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Getting from Black Forest to Strasbourg?

In July we're staying with friends at a cabin in Bernau im Schwarzwald. They'll be heading home to Gilching (half hour west of Munich) and we're off to Strasbourg. Should we have them drop us somewhere to rent a car for the drive, or take a train from Schuchslee?
We'll have 2 days in Strasbourg before flying to Toulouse - haven't decided if we want a car there, but figure it'll be easy to get a day rental if we have trained in.

And if we rent a car, I'm guessing we want to return it to Kehl, Germany. Is there any problem using it around Strasbourg for a day or two first?

TIA,
Alison

Posted by
20026 posts

Why rent a car? It is an easy 2 hour and 22 minute train ride from Schluchsee (assume that is what you mean) with trains every hour. Change trains in Freiburg and Offenburg. Strasbourg is no place for a car.

Posted by
65 posts

Thanks Sam. Sounds good to me:)

Sounds like you're familiar with Strasbourg - any tours you particularly recommend in the area? Last time I spent a day around the old part of town and then took a train to Colmar for a day. My husband hasn't been there at all, so we could repeat that, but I thought there might be a good wine or area tour instead of the Colmar day.

-Alison

Posted by
20026 posts

Train site: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

If you want to save some money, here is a perfectly legal way to buy the ticket. I'll assume you are two people.
Buy a Baden-Wurttemberg Ticket for 2 people costing 28 EUR. You have to pay an extra 2 EUR to buy from a ticket window rather than a ticket automat.
Buy 2 local tickets from Kehl to Strasbourg for 4.10 EUR pp.

Here is the quickest way.
Take the 10:42 departure from Schluchsee arrive Freiburg at 11:48. This is a Regional Bahn.
Change to the 12:03 departure from Freiburg arrive Offenburg at 12:53. This is a Regional Express.
Change to the 13:05 departure from Offenburg arrive Strasbourg at 13:34. This is a Suedwestdeutsche train.
There are hourly departures, the above is just the quickest. Others take longer because there are longer times to make connections.

So the B-W ticket gets you as far as Kehl, which is across the Rhine from Strasbourg, and the local tickets cover you from Kehl for the short trip over the bridge to Strasbourg. You don't have to get off the train. If you just buy local transport tickets from Schluchsee to Strasbourg, it will cost you 61.40 EUR, instead of 36.20 EUR using the B-W Ticket. If you buy tickets without checking the "Local Transport only" button, you will get there a little quicker using an ICE train between Freiburg and Offenburg, costing 74.20 EUR.

All of these tickets can be bought at the time of travel. No price advantage to buying in advance.

In Strasbourg, take a boat ride through the canals of the old city. Check out this site:
https://www.tourisme-alsace.com/en/strasbourg-must-sees/

Posted by
65 posts

What a wealth of great info - thank you so much!

Posted by
265 posts

We used an independent audio walking tour that we rented at the visitor center when we visited Strasbourg last summer.

Posted by
2394 posts

From Kehl to Strasbourg, get the 'Europass 24H mini' (10.80 euro ) which also includes transportation in Strasbourg.

If you are staying in a commercial cabin, then you should receive a KONUS card for your BF trains. Of course if it is your friend's cabin, you won't get the card