Which airport is best to fly to Alsace?

Yes. there are good connections from FRA to Strasbourg and Alsace. Where are you flying from? If on Lufthansa, I believe they have a bus connection to Strasbourg. Otherwise, there are frequent rail transfers with 1 or 2 connections along the way.
https://www.lufthansa.com/br/en/lufthansa-express-bus#frankfurt

We'll be spending a few days in Paris, then traveling to Alsace before heading home to Boston. We haven't made any arrangements yet; just trying to figure out the best way to handle everything. Is Frankfurt less stressful than CDG?

You can play around with the DB website, but I think there's not much difference in train availability and travel time between Paris, Frankfurt, or even Zurich. However I'm not sure what constitutes horror stories. All I've heard are long lines for EES and Passport Control at times. Which happens at most airports with no predictability. And for now, all 3 of the above airports have suspended EES.

IF you are spending a few days in Paris, then I'd just go with CDG. I think it's very straightforward and easy for an arrival. Transiting thru to an onward destination ups the level of difficulty.

When I arrived at CDG in April, in SPITE of the then new EES kiosk registration, I was at the taxi rank curb in under 50 minutes. It's not ALWAYS been that quick but it's not been more than 1.5 hours from the plane door to the taxi rank.

"I've heard so many horror stories about CDG"

What horror stories are you reading?

I don't usually have problems leaving from CDG but the last few trips I've scored a cheaper upgrade to Delta One so get to go thru a special Sky Priorty lane.

What airline are you considering?

If you are just flying into Paris at CDG, I don't see anything particularly stressful about that. Get fixed price taxi to your hotel.

I've heard about the long waits to get through EES, but perhaps I'm mistaken?

IMO- the fuss by some people over CDG being awful generally is way over blown. We used that airport on our first ever Europe trip and I was waiting for all this big scary mess people warned me of… it was simply a large well organized airport. No issues. In fact I started to go the wrong way once and a security officer gently steered me correct way. Very simple and not hard would use it again any time.

If you’re spending time in Paris and Strasbourg and not Germany, I’d just stick with cdg.

There can be long waits at FRA as well. You still have to wait in line and get your passport stamped in Germany, even after going through EES. And if your destination is Paris, a long wait is nothing more than a minor inconvenience at CDG.

I would choose CDG ov er Frankfurt any day.

I don’t think flying into CDG is bad. Last visit 2024. Flying out not sure. Last week we flew into Zurich and took the train to Colmar. Super quick and easy. I think about 1 1/2 hours on the train. If you do that, use the SBB app which is so awesome. I’d fly home from Zurich for sure.

“I've heard about the long waits to get through EES, but perhaps I'm mistaken”

As mentioned above I was thru EES quickly in April. I fly Delta and enter thru Terminal 2E. A friend entered a week after me on United thru Terminal 1 and had no EES or wait. Yet, for these 2 easy entries, folks here will also have had long lines to enter thru various terminals.

All I can guarantee is CDG is consistently inconsistent. In the last 12 years, I’ve gone to Paris almost yearly, sometimes twice a year. I just want to be on the ground in Paris as quickly as possible!

I recommend making a comfort stop on the way to the Passport Control/Immigration area in case there are lines.

If Paris is your first destination then to me CDG is your easiest choice.

If you do fly into Frankfurt, we broke up the train trip to Strasbourg by staying two nights in Baden-Baden. Lovely town if you enjoy going to a large spa. It was one of the highlights of our trip. The train from Baden-Baden to Strasbourg was less than a half-hour ride.

Simply do not believe them ! Are experiences of others supposed to deter me from using CDG?

Strasbourg is a major train hub. Plan you train connections from Strasbourg

Since 2023 I've flown in/out of CDG 8 times. No experience there comes even close to a horror story, but still, so what? The last 2 years the Border Control procedure was perfunctory, smooth and uneventful...too quick.

Regardless, my choice of airport stays with CDG

I've heard horror stories about CDG before my first trip to Paris over 40 years ago.

Even with the best planning, something can screw up your plans: weather, strikes, maintenance, crew shortages and more.

Just book whatever flights are convenient for you at a price that is affordable.

