Colmar/Strasbourg recommendations
 

Hello,

I have decided on 3 days in this area. If anyone has done a trip report, I would love to read it. I will be travelling with a 19 year old, so I am guessing good food is a must. Any other ideas would be so much appreciated

Hi, my interest in the area is in the wine and so I focus to the west of Colmar in the villages along the Route du vin. If you go even further west you are in the Vosges mountains which are pretty old worn down mountains leading to the Alps. ALong the ridge of the Vosges are a few castles and right at the south are some meadows. The ridge itself was a line in WW1 and to the north is the only concentration camp in France (though the Germans claimed it as Germany)

Further north than the Vosges are a few pretty towns worth the visit. Strasbourg has a medievel centre (watch out for cycles) worth a fair few hours. On the East you have the Rhine with various remains of battlefields going back 100s of years. At least one 1700 medievel town (look at google maps) and to the south you have Mulhouse with some great museums including one on paper.

Cycling/walking wonderful in and amongst the vines with paths everywhere

Food, an odd mix of German and French so pigs trotters, vinegar and cabbage and then a speciality of flat bread pizza which is great.

Wine, yikes, my favorite area.

https://www.visit.alsace/en/

Colmar is just a bit dull compared to the villages, but if you want to stay there fine. The villages, on the other hand, after the tourists go are nice in the evening.

I recommend that you stay in a wine village instead of Colmar and then also stay in beautiful Strasbourg

Let me just throw in an ancient photo report of Strasbourg to give you an idea of the city.

Strasbourg in September (by kerouac2) | Any Port in a Storm (proboards.com)

Oh, I also have a report about Colmar which is nice but which I find much less charming than Strasbourg.

Colmar (by kerouac2) | Any Port in a Storm (proboards.com)

However, I consider the Unterlinden museum of Colmar to be an absolute must.

Musée Unterlinden - Colmar (by kerouac2) | Any Port in a Storm (proboards.com)

My report is old, but may still be useful, go here: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...0/#post8664318

I enjoyed Strasbourg so much I went back. For eating in Strasbourg I recommend Strissel and the Cloche a Fromage

It is so nice to see all the people who gave me such great recommendations on my other trips!

If you have three nights and two full days I'd recommend spending a day in Strasbourg and a day visiting villages on the route du vin. Colmar can be one of them but, by itself, isn't an all day attraction. A car would work best for that. If you have a third full day you can add villages (research the route du vin), or go further afield (Dijon or Baden Baden). You can stay anywhere in this area that's convenient for you. You won't spend much time in the hotel.
And to repeat bilboburgler, the food is a mix of French and German. The main dish seems to a flatbread called "tarte flambee" or just "flambee". It's a thin crust with onions and cheese, plus whatever other topping the menu offers. Kind of like pizza that way. I found it very good but the onions overpowered my stomach.

Good to know about the "pizza". My son is super excited about the food suggestions.

There is absolutely no cheese on flammekueche! It is onions, bacon and crème fraîche!

Parking in central Strasbourg is a drag, so if you stay there choose a hotel which sorts it for you.

I just got back from a France trip that included a 3 night stay in Colmar. We had a really unusual situation in that we had a rental property in the middle of the old town of Colmar with parking. We had intended to see more of the Route du Vin than we actually ended up seeing; we spent an afternoon in Kayserberg on our way to Colmar, but ended up skipping the days outing touring some of the other Route du Vin towns (would have gone to Eguisheim and Riquewir). Personally, I liked our location in Colmar. Not sure if I would have liked it as much staying in a hotel or away from the center. Kayserberg was beautiful, and probably would have been a good place to stay if you can find the right place. I think that's the key -- your lodging choice is as important as the town.

Do you mind me asking where you found that rental property?

when we go we use these guys https://www.gites-de-france.com/en
or
we use google, the map feature and search the area of interest for "gite"

And tell your son if he likes Tarte Flambe ,he can get an attempt at replicating it at Trader Joe's where it is named Taste d' Alsace!
We had a very good dinner at La Grappa d'Or in Riquewehr.

Here: VRBO

We just got back from a stay in Strasbourg. I haven't written a trip report, but we had a really nice time. We had 4 nights in Strasbourg, so 3 full days, and took a day trip via train to Colmar. This was at the end of a longer trip with a lot planned, so our time in Strasbourg and Colmar was pretty ad hoc - we didn't have many plans to start with, just showed up and did some stuff.

The first day we wandered all over the old town of Strasbourg ,visited the cathedral, climbed the tower, took the little tourist "train", took a boat tour in the evening, had a nice leisurely lunch, and spent some time drinking beer and wine with snacks at a couple different places, sitting outside to people watch.

The second day we went to the Alcasian museum and took a food tour, more wandering around, and more eating and drinking outside watching the people.

The third day we took the train to Colmar and wandered around there - walked all around the old town area, took the tourist "train", had a nice lunch overlooking the canal, checked out the big church, later got beers and snacks in a spot where we could people watch.

It was not available but I found some others. Thanks

Tarte Flambée is very fashionable in Germany. It is called Flammkuchen there and is on the menu of many cafés. In Weimar there is or was a whole café just dedicated to riffs on the Flammkuchen, but the original (onion, creme fraiche, speck) is still popular. You can even buy frozen Flammkuchen just like a frozen pizza. It is a staple there now.

Lavandula

It's a staple throughout France too, available in every supermarket. There is also a major restaurant chain called Flam's where it is the main item.

i am still looking for accommodations. I am not sure why I can’t find something for 4 adults with wifi…I think I must be looking in the wrong places!