Our Strasbourg Itinerary
 

Hello,

I have mapped out a Strasbourg itinerary for a three night stay. I was hoping some of you could take a look at it and give me some feedback. While I realize we can't see and do everything, I am hoping we are getting a nice 'taste' of what's available.

Day 1 - We will arrive from Gengenbach Germany in the early a.m. After dropping our luggage at the Hotel Guttenberg we will have the whole day to explore.

*Cathedral de Notre Dame
*Petite France
* Bataroma Canal Tour

Day 2 - Pearls of Alsace tour with Orphous
The 9 hour tour includes:
Colmar, Equisheim, Riquewihr, Haut Koenigsbourg Castle
Lunch will be at Riquewihr and a wine tasting will be in Equisheim

Day 3
We will rent a car on this day and explore on our own:

Le Struthof Concentration Camp
Obernai
Mont Sainte Odile Convent

We are open to other stops as time permits.

Day 4
A.M. - Open

P.M. - Take the train to Paris

What have we missed? Does my plan provided a good 'taste' of what Strasbourg has to offer?

Thanks in advance for reading and your feedback.

There are some museums in Strasbourg worth seeing, notably the History Museum, the Musee Alsacien and the Musee de l'Oeuvre Notre-Dame (if it's reopened), plus the town is a good place for just wandering around admiring the buildings.

It looks very well balanced to me, and I'm glad you're going to get to Obernai. I love that place.

Just be aware that a one-day car rental normally costs about the same as a 3-day rental, so isn't a bargain.

And if you have time, pop into Zuem Strissel in Strasbourg - famous old wine bar in the old quarter.

Thank you Thursday. I have the Musee Alsacien on my list and hope we can work it in on our last morning.

Thanks for the Zuem Strissel recommendation StCirq. :D
It looks great!

As for the car cost, I guess we will just 'bite the bullet' and pay the fee since we don't really need a car for three days or the hassle of parking. I appreciate the warning.

Besides Strissel I recommend La Cloche a Fromage - has a truly amazing collection of cheese. Click on my name for my Wanders South TR that starts in Strasbourg. And make dinner reservations if you're there on the weekend.

Just be aware that a one-day car rental normally costs about the same as a 3-day rental, so isn't a bargain.>

Good advice from StCirq - why not rent for three days and do Colmar and the Alsace Wine Strasse and those little villages on your own - saving hundreds of bucks over tours and meandering at your own pace - that one day tour packs so so much in it will all be a blur - consider doing it in a few days on your own - maybe stay in Colmar one night or one of those sweet little wine villages.

In Colmar don't miss the copy of the Statue of Liberty that stands at one entrance to the town - the original was made here and then shipped in pieces to New York - there is also a museum in town to the sculptor.

Rent a car for three days and meander at your own pace perhaps. Less can indeed be more.

I think the museums were my favorite thing in Strasbourg, notably the Alsacien and the Rohan Palace. Day 1 doesn't have that much going on, plenty of extra time there. I doubt if I've ever spent over 30-45 minutes in any cathedral, and the boat trip only takes about an hour. My hotel was in the Petite France area so I was around there at night and walked around it a little bit, but while it's a cute quarter and worth a walk about, there really isn't anything there that takes up any time that I can recall.

Thanks Thursday. I will add La Cloche a Fromage to my list and check out your trip report.

PalenQ, I will talk to the Mr about renting the car for three days, but I am not sure he will go for it. I had to 'beg' for him to drive on the one. :)

I was thinking the same thing Christina. I feel certain we can work in at least one of the museums on day one.

I am enjoying all the input. Thanks everyone! :)

Tell him that it will save money perhaps and that once out of Strasbourg the going is easy - I've biked from Strasbourg to Colmar and along the Alsace Wine Road - a piece of cake - or ditch the car all together and use the extra day to say take the train somewhere - like Basel, Switzerland or like we did to Baden-Baden, Germany - a glorious spa town - but you will already have been there perhaps.

Anyway I can understand not wanting to drive but I've driven all over France many times and biked all over - stick to back roads and you'll have little traffic - Strasbourg is a big city however so you best leave on a weekend or non-rush hour hours.

Like St-Cirq says a one-day car rental could cost as much as a 3-day one. Maybe stay two days in a cute wine village and meander slowly from there and two days in Strasbourg itself.

We enjoyed seeing Kaysersberg and the Musee Albert Schweitzer. This town has significant WWII history too.A shopkeeper was so friendly and told us of a battle involving US Armed Forces that took place right behind his shop.

I fully agree with PQ
I would merge the tour day with the car day and spend these 2 days basically seeing what the tour leopard at your pace.
But I am prejudiced against tours.
Mvg

With the car, you might enjoy driving to Baden Baden.

And Freiburg.

Don't forget these, for a taste of Strasbourg:

1) find a weinstube in the old town

2) eat tarte a l'oignon

3) drink Gewurtztraminer in a wine glass with a green stem

4) find 8 other friends and order a giant choucroute garnie with the pig's tail elegantly draped across the mountain of mild, delicious sauerkraut and sausages

Yum!

Thanks everyone!

I appreciate all the great advice and insight you have shared with me.
I am taking lots of notes. :)

Can you recommend a place to rent a car so I can get some pricing on one day verses three day car rentals?

Europcar has an agency just opposite the train station.
No idea about tariffs my boss was paying

Contact AutoEurope, a broker in the USA that has numerous affiliates in France. EuropCar is probably one of their affiliates in Strasbourg. Before I moved here I did probably 200 rentals with them all over Europe and have the highest regard for them. Among other things, they have a 24/7 free telephone line you can use to call them from anywhere in Europe and get assistance. Plus roadside assistance, plus great customer service. No, I don't work for them, have just been a very happy customer for more than 3 decades.

DO call them so you can ask questions of a human. Renting a car simply on the internet, IMO, is never a wise idea.

AutoEurope has a 3-day minimum (but it is generally worth if even if you only keep the car 2 days).

Great info!

Thanks Pariswat, StCirq, and Kerouac.

I will check into AutoEurope. :O)

Geez. Sorry about the cheesy clown Emoji! I was going for a smiley face...