Make backup plans B and C so you're not completely unprepared and hope for the best.

For our Alsace trip in 2024, we flew in (and out of) the “EuroAirport” Airport, which is located about 40 miles south of Colmar. It’s technically in France, near the joint border of France, Germany, and Switzerland. It’s the International airport for Mulhouse, France, Freiburg, Germany, and Basel, Switzerland, with Basel being less than 5 miles away. It goes by three airport codes: the Swiss code BSL (Basel), the French code MLH (Mulhouse), as well as EAP (EuroAirport).

We’d been staying in Nice, France, then flew to the EuroAirport for the Alsace leg of our trip. Picking up our rental car, we had to be careful to go to the French side of the terminal. We drove up past Colmar to Bergheim, stayed there for several nights, then Strasbourg for several nights, then down through the Black Forest for several nights, before returning the car to the airport. We then spent a few nights in Basel, after exiting the airport on the Swiss side. We eventually flew from the EuroAirport to London, before flying home.

Airport was easy to use, as long as you use the proper exit (just follow the signs). I don’t know how convenient the EuroAirport south of Mulhouse and west of Basel is for you, and how many connections would be involved, compared with CDG. It is, however, the closest International airport for Alsace, with quicker train or driving connections than Paris or Frankfurt!

You know, Strasbourg has an airport (SXB, if I recall correctly). It’s small, manageable and easy. We flew in to Strasbourg from Corsica and it was a zero-stress breeze. You won’t find long haul nonstops to/from other continents but it’s a perfectly decent airport for regional flights.

CDG and FRA are big and busy because they’re where the big intercontinental flights go. But they do work, and while they’re not my favorite places to connect, they’re not gonna kill you. Just allow plenty of time as they’re vast, crowded, complicated and at times chaotic.

The main airports for visiting Alsace are Strasbourg and Basel (also called "Euro Airport" as referenced above). We had a good experience flying in and out of Basel recently. While the airport itself is in France it has exits for both France and Switzerland and is also conveniently located for the Black Forest and very close to the border with Germany. I'm not sure if there's a direct flight where you are coming from to either of these but if you don't mind connecting it's very easy to get to Colmar from either, and obviously easy to get to Strasbourg from its own airport.

Not sure when your trip is taking place, but as mentioned previously, France has been given the okay to suspend EES for the rest of the year if they wish. The same goes for eight other countries.

It's back to regular passport control.

If you intend to visit Paris at the beginning of your trip, then CDG is the obvious and most practical airport, followed by a train to your first Alsace stop. You could of course look at the Euro Airport for your return flight, but I dont believe you will find any direct flights to Boston or anywhere else in the US. You would need to connect at one of the major European hubs. You would need to weigh the logistics of training to the Euro Airport and then taking connecting flights vs training directly to one of the major hubs listed earlier for a direct flight.

Agree with Judy, I would choose CDG over FRA any day.
We have never had a problem at CDG.

Lufthansa does have a bus between FRA and the Strasbourg train station. I tried to book it once after I had already bought tickets to FRA and was told (by a not pleasant Lufthansa employee) that in order to use it I had to put Strasbourg in when buying the ticket. Once I had my international ticket it was too late to add on the bus.

The last time I needed to be in Strasbourg, I flew into Stuttgart and took a fast train to Strasbourg. For once, I even was able to tack a few free days onto business, so I picked up a rental car in Strasbourg and explored south to Colmar, with a loop to take in Troyes. And don’t be put off by stories of CDG. Sure, it’s a test of patience and resilience. But no more so than Atlanta, Detroit or Dulles. Have a great holiday!

Suspending EES in CDG means having the passport stamped? If so, fantastic. We shall see we I get back in May 2027 if the suspension is still in place.

Air France/KLM and SNCF now offer the option of combining a TGV (Inoui or Ouigo) train journey with a flight (via the CDG train station) under a single ticket and booking reference.

As I understand it, this ensures you are rebooked on the next available train or flight at no extra cost in the event of a delay on the first leg of the journey.

https://wwws.airfrance.fr/en/information/prepare/voyages-combines-avion-train/train-plus-air-france