We’re staying in Baden Baden and will be making day trips to Strasbourg and Colmar. To save cost on trains per day , can both towns be explored in a day or should they each have their own day. We only have a Sat and Sun to explore and am a little worried Sunday may not be a day we would see as much with Sunday having closings.
Also best way to get from Baden Baden to Strasbourg suggestions are welcomed.
Thanks
Liebe T
You can do it, but that doesn't mean you should do it. Strasbourg really deserves a full day (or more).
Also best way to get from Baden Baden to Strasbourg suggestions are
welcomed.
Train.
Best strategy is to use split tickets for Strasbourg. Buy a 2-person Baden-Wuerttemberg Ticket for 32 EUR and then 2 round trip tickets for Kehl>Strasbourg for 9.60 EUR each. Only the regional trains, changing at Appenweier.
Strasbourg deserves one full day at a minimum. The second day explore the wine villages nearby.
Buy tickets to/from Achern and then the Europass 24H Family 14.50E ( see www.cts-strasbourg.eu for info ). It’s good for 2 adults. I purchased mine at the ticket machine ( Gengenbach. I don’t know about B-B, but can get online also )
You would need additional ticket from the border of the 24H pass to/from Colmar.
I think you could do both with an early start. We spent about 1/2 day in Colmar including the little boat ride which was just so-so. Doing the boat in Strasbourg is much better.
The Unterlinden Museum in Colmar is really worthwhile, and I thoroughly enjoyed the colorful buildings in Colmar. A half-day there wouldn't have been enough for me, and Strasbourg is larger.
Definitely take the train from Baden-Baden to Strasbourg and on to Colmar if you wish. I highly recommend the official German train website (English translation) https://www.bahn.com/en. You can research most any itinerary in Europe, though you can only book trains originating in Germany. If you choose to go on to Colmar, you’ll change trains in Strasbourg and buy your forward tickets to Colmar. If you get good connections, you can make the trip in about 2 hours.
I also recommend making Colmar your base, rather than Strasbourg or a combination of the two. As acraven mentioned, the Unterlinden in Colmar is a world class museum. It’s considered by many one of the best small museums in Europe. You can easily add on the Dominican church across the square to see the renowned Schongauer Madonna of the Rose Garden. Additionally, Colmar is closer to IMHO the prettiest of the villages along the Alsatian wine route: Eguisheim, Keysersberg, Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé, and Bergheim. Check with the Colmar tourist office for tour options to the wine villages (https://tourisme-colmar.com/en/). If memory serves, some of the tasting rooms are open on Sundays, but check with the tourist office to be sure. Wine tasting, exploring storybook villages, with a nice lunch thrown in would be an excellent way to spend a Sunday.
Stay at Le Colombia (https://www.hotel-le-colombier.fr/en/), with one caveat: their website indicates they are doing some renovations to common spaces right now. I would inquire when that will be done before booking.
So, just to recap, spend Saturday in Colmar, when all the shops are open. Ask the receptionist at Le Colombia to make dinner reservations for you. Then spend Sunday touring the wine villages.
Sorry to go on so long. I love the Colmar area of Alsace, and I’m a bit biased.
Thanks Beth but I’m traveling to and staying in Baden Baden on our way to Munich for the end of a month trip. We are just wanting to do Just day trips to one or both from Baden Baden. Great info for future trip though.
I guess my eyes just glazed over when I read Colmar. 😉 Given that you want to do day trips, returning to Baden Baden each evening, Strasbourg makes better sense because it’s only about an hour’s transit by train between the two cities. I might suggest Strasbourg both days, one heading out on a vineyard tour (have a look at Viator) and a Strasbourg city experience for the other day, Check with the Strasbourg tourist office for ideas of how to spend your time. There are wine tasting experiences in Strasbourg, as well. Bon voyage!
We are currently staying in Colmar for 4 nights. The historic center can be seen in a few hours. Today we took the train to Strasbourg and spent three hours walking around town before heading back to Colmar. My wife and I prefer Colmar over Strasbourg. Colmar has more of the picturesque wood frame buildings. Strasbourg has the cathedral you can climb the tower in. Plenty of steps. The climb costs 8€ per person.
Also, Colmar has a free shuttle that takes you around the historic center. It starts at the train station and loosely runs every 15 minutes. We rode it around town once (20 minutes) to get a feel for the city and got off the second time around. Think of it as a free hop on, hop off bus. It’s Le Navette and has “free” right on it in a few languages.
If walking, the historic center of Colmar is just over a mile from the train station. In Strasbourg, Petite France is a little over a half mile from the train station. Both walks are easy.
I went to both last summer. I dropped my luggage at a charming hotel in Colmar in the morning, then back on the train to Strasbourg. I wanted to go to the Strasbourg Historical museum and learn about the history of the area. And I went to the cathedral and wandered around petite France and it was adorable. I was on the train back to Colmar around 3-4:00. I wandered around and got dinner. It was a great day. I felt like a day was enough. I also felt like I only needed to visit one of them, but then I have trouble choosing which one. The unterlinden museum in colmar was closed the day I was there, so that pretty much made my decision to spend most of the day in Strasbourg. If you’re not interested in either town’s museums or attractions, I think they’re equally charming. And for what it’s worth, I liked them both better than Baden Baden.
