Nancy, Alsace and... more Alsace or ?
 

Hello-
I will be driving with my mother and sister from Brussels into France next week. We have six days (Tues-Sunday). So far, the plan is to drive to Nancy the first day (with a stop at the Abbaye d'Orval). I have a hotel reservation in Nancy for that night and then have a reservation for two nights in Selestat. I've been to Strasbourg before so we're planning on spending our time in the small towns along the Route du Vin. I haven't booked Friday and Saturday night yet because I am not sure if we'll want more time in Alsace or if at a certain point the small villages, as charming as they seem, may become a bit repetitive. I know it is a personal decision, but I am curious as to how others have felt after spending a few days in the area....ready to move on or hungry for more? I've always wanted to see Annecy but that seems too far to add to this trip. I was considering Freiburg, Zurich or Luzern. We could also just start heading back to Brussels and stop in Trier or Luxembourg City. I've been to parts of Burgundy already such as Beaune, Dijon, Montrachet, Nuits St. Georges so I was not considering that area. We like walking through cities and towns to view the architecture, enjoying the local cuisine, interesting museums/historical sites, and doing some shopping. We'll also try to visit at least one vineyard for a wine tasting. Would love to hear any suggestions on how to round out the trip. Thanks!

How much do you like Art Nouveau? If you're a fan, you might want longer in Nancy. I spent three nights, and wasn't sorry. (See: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ern-france.cfm )

You should stop in Metz, also. The St. Etienne cathedral is magnificent, there is a lot of interesting Prussian architecture that you won't see anywhere else in France (the train station district is stunning), and the new annex of the Pompidou Center is opening this month.

Wow..what a report, thursdaysd! I had read a great NY Times article about Nancy, which inspired me to visit: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/07/29.../29dayout.html

I enjoy Art Nouveau architecture (Brussels is an amazing place to discover it), but when I mentioned Nancy to two friends (one French, one Belgian), they could not understand why I would go there so I didn't plan a long visit.

kerouac...thanks for the Metz suggestion. I had heard the cathedral was amazing, but hadn't researched the city much so it's great to know there are other interesting things to do. I'll have to investigate a bit more. Thanks again.

Hi; I think if you are returning back to Brussels, you don't want to go south, say from Metz. Metz was a good suggestion and you could then consider going to Reims, just south of Brussels. Trier or Luxembourg would work. Richard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reims

I would not drive further south.

Luxembourg and Trier (both can easily be combined) are right on your way back to Brussels and both are worthy destinations.

You can either stay in Trier or in Luxembourg or in between in one of the wine villages on the Saar or on the upper Mosel. On the Saar, Mettlach might be an interesting diversion (Villeroy&Boch, good opportunities for factory shopping). On the Mosel, there is one of my favourite hotels:

http://www.victors.de/englisch/hotel...rt=Perl-Nennig

It has a 3-Michelin-star restaurant where I enjoyed the best meal of my life (and I have eaten at quite a few 3-star-restaurants before and after).

Hi Coll,

I think Nancy is worth at least 2 nights.

Alsace is worth a week.

See my trip reports for details:
Ira Visits Zurich, The Bodensee, Alsace and Paris – May 2008
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=35136218

Ira Visits Europe – May, 2007 (Salzburg, Fuessen, Bodensee, Burgundy, Alsace)
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...2&tid=35014078

((I))

Ihave spent quite some time meandering around the villages on the route du vin - Kaysersberg, Riquewhir, Ribeauvillé to name a few. Ribeauvillé is the nicest, I think with some good restaurants. It also has a great factory outlet right outside the town - Beauvillé fabrics, where you can pick up wonderful table linens etc. at really good prices. You will be in Alsace at a good time of year, with the lilacs in bloom. I would spend my extra days on the route du vin and in Colmar if I were you. Sélestat is also a nice place with a good Relais et Château hotel, but I can't remember its name!!

The castle at Haut Königsberg is worth a visit and the view from there is wonderful.

Another place to visit on your trip is the Maginot Line at Biche. (Nearer to Nancy than Sélestat) You can take a tour of the underground fortifications and it is very impressive...

Just a quick post to say thanks again for all of the suggestions. We had a really nice trip despite horrendous weather. Cold and rainy most of the time. The almost 3 whole days in Alsace was enough given the poor weather--had it been nicer, we easily could have filled a couple more days. We didn't get to Haut Konigsberg this trip because there was very little visibility so we decided it skip it. I loved all of the little towns...it's hard to pick a favorite.

Ira--I printed out a couple of your trip reports and as we'd be riding around and see something, we'd ask whoever was holding the trip notes--what did Ira say about that?!

As it turned out, we all LOVED Nancy. Place Stanislas is breathtaking. There was some scaffolding up on one building so I don't know if it just underwent an extensive cleaning, but it sparkled it was so clean. We really enjoyed the art nouveau architecture, the Beaux Arts museum and the Parc de la Pepiniere. We easily could have added another day there, too. In the end, we did a short stop in Metz on the way back to see the Cathedral and got back to Brussels one day early. Thanks again for your suggestions!

Hi Coll - thanks for reporting back! Nice to see another Nancy fan.

So sorry about the weather. We've finally got gorgeous, to die for, weather but it took many weeks before it got here.

Most of Europe was sick of the cold, rain, typical Washington State weather too.

Hi Coll,

Pleased to have been of help.

Too bad about the weather.

((I))