Should we forego Strasbourg?
 

On my draft itinerary for France is two days in Strasbourg, arriving there by train from Lyon.

Given it will be a near 4 hour train journey, I am debating whether to perhaps forego Strasbourg altogether so as to instead spend time elsewhere (i.e. 2 days in Dijon instead, or perhaps an extra day here and there).

What drew me to include Strasbourg in the first place is that Alsace is so distinct from other places in France, with one person describing it to me as Canada's Quebec equivalent in France, a region that has its own distinct culture and people.

For those that have been to Strasbourg, is it better left for another time or is it worth at least getting a taste of Strasbourg despite it being a bit out of the way?

It sounds like you would only visit Strasbourg, not the nearby wine villages. It is a beautiful city.
This area has gone back and forth from being German to French so the culture is different from other areas of France. Wait until you can also visit the villages.

If we were to go, it would likely be to spend one whole day in Strasbourg itself and then another seeing either Colmar, Riquewihr or Eguishiem (or maybe two if we had time).

See attached

Stu Dudley

Where will ou end your trip?
There are direct trains from Strasbourg to CDG.

we would either be going from Strasbourg to Paris or Lyon but either stop would be for at least a few days

My two cents: Strasbourg was somewhat interesting. But it did NOT light my candle. It was only when I went further south, and then west, that I fully appreciated that which France has to offer.

Dijon is no match for Strasbourg.

And when you are in Strasbourg, it is less than 2 hours by TGV to get to Paris.

I actually prefer Dijon over Strasbourg. This September we will spend several days in both cities - so I'll get a "new" and more current look.

Attached is my Lyon itinerary.

Stu Dudley

Alsace is a delight, Strasbourg has a very pretty centre with some very pleasant burbs. Lyons is a whole city. I'd rather spend an hour in Alsace than 2 days in Lyons, but then I'm not so big on food, especially meat.

Yes, it's the eating and drinking that do not really appeal to me even though I do both in considerable quantity. But they are at the bottom of my list for choosing a city to visit. There are certain cities around the world where I have been known to eat fast food almost exclusively (NYC and Sydney come to mind).

Hi Stu,

I have read over your notes from Provence, Alsace and Lyon - excellent resources, thank you very much for sharing them.

I note that you found the villages of Alsace to be a bit repetitive and similar (notwithstanding that they are very charming and picturesque).

I understand that Colmar and Eguishiem are quite close together (Riquewihr being a little bit further north) - do you think it would be possible to see both in one day (or perhaps whether just one is necessary)? I am a fast paced traveller and I can get a little irksome about spending too much time in some places (i.e. I found Cologne in Germany to be rather dull after a full day exploring) hence I am a bit worried about perhaps staying too long in one place.

In light of your comment regarding the surrounding towns and that my stay in Alsace will not be a particularly long one anyway, my thought at the moment is to perhaps spend a full day in Strasbourg and a full day exploring the nearby towns. I do have an extra day that I am tossing between whether I allocate it to Toulouse, Lyon or Strasbourg but my thoughts are perhaps to add the day in Lyon so as to possibly allow a day trip to Beaune.

I would just combine Strasbourg with a partial day trip to Obernai, which is just a short commuter train ride, about 20 minutes.

You can visit many of the smaller villages in 1 day. Strasbourg could even be seen in 3/4 day & Colmar in half day. If you don't move fast & don't dawdle. A lot depends on how many museums you visit.

Toulouse is quite far away.

See my attached Languedoc itinerary

Stu Dudley

Could you perhaps post your whole itinerary so we can see how Strasbourg fits in?

I enjoyed Strasbourg enough the first time that I went back. Colmar is an easy side trip from Strasbourg, but maybe only rates a half day. If you are headed to Paris after Strasbourg and have any interest in Art Nouveau I would allocate a day to Nancy.

Just for reference, here is one of my trips to Strasbourg: Strasbourg in September (by kerouac2) | Any Port in a Storm (proboards.com)

What about non-town/city sites. Just walk up the Vosges, especially near the southern end, see the WW1 slit trenches along the top ridge often only feet from the enemy. Look at the Alps.

You mention three places outside of Strasbourg and plan to pick two of them. Eliminate Colmar from the list and visit the other two charming wine villages.

I posted my first draft a few weeks ago but we are tinkering it.

For our French portion of the trip we are looking at 2 possibly 3 days in Toulouse, 3 days in Provence (using Avignon as our base as we will not have a car), 3 days in Lyon, 2 days in Strasbourg and then 4 days in Paris.

We won’t be hiring a car so I don’t think it’ll be feasible to visit many smaller locations nor do we have time to deviate that far from the places on our list. Hoping to return to France though, just not sure how soon it’ll be.

Colmar seemed to be higher up on some of the ‘must see’ lists I’ve looked out. Out of curiosity, what makes you say to cut it out in favour of Eguishiem and Riquewihr (noting anyway I will probably do 2 of the 3 but haven’t decided which yet).

How had you planned to get to the small wine villages like Riquewihr, Eguishiem, Obernai etc. without a car???? The train station in Riquewihr is quite a ways out of town. I suppose you could hire a driver or take a bus to these villages - but that's a lot of trouble. I would just visit Strasbourg & Colmar - 30 mins apart by train. Finding car/bus etc for a 30-45 min visit to Riquewihr or Obernai, or Eguisheim isn't worth it, IMO. I suppose you could find a group "village hopping tour" from Strasbourg that drops off the "group" for 45 mins in each village. But if you are the type of person who likes exploring on your own - that would be awful.

Same with Toulouse & Albi - 1 hr apart by train.

