Day trip to Germany from Colmar, France

You could try a trip to Baden Baden. It's a fun town to wander through. Lots of shopping, a spa, gardens, etc. Also there are castle ruins which are easily accessible in the area, and a great funicular railway (Merkur Mountain) ride with good parking at the bottom, a restaurant at the top, and some wonderful views. You can either ride back down or hike down if you're up for that.

If you'd like a longer day trip, you could go to Heidelberg. It's got a great city center, and a castle at the top of a hill which is accessible by funicular as well.

I lived in Strasbourg for 5 years and when friends would come to visit, we would frequently take them to these cities in Germany. What time of year will you be going?

Trip is in May. Sorry, forgot to add that.

DB Euregiobus 1076 runs between Colmar-Freiburg (train for Freibug-Brisach, connect to bus for Breisach-Colmar). https://www.suedbadenbus.de/suedbadenbus/view/angebot/buslinien/elsassregiobus.shtml.

Schedule starting from 2/17/2020 -- https://www.suedbadenbus.de/suedbadenbus/view/mdb/suedbadenbus/freizeitangebote/pdf/2019/2020/mdb_307242_euregio_fahrplan_2020.pdf

The Colmar Theatre stop is very near the Theater/Tourist Office/Unterlinden Museum. This bus stops at Neuf Brisach, a UNESCO site -- a well-preserved impressive fortified town/citadel designed by Vauban. The town has a a few shops/restaurants and can be walked thru in an hour. Tourist office offers guided town/ramparts walk. https://www.visit.alsace/en/246001403-neuf-brisach-fortified-town/.

I went to school in Freiburg. Very few old buildings left. More interesting to visit when morning market is in full swing around the cathedral (before 1:30pm, Monday-Saturday). You can easily walk from Freiburg train station to the cathedral and back in 1-1.5 hr.

The RegioElsassTicket is valid on line 1076 to Colmar and in the entire area of the Regio-Verkehrsverbund Freiburg (RVF) on all bus and train lines. Also on the Kunegel buses from Colmar to Alsace's Münstertal, to Kaysersberg (a very pretty town!), le Bonhomme, St. Hippolyte, Rouffach and Guebwiller. This ticket is valid for 24 hours and costs 16 euros for 1 person and 32 euros for 5 people.

Map of all the towns covered by RVF ticket -- https://www.rvf.de/en/fahrkarten-tarife/travelling-with-rvf. This RVF ticket covers 2 towns many folks on this forum often recommend to others: Titisee and Staufen.

Gengenbach is the prettiest town in this region of Germany. For traveling on the German side beyond the RVF ticket coverage area, you can use Baden-Württemberg-Ticket for up to 5 people, unlimited local train ride in one day. https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/regional/regional-day-tickets.shtml.
https://fahrkarten.bahn.de/privatkunde/pauschalpreisbuchen/pauschalpreis_start.post?lang=en&country=GBR&redirected=1&dbkanal_007=L04_S02_D002_KIN0060_REGIO-LAENDERTICKETS-KARTE-BAWUE_LZ03#stay

Basel is an easy day trip on TER from Colmar. Far prettier than Freiburg.

Hi,

With a car you can go eastwards from Colmar directly into Germany. By train you would have to go north first. In this case, logistically, going to Germany from Colmar is easier done by car. I would suggest the town of Freiburg im Breisgau, and Rastatt, all the more so, if you are interested in history.

If you like theme parks, Europe's answer to Epcot (even with its own geodesic dome), Europa Park, is right over the border near the town of Rust.

The Black Forest is also close, although this mountain range is more or less a mirror image of the Vosges mountains near Colmar.

Thanks, all!