Need help with itinerary to Alsace France, Germany and Swiss Alos

Will you be renting a car for most of the way to explore the smaller towns of Germany and France?

What month will this be?

It sounds like a nice trip, but I don't think 8 days are enough to explore and appreciate your chosen destinations. You need a minimum of 5 days for Switzerland alone, if you want to spend time in the Berner Oberland and then take the Bernina Express route to reach Italy. That does not leave much for France and Germany.

Do you intend to reach Florence in this time frame, or meet your daughter somewhere else?

I saw your heading and assumed that your trip was a 2 week trip. It’s far too rushed and doesn’t give much time to explore, as it’s a full day’s travel between these spread out locations. I suggest that you extend the trip, if possible or drop one country.

I was studying the Saar-Palatinate area of Germany because my ancestors lived there during the Baroque architectural era in the 17th and 18th Centuries. There are tourist routes which feature these fabulous and joyous masterworks of Baroque style. The area of your travel is the epicenter of this style. If you are interested in Art you should do some research on these churches and palaces online before you go. Bon Voyage.

We will be renting a car for the France and Germany portions of our trip- but guess we have to figurenout the drop off location so that we aren’t stuck returning in another country. I think we have decided not to stay in Switzerland. Sounds like the time of year we will be there is pretty limiting (late March, early April) so we are going to focus on an itinerary that includes Germany (specifically these areas: Rothenburg on der Tauber, Reichweiller, Cochem, Freiburg) Alsace region of France (Colmar and other quaint towns close by), Strasbourg and would love to do a day trip to Hallstatt Austria if possible. Wondering the best place to fly into and start our journey so that we can work our way towards Italy. We would love to take the Bernina Express thru the Alps to Italy for the sightseeing. I’ve never been to any of these areas so I’m not sure what I’m doing and where to start. I just know we’ve narrowed it down to these areas.

You could drop off car at the Euroairport - Basel and Mulhouse. Drop off car on French side then walk over to Swiss side to get train to BO.

It seems like you are trying to cram far too much into an 8 day period. Have you looked at a map? Hallstatt is nowhere near where you'll be. If you cut out at least half of your desired places you will still be rushed. How many nights do you have? If it is 8 nights you will only have 7 full days. Don't forget the time it will take you to change locations.

You are wise to omit the Berner Oberland in your time frame.

You could fly into Basel and pick up a car for a loop through Alsace and the Romantic Road. Hallstatt is too far. Return the car at Basel and take the train to Chur to start the Bernina Pass train ride. Spend one night at Chur or perhaps in one of the mountain towns onnthe route, such as
Pontresina, and another at Varenna on Lake Como.

I went to school in Freiburg and have home in Strasbourg. I know the Alsace region well and I regularly accompanied visiting friends to Rothenburg/Cochem. FYI, Germany has a winter tire law for icy road condition. Keep this in mind if you rent the car in a different country. Trees in Germany and Alsace are usually not quite green yet in the late March/early April time frame, so the drive might not be so scenic. It would be more practical if you start from Germany (Frankfurt Airport) and work your way south. From Frankfurt Airport, you can take DB trains or drive to Rothenburg. Lufthansa runs a super convenient Frankfurt Airport-Strasbourg Express Bus (for general public), and there are frequent Frankfurt-Strasbourg TGV trains. Cochem and Halstatt are much too far and in wrong directions to combine with Rothenburg in a short trip. Furthermore, Cochem and Halstatt are far prettier in greener warmer months.

If you want to drive between Frankfurt/Rothenburg and Alsace, the pretty towns to visit without going out of your way are Ludwigsburg palace + Esslingen (both outside Stuttgart and can be visited in 1 day), and Gengenbach. Freiburg is not attractive enough to warrant more than a quick lunch stop when the weekday morning market surrounding the cathedral is still in full swing (ie before 1:30pm). All the German towns mentioned above can easily be visited by DB trains. There is a DB bus running between Freiburg and Colmar.

Alsace deserves 4 full days -- Strasbourg/Colmar/Ribeauville/Kaysersberg/Eguisheim/Riquewhir/medieval Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg - all easily reachable from Colmar by bus/local train, but a car would be more efficient. SNCF TER runs between Strasbourg-Colmar-Basel.

Thank you AshleyMIA- your post is extremely helpful. So is the weather better in France than in Germany in late March/early April? I’m starting to think maybe we should just do Alsace region of France and then train over to Italy on the Bernina Express? If so- what airport would you recommend flying into? Would you rent a car in France or just take trains? I like the idea of being able to explore the region some by car but am not interested if possible snow would be an issue on the roads. Would you recommend a night or two in Switzerland before heading to Florence? If so- where would you stay? I also looked at flying into Milan and exploring Lake Como and more of Cinque Terre (we stayed in Vernazza last summer but didn’t get to explore all 5 towns) the weather may or may not be great that time of year and thought seeing a place we’ve never seen before would be especially nice.

