In early August my husband and will be spending the last few days of our vacation in France. We will be departing via train from Lucerne where we will have been doing a home exchange. We want to spend three nights between Lucerne and our exit from Paris to the USA. There was a recent post on my Rick Steves Facebook that inspired me to spend at least one of the nights in Reims. I need other suggestions of a nice , smallish town to wind down our trip . I welcome all suggestions. Thank you !
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Beaune and Colmar fit the bill. I think you'd want wheels for Burgundy though (bicycles would work if you do not want a car--and there's a good rental shop in Beaune).
Otherwise I would suggest Lyon. It is not in any sense smallish but is a great destination for 3 days w/o a car.
Posted by
New York, NY
1586 posts
Hi Judy,
You have 3 options. One option, you can stop in the city of Basel Switzerland en route between Lucerne and Paris. Second option, don't sleep on Strasbourg with side trips to the Rhein (you can get a boat trip for about 3 hours on the stretch of the Rhine near Strasbourg that takes you through scenic castle/vineyard stretches of the river. Strasbourg is a beautiful manageable town. Third, option is make a stopover in the city of Reims before Paris.
1: Lucerne > Strasbourg > Paris
2: Lucerne > Basel > Paris
3 Lucerne > Reims > Paris
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
6493 posts
I was going to recommend Alsace, but it sounds like you will not have a car. I feel the real gems of Alsace are the small, half timbered villages. You could stop in Colmar, and enjoy that and perhaps there would be a tour from Colmar into the villages you would enjoy. Basel is a very nice little town, but I'm not sure that you want to be there more than a day of two, and since you will have been in Lucerne, perhaps you'd enjoy time in France more . Beaune is a great idea, and there are tours from there into the country side to do wine tasting.
Posted by
613 posts
You are getting great advice with which I agree: 2 nights in Colmar, one day Colmar, one day tour of the villages. Viator offers a bunch.
Posted by
Washington DC
28105 posts
I'm not clear on whether your three nights include the one immediately before the flight, which I'd prefer to spend closer to the airport than Reims, but I'm pretty conservative about that sort of thing.
If Reims is a given, I believe the most logical additional stop in France would be Strasbourg or Colmar. They're on the direct rail route. I also like the Art Nouveau city of Nancy, but including it appears to add 2 hours of train time.
Posted by
Grand Rapids, MI
44 posts
I would second the recommendation for Strasbourg or Colmar. As a destination in itself, Colmar is so-so I think, but it's a great gateway for a day spent in wine villages in the Vosges foothills. Buses or taxis can get you to some picturesque spots. And Strasbourg is one of our favorite cities in all of Europe: stunning cathedral, and the Petite France district is as charming as it looks in all the pictures.
Posted by
OP
maitland, Fl., USA
64 posts
Thank you so much for all of the advice. It has been so helpful. We have found a great place to stay for two nights in Colmar and then one night in Reims before we train to Paris for our flight home.
Judy