Any advise for getting to small towns/villages close by to Colmar? We are taking the train from Paris early one morning and would like to see some of the picturesque towns close by. Are taxi’s feasible or bus service? We plan on spending the day and taking the train back to Paris that evening. Thank you for any suggestions. We will be in Paris the week of March 30, 2020.
Posted by
Green Bay
21144 posts
Sounds like a pretty expensive day trip. Kayserberg is nice, bus ride from the train station.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
Thank you. Will look into that.
Posted by
Washington DC
28069 posts
For a very high-level look at what sort of transportation is available from Colmar to the nearby villages, you can use Rome2Rio.com. Just understand that you cannot trust the fares, travel times and frequencies it displays. It's good for two things (usually): telling you whether the destination has rail service and/or bus service, and names of the companies (generally also website links) providing that service. You'll need to go to the bus company's website and the SNCF (train) website to find actual schedules, travel times and fares.
Although there is bus service to many of the little places, it can be extremely infrequent, making it unlikely you'd be able to move from Little Town A to Little Town B by bus. Most likely you'd need to toss a taxi or two into the mix if you wanted to see more than one small town.
Of course, your time will be limited since you're making a day-trip from Paris so you might not have time for more than one little place; just going to Colmar is going to mean 5 to 6 hours on trains. If you're not staying near Paris Est, you'll spend extra time getting there from your hotel. Colmar, though touristy (probably not so much at that time of year), is lovely and has an excellent small museum; the Isenheim altarpiece is an acknowledged masterpiece. You could easily spend all your time enjoying Colmar.
If you haven't already bought your train tickets, I recommend taking a look at the rail fares for this trip immediately. I spot-checked fares on March 30 and 31 and found just one bargain outbound train each day, the 8:39 AM OUIGO, which arrives at 11:36 AM. Other outbound fares range from 40 to 152 euros. I have no idea what is likely to happen to that OUIGO fare as your travel date approaches.
Posted by
11569 posts
Take the high speed train to Strasbourg. Rent a car to explore the villages on the wine route. No need to go to Colmar. Try to add time, spend a night or two. Can’t imagine doing this as a day trip.