AshleyMIA,

I have been following this thread, and we are also planning a week's time in the Alsace region in early August.
Do you have suggestion for a town to base ourselves in, in this region? Would you recommend Colmar, if trying to see many of the villages, without a car?
Any particular hotel, or street, or part of town, you would recommend staying in?

Thanks very much!

It's not that Alsace will be greener or have better weather than Germany. Some towns are beautiful b/c of the trees and the nature setting (e.g. Cochem, Halstatt), while others have beautiful architecture/buildings that are sure to wow in even the not-so-green months and in not-so-great weather condition. Alsace towns are the latter. I would recommend flying into Frankfurt Airport, take the Lufthansa Express Bus from Airport to Strasbourg train station. I would avoid flying into France and take the SNCF train to Strasbourg. There is always a strike risk in France. Strasbourg is a beautiful/walkable town to recoup from jetleg and good for a couple of nights. 2-3 nights in Colmar to take the local buses to visit all the pretty little towns. Colmar Tourist Office has the bus schedules. There are also mini van day tours covering multiple towns a day. Check out all these towns on Google Image.

I have been in Lake Como and Cinque Terre in both nice summer months and in not-green-not-sunny condition. Both areas look far more attractive in warm green summer months. Imagine hiking the Cinque Terre trails in chilly gray windy condition without green trees/grass.

I am not a fan of quaint Swiss towns (visited 8 more touristy ones thus far). There are Switzerland-based members who could better advise you re towns and transport.

Colmar is definitely the best base for exploring pretty Alsace towns by bus. Day-trip to Strasbourg by SNCF TER (40 min ride). To visit the impressive medieval Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg, take SNCF TER to Selestat (10 min ride) and get on the Chateau's own shuttle bus -- https://www.haut-koenigsbourg.fr/en/information/haut-koenigsbourg-shuttle/.

Ask the tourist office for the bus schedules and list of weekly markets/festivals in Alsace towns, and visit on these extra-lively days. Both Colmar and Strasbourg have interesting outdoor markets several days a week.

The stretch between Colmar Gare (train station) to Musee Unterlinden is dull and uninteresting to walk. I always take city buses on left hand side after exiting train station and get off at Colmar Theatre (3 min ride, vicinity of Musee Unterlinden and Tourist Office). For easy access to buses for exploring other towns, I'd stay in historical center, not way out in la Petite Venise. Buses to other towns have a stop near Musee Unterlinden/Colmar Theatre, if no recent change. Friends stayed at 4-star Hotel Mercure Colmar Centre Unterlinden last year and liked it (an Accor hotel). All the Accor hotels (cater to biz travelers) I had stayed in were reliably modern and satisfactory. https://all.accor.com/hotel/0978/index.en.shtml. This hotel is 5-min walk to bus stops around Musee Unterlinden/Colmar Theatre.

For an 8 day trip, I would skip Rothenburg and Cochem

This is the itinerary we decided on if it helps anyone else who also wants to visit Alsace region of France, see some of Switzerland and travel on to Italy.

•Day 0- Depart States on 3/24.
•Day 1- Arrive in Basel on 3/25. Rent a car at airport (France side) and drive to Colmar. Explore a little but make it an early night due to jet lag (overnight in Colmar at Airbnb)
•Day 2- Explore Colmar and other towns along wine route in Alsace (overnight in Colmar at Airbnb)
•Day 3 – More exploring of Alsace (overnight in Colmar at Airbnb)
•Day 4- Leave Colmar and head to Basel - drop car at train station and train to Lucerne to catch boat to visit Mt. Pilatus before exploring Old town (overnight in Lucerne at Cascada hotel)
•Day 5 – Leave Lucerne early and head to Zermatt (overnight in Zermatt at Hotel Phoenix)
•Day 6- Aboard the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz (overnight in St. Moritz at Swiss Quality Hotel)
•Day 7- Take regional train to Tirano (then train through Varenna on way to Florence) Overnight in Florence at Airbnb.
•Day 8,9 -Explore Florence (overnight in Airbnb)
•Day 10-14 - spend time exploring somewhere with my daughter who is studying in Florence.

With it being the first week of April- I’m not sure if Lake Como/Bellagio would be a good idea so we may head to Capri or Positano or possibly even fly over to Hallstatt for a long weekend. If anyone has suggestions- we’d love to hear them. We’ve already seen Rome and Venice and Tuscany so trying to go places we haven’t been before. :)