Short Trips from Strasbourg, France

I just googled railroads Europe and found a site where you can plug in Strasbourg and then other cities. Several places--Heidleberg, Freiberg, Lucerne, all seem to be about 3 hours or so away. Paris is closer. I think you'll find lots of places to visit.

Pam

Buy a Michelin Green Guide covering that region, I forget the title but there are 20 of them covering various areas of France. Look at the Principal Sights map near the front. Then go to the rail travel website I give you here: click hereand get your trip planned based on what interests you as described in the Michelin guide.

Hi,

Well, Strasbourg itself doesn't offer much. One day there will easily take care of it. A couple nights in Colmar is an amazing experience. You can easily do train rides to most the surrounding towns. If it were me, grab a France-Germany rail pass, discounts for 2 or more people riding together with saver pass.

As far as an itinerary. Do three nights in Strasbourg, day tripping to Baden-baden, Germany(beautiful Roman spa town), Triberg(bit touristy but nice little hike throught the black forest leads to a waterfall), maybe then down to Freiberg(nice university city). Move on and stay in Colmar three nights....day trip to Mulhouse, Bresacon, Selestat, Kayersberg(Ablert Schweitzers home). The Route de Vin is full of small wine towns close together. Colmar is fantastic. With only one week, try not to cram in Switzerland, unless you plan on staying a few nights. The food is excellent in Alsace!

Hope that helps,

Jason

Last December we spent 3 nights in Colmar, France (Hotel Le Rapp) and 3 nights in Baden Baden (Hotel am Markt)--both were smaller cities, easy to get around, great food, it was a relaxing trip and we enjoyed spending some time in France and some time in Germany. We enjoyed the Friedrichsbad spa in Baden Baden. We did not have a car and these were easy train trips. You have lots of options! Enjoy!

We really enjoyed Nancy. It's a beautiful small city loaded with gems of Art Nouveau buildings. The Musee de l'Ecole Nancy also houses many examples of home furnishings and art pieces of that genre. As is usually true in France, it has many charming public spaces and good restaurants and cafes. Don't know about train connections, as we had a car; but I'd be very surprised if there weren't a way to get there from Strasbourg.

D. - my daughter has been in Stras for the year and except for our visit, has done all of her traveling by train. She was in Nancy last weekend just for the day - took the train back & forth - enjoyed the town. She also loves Colmar and has been there a few times, again, just for the day. There are also all the wonderful little towns along the Route de Vin - she visited quite a few, so again, I know the trains go there. We did rent a car ourselves and drive her and a friend to the Black Forest Area. We stayed the night in Staufen and visited both Freiburg and Triberg on the way back to Stras. We loved Staufen, really liked Freiburg but didn't care much for Triberg except for the waterfall hike above the town.

Baden-Baden, Triberg in the black forrest, Freiburg im Breisgau and Staufen im Breisgau are definitely must-sees on the German side. It would take 2 full day trips to cover all of that. You could also drive along the Wine Road starting in Northern Alsace and continuing it at least until Bad Dürkheim (world's largest wine keg) from where the freeway journey back to Strasbourg probably takes around 90 minutes.

Oh, and of course depending on your age bracket www.europapark.de also makes for a great fun day trip!

Somehow you don't sound all that tanked up about Strasbourg itself. If so, consider making one of the Alsace towns your base and visiting Strasbourg as a day trip (or two). Colmar is nice.