Looking for recommendations for a day excursion into France from our lodging in Gutach, Germany in the Black Forest. We'll have rental cars and would like to keep the drive less than two hours. The kids want to at least say they visited France - why not!? So....where to go? We'll have three adults and five younger folks raging from 12-21 years old.

Strasbourg should be seen, but Sélestat should do the trick since it is closer. It is a lovely city. Colmar is good as well.

Assuming you speak German, it might be good to know that just about everybody in the tourist trade in Alsace can speak German as well. (The Alsatian dialect itself is closer to Schweizerdeutsch spoken in nearby Switzerland.)

It looks like Colmar and Strasbourg are within about 1.5 hours for you. The former is a small charming town with one great museum while Strasbourg is a city with a ton of things to see/do that will have something for everyone.

Be aware that this area (alsace) has gone back and forth between France and Germany - so many things there look more german than french - and the food is unique.

colmar and Strasbourg yeh - sweet - either one - Colmar is smaller and thus more manageable on a day trip - Strasbourg is huge and kind of overwhelming for just a half day or so there.

Colmar is a lot closer to the Black Forest area than Strasbourg and much esier to access with a car and find parking, etc.

<i> (The Alsatian dialect itself is closer to Schweizerdeutsch spoken in nearby Switzerland.)</i>

The Alsatian Germanic dialect is closer to Alemannisch spoken in the Black Forest than almost any dialect in Switzerland.

"Assuming you speak German, it might be good to know that just about everybody in the tourist trade in Alsace can speak German as well."

Here in Basel, it's common for people to mix the two, a bit ironically. My Alsace colleagues are fond of saying "Je ne weiss pas"

As for speaking German, none of us do. Sounds like Colmar may do the trick for us. Is there anything in Colmar that we should see?

I loved Colmar. It's a lovely town for walking around, with a street plan that has all kinds of twists and turns. (I didn't drive there, only walked. Getting lost as a pedestrian was part of the fun.)

The notable museum there is the Unterlinden, which (as a non-art lover, non-museum person) was probably not a good use of my time. If you're a big fan of the Statue of Liberty, you could check out the little Bartholdi museum (Bartholdi, who was from Colmar, was the artist responsible for the Statue). I saw that museum too - almost everything is in French, and there isn't much to see. You can see some sketches and history of the Statue and a few of the artist's other works.

Many would insist you have a proper Alsacian meal in Colmar, but I didn't.

Thanks Andrew. I'm not a museum person either, so I guess it'll be take in the sights and eat a little Alsacian fare....whatever that may be

The Alsacian dialect is closer to that of Basel and the Markgraeflerland than to that spoken in the Black Forest valleys.
But there are local differences: the dialects of Sundgau are somewhat different from those spoken at Alsace Bossue/Nordvogese.

The works in the Unterlinden Museum should be finished in May and the Issenheimer Altar will then come back into the musesum.

Weisser Tee:
chasse mer der lapin ussem jardin uese, sunscht frisst er am Aend no der épinard!

Well, this doesn't really concern the non-German speaking visitors in question, but even my friends from Zürich were delighted with the Alsatian dialect, which they found very similar to their own language.

Bruce1701, you and you family will be able to visit a number of the Alsatian towns on your day trip.

While it is a little farther away, you might want to go as far as Mulhouse which has the best automobile museum in the world and also an amazing train museum -- not the same as looking at paintings on a wall.

There's some good information on the Colmar Tourist Office site, including a page where you can order or download a city map, accommodations and restaurant information and brochures about places to visit.

http://www.ot-colmar.fr/en/

In a slightly different vein, you might want to look into a family trip to Europa Park, one of the principal theme parks in Europe.

http://www.europapark.de/en

<I>*runs away before being stoned by other members of the forum*</I>

Great idea kerouac - the adults could park the younguns in the park and say go explore and savor a French or German town nearby - kids will enjoy a European theme park in many cases more than some town!