Paris to Alsace region

what would you hope to see in the vineyards in December? Will wires and black leafless stumps be ok?

Will you use the free trains on the German side or will you have a car? Will you want to drive into cities like Strasbourg?

Thank you for your response and great questions. We were thinking more of the wineries as we love wine. Yes you are correct, we do not want to look at stubbles of plants, ha ha ha. We will have a car. We are open to anything at this point. Strasbourg could be an option. Just starting to collect my list. I used this forum for our trip to Ireland and we had an amazing trip based on suggestions that were given.

others (or the interwebs in a normal year) will be able to say if any of the German or French wineries will be open in the week between Christmas and New Year. I think you will find that the Christmas markets will be closed before Christmas.

Many of the villages and towns on both sides of the Rhine are beautiful. Gengenbach uses the windows of its town hall as a Huge Advent calendar, but Advent will have finished. It is a gorgeous little walled town but I don't know if they leave the Advent Calendar up after Christmas....

During this time frame, you will be experiencing the Christmas markets in Alsace. We stayed in Colmar a few years ago and traveled out to the smaller villages around there. Strasbourg

I would assume most of the Christmas markets will be closed by then since you won't get there until Christmas Eve. We stayed in Strasbourg for three days just to enjoy the town, cathedral etc. We took day trip to Colmar and also to St. Avoid which is incredible. It has the most number of graves of WWII servicemen in Europe and should not be missed in my opinion.

We enjoyed staying in Strasbourg, but didn’t rent a car until we left for further travels. I think driving in and out of the old city might be a chore. It may be better to choose a smaller town to avoid the traffic in-and-out issues, if you choose the French side. We also stayed in Freiberg, which had a pedestrian-only area that needs to be avoided with a car, but we stayed in the southeast part of town and found it

easy to reach the road to the Black Forest area from there.

As the others have mentioned, I'm not sure there will be much to do anywhere in that area at that time of year. The wineries will likely be closed for a short time over the Christmas holiday, and I'm not sure there will be much for teens either. Since you have a fair amount of time to do research, you may be able to find something in the way of activities.

I stayed in Colmar in that area and I really liked the ambience of a smaller town and the beautiful scenery with the canals. I was travelling by train but I believe some of the hotels do offer parking. While in Colmar, I spent several hours touring the Unterlinden Museum and really enjoyed that. They may be open at that time of year (subject to Covid - https://www.musee-unterlinden.com/en/visit-and-activities/informations/opening-time/ ). I don't know how many of the restaurants will be operating at that time of year?

I only took a day trip to Strasbourg and although it has some great sites such as the beautiful Cathedral (which is well worth a visit), I didn't enjoy it as much.

As you'll have a rental car, it would be prudent for each driver listed on the rental form to have an International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L.

As the others have mentioned, I'm not sure there will be much to do anywhere in that area at that time of year.

Absolutely correct. You will be in France for the shortest day of the year; daylight will be gone by not much later than 17h00 or 5pm, and during a period of predictably cold and rainy weather. This is the time to be in the cities visiting museums and exhibitions, enjoying concerts, discovering new restaurants, and exploring monuments and other well known venues.

There is not going to be much to visit on the well known Alsace wine route and generally the period between Christmas and New Years is rather slow as many people spend time with their families if they are not on the ski slopes. Road traffic around any city will be minimal.

You have scheduled Christmas and New Year's Eve as travel days with teens? And staying right outside of Paris is not at all the same as staying in Paris. If I were to take a guess, it sounds like a week in a condo at the Marriott Village near Disney.

I wish I had more positive input for you but sometimes managing expectations is just as important to a successful vacation as is planning a home base.

December 31 Strasbourg sunrise at 8.21, sunset at 4.43. That's the longest day of your trip.

Thank you all for your responses. Our family travels every year at Christmas time. We decided a long time ago we like to make memories and not do presents.

Based on the majority of responses we are reevaluating our trip after Paris. Maybe take the tunnel to London, see a show, take a tour and head home.

We are staying in the Marriott Timeshares outside of Disney in Paris, but, not doing Disney. We live in Florida and the Mouse is everywhere here. Though we would love to stay in the middle of Paris, having 2-3 bedrooms is much more comfortable for 5 “adults”. We can manipulate the transportation into Paris.

Thank you so much!!

In December 2019 we stayed in Colmar, France for 5 nights and did day trips to the Route du Vin villages as well as into the Black Forest and Switzerland. Would definitely recommend Colmar!

If cars are of interest Cité de l’Automobile in Mulhouse is highly to recommend. It’s a half hour driving south of Colmar. There is also a railway museum and seems interesting too.

If you had not already booked the place near Paris I would suggest reversing order. Be in Alsace at the end of advent for the calendar and Christmas markets and such and be in Paris at the end so you don't have to race back for your flight home. I have done it both ways and long ago vowed to never end my trip with a race back to the city of departure -- it sort of ruins the great feeling of the trip to have hassles at the end. If you could change it around to end in Paris -- and it is at least possible the landlord would be open at this stage to that, I would do that.

