I'll be in Paris for 3 months next Fall but would also like to visit the Alsace and other Eastern areas of France for a few days or a long weekend. If you've visited Eastern France and have suggestions from personal experience for towns/sites to see or recommended hotels/B&Bs, restaurants, best time to visit, etc., they'd be greatly appreciated! I have the RS France book so will also be checking that out for suggestions.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
I visited Colmar and Strasbourg on my recent trip to Germany. Both really nice towns, well documented in Rick's book. Colmar is a little more "quaint" in part because there are no trams. I took public transportation so I didn't bother with any of the smaller towns.
Those TGV train tickets, if you will take the train, are expensive if booked last minute so if you can plan ahead you can book cheaper PREM fares in advance. (You can take local trains between Colmar and Strasbourg and the TGV between Strasbourg and Paris).
Posted by
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
355 posts
My favorite town in Alsace was Ribeauville. It's a very charming town, much smaller than Colmar and Strasbourg, so it depends on what you like and what you want to do. I just loved the feel of the town. I just wandered the town checking out the shops, wineries, and restaurants. It was so nice, quiet and relaxing. There is also a linen outlet in Ribeauville (Beauville) that is a great place to shop if you are interested in purchasing French linens.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
If you are at all interested in transport, the national French rail and car museums in Mulhouse are a must.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Colmar makes a great, mid-sized home base and you can visit Strasboug and the smaller wine villages from there. My parents also enjoyed the transport museums in Mulhouse, which are not really on Rick's radar. Rick’s France rail travel page has the link and tips for buying “Prems” rate TGV tickets through SNCF (cheap, reserved, nonrefundable, available about three months ahead) to print at home and pay with PayPal. It does not tend to work with US credit cards, unless you have an extra level of security set up.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Re: credit cards or Paypal, I've never had a problem using Amex or Visa in purchasing tickets online.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
Me too: I used my Amex card last year to buy a TGV ticket on the SNCF website, and this year I used my credit union VIsa (no currency conversion fee) to buy one. However, my Chase Visa was declined, even though I had informed them I was going to use it.
If the price is the same, of course using Paypal is a perfectly fine alternative if you have a Paypal account.