Paris to Colmar by Car...Best Route/Stops along the way?
 

Hello - I''m traveling from Paris to Colmar (this week!) and am looking for any suggestions on how to break up the long drive by visiting towns/villages along the way. There are a few different itineraries to take...but I have no idea which might be the most charming or pleasant to visit this time of year. Any suggestions on which route/villages to stop in would be most appreciated!

1) thru Reims/Metz/Strasbourg
2) thru Auxerre/Beune/Besancon
3)thru Reims/St Dizier/Toul/Baccarat

How long do you have to do this drive? Are you trying to get to Colmar the same day, the next day, several days later? It's a 6 hour non-stop drive (longer w/stops) from Paris to Colmar and days are short with sunrise around 8:30AM and sunset around 5:00PM.

If you are doing this in one day th emost you have time for is to get off th ehighway and have lunch - unless you want to be driving in the dark in a strange area.

If you have multiple stops along the way there are a host of options. How many days and what are your interests?

sorry, didn't specify! looking to do it in one day (or 3/4 day). As you said, something that is along one of the above mentioned routes, likely just off the freeway. A place to have lunch or a little walk around. Any advice on which route might be most pleasant? Thanks!

If you use www.viamichelin.com you'll see the quickest driving route takes you on the N4 east out of Paris to Nancy. There aren't great places of interest along this route with the exception of Nancy. If you stopped for something to eat in Nancy you'd still have about a 1 hour 40 minute drive left.

The next quickest route would take you on the A5 to the A31 autoroutes and the last portion of the drive would be on smaller roads. Again, not much of interest on this drive on the autoroute portion. You would pass near Troyes but that would be nearer to the start of your trip. Near to the end on this route you might stop in Vittel to eat. This would still leave you with almost a 3 hour drive to Colmar.

I forgot to add that you could also do the route you proposed through Beaune and stop in Beaune for lunch. This would leave with about 3 hours of driving after Beaune. Or you could drive another hour after Beaune and stop in Besançon.

Depending on the time you have, Troyes could be a stop, and of course Ronchamp. In between there are small relatively unknwon villages, as seen between the two aforementioned sights:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...th/4861325114/

We stopped in Nancy on our way to Colmar.
We ate our lunch at the historical, beautiful,
Brasserie L'Excelsior

thanks all for the ideas and advice. We ended up taking the route through Nancy on the way to Colmar, and passing through Strasbourg on the way back.

Loved Colmar, incredibly charming. Thanks again!