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Germany/France July Itinerary

Hello, I would love your seasoned feedback on a trip I’m planning to Germany and France following some time in London in July. I’m especially curious as to opinions if you think one night in Colmar would be worth it to experience the town in the evening and to have a convenient base for the Kut’zig bus to see as many of the surrounding small towns as possible. Or, if an extra night in Freiburg would be better, and to save Colmar + wine towns as a day trip from Strasbourg?

Interested in the outdoors, history/historic architecture, beautiful environs (both built and natural), hiking/biking/being active, and good wine/beer/food.

Thank you so much for any thoughts or feedback!

• Day 1: Travel - Fly from London to Basel, train from Basel to Freiburg (leave 10:00am arrive 5pm)

• Day 2: Freiburg - Explore Freiburg, go to wine festival, hike up to Biergarten

• Day 3: Freiburg - Rent bikes, bike to Lake Park (or train to Bad Krozingen and walk/bike to Staufen, then?)

• Day 4: Freiburg --> Colmar? - Check out of hotel by 11am; train to Colmar? Spend day/evening exploring Colmar

• Day 5: Colmar --> Strasbourg? - Check out of hotel 11am; store luggage at hotel, spend day on Kut'zig hop-on, hop-off bus exploring nearby villages along the Routes des Vins (Egusheim, Riquewihr, etc)? Return to Colmar in the evening, train to Strasbourg

• Day 6: Strasbourg - Explore Strasbourg, canal boat tour?

• Day 7: Strasbourg - Day trip to Chateau du Haut Koenigsbourg

• Day 8: Strasbourg - Rent bikes and bike on trails near the city?

• Day 9: Strasbourg - Train to Paris, fly back to US from CDG

PS - sorry for earlier double-posting, new to the website and still getting used to it!

Posted by
11606 posts

There is no need to stay in Colmar.
We stayed in both Strasbourg and in a wine village, Riquewehr, and enjoyed them both so much. We took a day trip to Colmar and were so glad we hadn’t stayed there.

Posted by
8322 posts

While in the Black Forest consider visiting Titisee, we loved it. Triberg is great as well.

That is a lot of time in Strasbourg, love that city, but perhaps add a day in Paris.

Posted by
28247 posts

Colmar is very touristy but beautiful. It also has the excellent Unterlinden Museum. I was happy to be staying there. Without a car, I don't like being pinned down in a small village.

Posted by
7204 posts

Because we had a rental car from Germany, hence no French environmental zone sticker so we couldn’t drive in Strasbourg, we used Colmar as a base for four nights. From it we took day trips to the smaller villages and walked between a couple of them. One day we went to Haut Koenigsbourg and villages near it. The castle was very impressive. We took the train to Strasbourg one day. My wife and I preferred Colmar over Strasbourg.

If you do stay in Colmar it has a free bus (Navette) that goes around the city. It’s like a free hop-on, hop-off bus. It starts and ends its route at the train station. The train station is a mile from the historic center of Colmar, so the free bus worked out well when we didn’t want to walk back to our hotel.