Closest German city to Strasbourg for rental car pick-up
 

Hi all,

We will be traveling from Paris to Strasbourg in May planning on staying in Colmar for 4 days. From here, we will be going on to Oberwesal for 4 days ,then home from Frankfurt.

We are taking the train from Paris to Strasbourg. I need to pick up a rental car in the closet German town to either Strasbourg or Colmar to avoid a huge drop off fee if picked up in France.

After looking at the map, I am trying to decide to pick up in Badwen-Baden from Strasbourg, or Freiburg from Colmar.

Any ideas which town would be easiest to get to? Also, how?
Train, bus etc.

As always, thanks for any replies!

I think you could pick up in Offenburg from Strasbourg - it's easily accessible by public transportation and right across the border from S.

I.

Kehl on the other side of the Rhine is located next to Strasbourg.

Maybe some Google Research on "Kehl" and "Autovermietung" (German for car rental) will be helpful.

Given that you are staying for four days in Colmar, you could train it from Strasbourg to Colmar, then, at a time of your own choosing, get the bus that runs several times daily from Colmar Station to Freiburg Station. There are car rental places near Freiburg Station, and Freiburg is an easy city to drive out of, direction Colmar. It might be a good idea to get the car early in your stay because it would make exploration of the area around Colmar much easier. This particularly applies if you are considering visiting nearby villages such as Riquewihr, Turckheim, Eguisheim etc, or larger places such as Kaysersberg and Ribeauville. All of them are worth the effort to visit, but you'll need the car.

hhildebrandt and adeben have good suggestions. While you are in Strasbourg, rent your car in Kehl and use it to visit Colmar and the towns and villages en route. Then continue your visit in Germany.

Kehl is more convenient than Offenburg or Freiburg. You can probably get a taxi from downtown Strasbourg there, or even a city bus.

Thanks for the replies!
I will be traveling with 2 others who will probably stay in Strasbourg while I retrieve the rental car.

Thats great if I can get a taxi into Kehl. I just checked and see that its only about 6 miles away.

Is it possible to store luggage at the Strasbourg rail station while I go pick up a car?

I would like to be able to allow the others to walk around Strasbourg a little while I am gone.

Thanks again!!

Hi L,

Why not buy your tickets from Paris to Kehl?

It's only 10 min longer on the train.

You can all pick up the car and head for Colmar.

Your TCs won't be seeing much of Strasbourg in the hour or so that it takes you to get the car and drive back to the train station.

((I))

Thanks Ira,

But we have already purchased our train tickets. I guess we can try to get an additional fare into Kehl.

Any ideas on the best way to do this?

Thanks

Hi L,

Get your tickets for Strasbourg/Kehl online at www.voyages-sncf.com - 3.7E.

((I))