Fly into Paris and take the train to Strasbourg for the first night, pick up the car for your trip to your base the next day and then return to Paris Christmas Eve and finish there.

janettravels44 makes a good point.

If you consider finishing in London instead, just be ready for a couple of things - the Eurostar on Christmas Eve and couple of days before will be very very busy. I nearly said zoo, but didn't want to scare you off. London and England will have no public transport - no trains, tube, buses, coaches - at all on Christmas Day, with very limited buses and tube on Boxing Day but still no trains, shut down early on Christmas Eve, and limited services until New Years Day. Back to normal the day after New Year. Christmas and Boxing Day are also difficult for restaurants and shops. Nothing will be open except a very few pubs which will book up way ahead and raise their prices, and transportation will be walking or paying very high Christmas taxi fares,

A word to the wise....

We spent Christmas with the family years ago and the actual day and boxing day with relatives in Norwich. Because there is no transport on Christmas day and boxing day we rented a car -- when we went to get it Christmas Eve for the trip the next morning, there were no cars, because people who couldn't reserve for Christmas just booked cars early and then didn't return them. We were lucky that the agent took my husband and son and a couple of others out to the airport to get cars -- I suppose someone coming in to O'Hare later didn't get a car.

SO. London is just not a good choice for Christmas -- Paris is terrific -- everything is open and the shops are filled with amazing food -- and Strasbourg would also be excellent.

Thank you guys for the info. We booked a flat close to the tower bridge. We will be fine with the "zoo" like crowds. We have taken our 3 teens to China twice for 3 weeks each time when they were in the early years of teenhood and we survived, so, I am guessing, understanding the language, and being able to read the signs might make the "zoo" like atmosphere not so frightful. Okay, if we knock out the 24th, 25th, and 26th for just hanging out, walking, enjoying each others company, what other things would people recommend in England after those dates? My husband and I have been to London without kids, so, older teenage information would be great. Thank you

I imagine the more important churches will be open during the holiday period at times other than when services are being conducted. Maybe check the websites of St. Paul's and the Southwark Cathedral next fall.

I'm a big fan of London Walks, which in the past has offered some walking tours (though not as many as usual) on or around Christmas Day. It's great because you don't have to pre-book; you just show up at the designated Underground station if the weather is decent and you're feeling energetic. The cost is 15 pounds per person, 10 pounds for students (so have your kids bring their student IDs). Obviously, this will work best if you're staying somewhere central, not terribly far from the starting point of the walks offered around the holidays. The walks usually last about 2 hours. The guides are very engaging (some being out-of-work actors), and I've found them to be careful to distinguish between fact and legend.

I have an old downloaded London Walks schedule, and these are the walks that were being offered around Christmas 2018. Christmas falls on a different day of the week in 2021, so this information is just offered as general guidance:

Mon, Dec 24:
Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol & Seasonal Traditions; Tower Hill -- 2.30 pm

Tue, Dec 25:
Christmas Morning, 1660 -- Samuel Pepys’ London; Trafalgar Square -- 11 am
The Christmas Day Charles Dickens’ London Walk; Trafalgar Square -- 2 pm

Wed, Dec 26:
London 1902 - 1916 Seedbed of the Russian Revolution; Russell Square -- 10.30 am
Christmas with the Beatles; Tottenham Court Road, exit 1 -- 11 am
Dickens’ Christmas Carol & Seasonal Traditions; Tower Hill -- 2.30 pm

Thursday, Dec 27 showed a more typical schedule with over 15 walks offered.

Our booking was cancelled in London due to Covid. Back to the drawing board. Strange times.

Sorry to hear you're having to rethink your plans. On the plus side, your teens are definitely old enough to help with the planning. Along with mending and cooking and doing taxes, I'm a strong believer in teaching the children how to plan a trip.

We used Cynthia Harriman's "Days to Choose" method (see her book "Take your Kids to Europe" for details) but the general idea is everyone comes to a family meeting with ideas of maybe two or three things each person wants to see. Everyone gets some input and agrees to participate in the choices of others. From these suggestions you build an itinerary. Sometimes it works better if an adult lays out the route then the family contributes suggestions of activities in those locations. We use a Captain for the Day approach where the captain plans meals (chooses restaurants) as well as activities.

It takes some "group mindedness" but in my family at least everyone is willing follow the Captain's plan knowing that each will have a turn. On our trip last trip together (their second visit to London) we visited Greenwich, the RAF Museum in Collingswood, and the Tank Museum in Bovington Camp (that was a long train ride but well worth it). You can tell we like museums.

We've discovered that being the Captain is very stressful, which helps us to appreciate when it's someone else's turn!

We spent Christmas in London in 2019. We love London but it was hard to get into the restaurants which were booked months ahead and many were closed. Museums were closed.
Planning took advantage of the help of a friend in London . Christmas Eve at Westminster Abbey by tickets( free) given out online in November.
Not the easiest time to visit. I do not recall crowds. Fortnum and Mason was lovely for tea and shopping.