day trip recommendations from Strasburg
 

We will be in Strasburg for four days at the end of August, beginning of September. How many days should we devote to the city? We know about Colmar as a daytrip, what other places in Alsace, Germany, or even Switzerland(if that's not too far) would make good day trips from Strasburg? <BR> <BR>Thanks, <BR>Bennett

Bennett, <BR>You can easily tour parts of the northern Black Forest including the Schwarzwald Hochstrasse (Black Forest High Road). Take Rte E52 (28) east from Strasbourg to Rte 3 south to Offenburg, then Rte 33 southeast to Gengenbach, a town that will make you forget about Rothenburg. Gengenbach has been carefully preserved with gates, towers, old walls and timber-framed houses. It’s nowhere near as well known as Rothenburg and you’ll encounter far fewer tourists. Take a look at: www.badenpage.de/gengenbach for a photo tour of the town. Continue on Rte 33 to Hausach where you’ll find the Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof, an open-air museum with typical 16th and 17th century Black Forest homes and working water powered sawmills. From Hausach, take Rte 294 north to Freudenstadt, then Rte 28 west about 12 kms to Rte 500. Turn right onto 500, the Black Forest High Road and continue to Baden-Baden, the spa town. You can take Rte 3 south from Baden-Baden back to Rte 28 and Strasbourg, or cross the Rhine just west of Baden-Baden and take Rte 68 southbound to Strasbourg. <BR>

Colmar to Zurich, on average, took me about 1 1/4 hours by car (I've done it 3 times). Hence, it would probably take 2 hours from Strasbourg to Zurich. <BR>Just an fyi. <BR>

Bennett, if it's not too late to tell you, I really enjoyed visiting the "pottery villages" of Soufflenheim and Betschdorf, just NNW of Strasbourg, esp. Soufflenheim. It's typical of the Alsace, with half-timbered houses and window boxes overflowing with pink and red and fuschia flowers; the potters are in the ground floor of many of the houses lining both sides of the street, so you can walk from one to another. This area is famous for the storks on the chimneys, so much of the pottery features storks, but all of it is wonderful. The restaurant "la Boeuf" on a corner of the main street is nice for lunch, and do sit out back in the courtyard beneath the wisteria arbor. The Maginot Line runs through this area, and an excellent restaurant (Michelin 2-star) is in the little town of Lembach - Auberge du Cheval Blanc. Also, the town of Bitche, with its massive fortifications, is an interesting stop, and you can travel north into Germany on the wine road from the area, which is also quite scenic, and will undoubtedly have winefests during that time. Of course, one of the largest winefests is in nearby Bad Durkheim, where the big attraction is the little plastic hammers with beepers in the end that everyone uses to "bop" each other on the head in time with the music in the fest tents! Have a great time.

Take rte 28 east, past the A5 and on to the town of Oberkirch, Germany. Beautiful little town surrounded by orchards & vinyards.....you can compare German wine with Alsace wine. <BR>

A nice day trip could be spent driving along the wine route stopping in Ribeauville and Riquewihr. Close by is a castle and a monastery. You can read about my recent trip to Alsace (along with photos) at my website: <BR>http://www.travelswithdiane.homestea...ip2001pg1.html

From Strasbourg you can easily visit all the picturesque and romantic towns in Alsace. If you start to follow the "Route des Vins" in Obernai you can drive all the way down to Colmar (the route in fact goes until Thann) and make a stop at the little towns. The most picturesque are indeed Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé, Kaysersberg (has a large stork population) and Colmar. <BR>Take a look at my travel page & travelogue on Virtual Tourist at http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/.125...ticle/1045/45/

I would like to add to what it has been wisely posted, a visit to Freiburg-im-Breisgau, a German lovely city or a relaxing day in Baden-Baden spas. If you have a rental car, a trip to Schaffhouse to see Rheinfall ( Rhein river waterfall ) would also be recommendable.