My cousin and I (two seasoned, semi-retired, active women in our goddess years) are meeting in the Palatinate and Alsace-Lorraine for a heritage trip late October into early November. We have some fluidity in travel plans. Our inquiry is: trying to determine for our 4-5 nights in the A-L region if best to split our time between Strasbourg & Colmar, stay all in one or the other, any other town to consider for lodging, and/or how to allocate that time to see the region. Our only commitment for our time in A-L is to get to our ancestral village of Wingen Sur Moder, which is north of Strasbourg. We plan to use public transportation. We are cost-conscious travelers who prefer small towns, craftswares, scenery, good food, culture, history, occasional museum and castle, and neither of us drink a lot of wine. For context, initial arrival - my cousin in coming in from Frankfurt; I am arriving via Zurich a few days ahead and coming through the Black Forest. Together we will do the week in southern Palatinate (the Wissembourg and Landau area), and sorting out the A-L leg now, then flying out of Frankfurt.
Posted by
Canada
130 posts
Given your preferences, I would split your time, spending 1-2 nights in Strasbourg and the remainder in Colmar, where you could easily tour other nearby villages by public transport.
Have a lovely trip!
Posted by
Paris
7996 posts
With 5 nights, I would split, maybe 3 in Strasbourg (to have time to go to your ancestral villlage) and 2 in Colmar.
With 4 nights, I would not bother, as Colmar is an easy day trip from Strasbourg.
As a little note, the region is locally known as Alsace, not Alsace-Lorraine (which is only used in historical terms to refer to the area annexed by Germany between 1870-1918).
Posted by
Citizen of the World
4024 posts
Strasbourg is a much larger city than Colmar, with more to see, more dining options and quick access to the nearby iconic towns of Barr and Obernai. Both of them can be reached by train or bus in about one hour or less.
Because Colmar is only about 30 train minutes from Strasbourg, you could visit it as a day trip. The photogenic towns of Eguisheim and Turckhem can be reached by bus from Colmar in about 30 minutes. Other iconic Alsatian towns reachable in about 45 minutes by bus from Colmar include Ribeauville, Riquewihr and Kaysersberg.
How many of these towns you want to see may advise how to allocate your time in magical Alsace.
Have a great trip!
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
8852 posts
To me, each is worth 1-2 days at most. We stayed in the Colmar area longer and visited a number of the small towns in the area. We did however, have a rental car.
Posted by
37 posts
We were facing the same dilemma for our three day visit.
Ultimately we stayed in Colmar and did a day trip into Strasbourg, which we felt was the right choice, enjoyed strolling Colmar in the morning and evening.
Did not enjoy Strasbourg, too big, felt too urban in comparison to Colmar. Arrived at 9am, saw the Cathedral, wandered the streets and left by noon, and visited Fort de Schoenenbourg - Ligne Maginot, a hour to the north of Strasbourg, well worth a visit if you can arrange transportation there.
Posted by
Oregon
401 posts
I don’t think there’s a wrong answer, just consider what the transfer day would look like as you’ll need a place to store your bags for hours and will be without a place for much of that day. Possibly in rain weather pending.
We are planning to visit about the amount of time and I’ve decided since it’s such an easy short ride on train to Colmar and other villages to just stay put in Strasbourg which is much better for our train connections elsewhere.