel date approaches--perhaps greatly if there is a rail strike. I call that incredibly cheap insurance (less than the two of you will pay for one hotel breakfast), though having just one bus per day doesn't exactly inspire confidence, I admit.

If you decide to do this, I recommend not cutting it too close in Strasbourg. Buses can be affected by traffic, and it wouldn't be shocking for the Colmar-Strasbourg bus to run noticeably late. So skip the 8:51 AM ICE for sure. There are departures at 12:19 PM and 4:17 PM. If you took the later one you'd have some time to see a bit of Strasbourg if it's not already on your itinerary--assuming there's a place to check your luggage in the interim; I haven't researched that.

Edited to add: According to the Flixbus website the bus departs from the corner of Place de la Gare / Rue Georges Lasch in Colmar. The Strasbourg stop is at Place de l'Étoile at the central bus station; the best I can tell, that's a taxi ride from the Strasbourg train station, unless you're lucky and find a useful city bus.

Thank you all? What incredibly detailed and helpful information! Acraven, thanks for the Flixbus tip. $14 for insurance is definitely worth it.
AshleyMIA, would the Karlsruhe-Paris ticket you suggest be booked as Karlsruhe to Paris and I would just board at Strasbourg, after the train had departed from Karlsruhe?
Also, do you know if trainline.com sends notices of cancellations? I am familiar with using their site but haven't used the SNCF or DB ones.

If using DB, download their App for your Smart Phone, if you have one. There is an option for Delay Notifications under the drop down menu.

If you're going early, you can take a train to Reims first - spend a few hours there to see the cathedral and a Champagne house - then catch a train the rest of the way to Paris before evening.

I can see one small catch in buying an ICE ticket from Karlsruhe to Paris and only getting on at Strasbourg - your seat reservation.
Technically, if you don't occupy your reserved seat within 15 minutes you loose it. The indicator above the seat that says "reserviert Karlsruhe - Paris" goes out 15 minutes after the train leaves Karlsruhe.
Click here for a photo of one of the many types of reservation indicators.
By Strasbourg there could be someone sitting legally in your seat.
Admittedly only a minor inconvenience as long as you can find a seat elsewhere, on a strike day it might be "Standing room only".

Interesting. The ICE trains from Karlsruhe to Strasbourg and Paris are "Subject to Compulsory Reservation" and a seat reservation is included with a ticket. So everyone leaving Karlsruhe has a seat reservation. You would only lose the seat if someone decided they like the seat you reserved better than the one they had. I guess you could ask them what their old seat was and sit there. Or reserve an undesirable seat that nobody else would want. Or, in a strike situation, would they suspend the rules and pack the train with standing room only passengers?