Stu Dudley

You have mentioned "days" when visiting locations. But are those full days??? They don't include the part of the day getting from Lyon to Strasbourg?? So your 2 days in Strasbourg is really 3 nights???

If so, a good plan would be to wake up the morning after you arrive (from Lyon?) and visit Strasbourg for a half day. Then take the commuter train mentioned by Kerouac and go to Obernai for the remainder of the day. Then return to Strasbourg and wander around on the way to dinner to see more of Strasbourg.

Next morning take the 30 min train to Colmar. Spend a half day there. Then either return to Strasbourg, or hire a taxi/something to get to Eguishiem. Visit & Return to Colmar & take the train back to Strasbourg to visit more.

Eguishiem doesn't seem to have a train station and the one in Riquewihr is far from town. I don't know about buses.

This might be helpful
https://www.getalsaced.com/how-to-ge...out-a-car.html


Stu Dudley .

I hadn't yet looked into Eguishiem and Riquewihr but saw they were connected by train to Strasbourg hence thought they may be doable. Though I do think perhaps we will just focus on Strasbourg and Colmar.

Regarding days, 2 days for me means 1 night - we will be travelling from city to city either in the early morning or evening, so for example (just off the top of my head without yet looking at the timetables), we'd look to leave Lyon late at night so as to start the next day in Strasbourg, or early in the morning so as to arrive before or just shortly after things begin to open for the day.

Wow - we travel differently.

Trains from Lyon to Strasbourg depart at 4pm (which leaves you with a half-day in Lyon) and arrives at 8PM. Or departs at 6PM & arrives at 10:00PM (this is a Friday schedule). Innkeepers are not going to be happy with you arriving that late. And maybe taxis at the train station will be scarce.

Or you could depart from the Part Dieu Lyon station at 8:30AM & arrive in Lyon at 12:30PM for a 1/3 day in Strasbourg (allow 1 hr to take taxi/walk to hotel & check in). You probably won't be staying close to the Part Dieu station & will need a taxi to get there (we did). So you need to depart the hotel around 7AM.

Trains depart for Avignon at 1:30PM & arrive at 7PM, and also departs at 4:13PM & arrive at 9PM. So your second day in Alsace is a half-day or 2/3 day.

I don't think the itinerary I suggested will work.

I could not locate any train stations in Riquewihr or Eguisheim. What is your source??

Stu Dudley

You mention three places outside of Strasbourg and plan to pick two of them. Eliminate Colmar from the list and visit the other two charming wine villages.

You mention three places outside of Strasbourg and plan to pick two of them. Eliminate Colmar from the list and visit the other two charming wine villages. We did care to spend much time in Colmar after we arrived.

""For those that have been to Strasbourg, is it better left for another time or is it worth at least getting a taste of Strasbourg despite it being a bit out of the way?''

No brainer!!!!

If you are only staying for 1 night in Strasbourg, it is not worth 8 hrs on the train to get there & then on to Avignon, versus the 1 1/4 hrs to get from Lyon to Avignon, IMO.

Stu Dudley

Re your other reply - my apologies, it was busses not trains (I mis-read the symbols on google maps). We'd be going Lyon -> Strasbourg -> Paris but having thought about it more, I am thinking perhaps we just do Strasbourg as a day trip from Paris instead - my understanding is it is a 2 hour journey with regular daily departures and from what I have read, we may be able to manage a bit in a day. I would like to see Europe over Christmas time so perhaps a lengthy stay in Alsace is on the cards for an eventual Christmas trip.

If you want to book accommodations in Alsace at Christmas, it is already time to start thinking about specific plans.

I'm currently planning my trip for June 2023 - I am hoping to return to Europe in 2024 sometime after September and if it turns out to be a Christmas trip I will be planning it well in advance regardless - I am a planner by nature so I tend to organise everything well in advance :)

In June, I would definitely skip Strasbourg, which I actually do like, and instead see more of Provence which I really, really, really like! What travel time saved can go to more sightseeing in Provence. I would stay a couple of nights in Aix and one other place. Mine would be Aigue Mortes, but it is no so easy without a car. There are buses, some direct, some slow. As long as you are careful reading the times they work well though.

Bus timetables in the area need to be studied closely. Many routes are just similar to school buses but with public access with lots of use at 8 am and 3 pm.

If I wanted to go to a village without trains I'd take a train to Colmar, hire a bicycle and ride to it. But given your type of travel I don't see that as going to fit in.

Sorry. ignore this. I now remember your itinerary. This advice/suggestion does not fit your travel style at all.

Now that I understand that your 4 days in Paris is really only 3 to 3 1/2 days (unless you are counting departure day also - then it is 2 1/2 to 3 days), why would you go to Strasbourg on 1 of those "too few" days in Paris?????

Assuming you are not staying near the Gare d'Est, you need to depart for the Gare at 8:00am to catch the 9:25 train to Strasbourg which arrives at 11:11. Then you'll depart Strasbourg at 4:17pm & get back to Paris at 6:05pm, and get to your hotel at 6:45. Rush to dinner.

Not worth it, IMO.

Stu Dudley

Exactly Stu,

I just had 4 days in Paris, where I have been many times before and it was nothing like long enough to do all the things I wanted to do. I can't imagine taking a whole day out to spend at least 6 hours going somewhere else for just what amounts to half a day.

I should note, in respect of any day trips, I wouldn't bother with a day trip only to be in one place for 5 hours - I'd be taking an earlier departure and later departure to the times noted above and have done similar trips and felt content with them. Personally I have no issues doing 4 hours of return travel in a day to see some place but I appreciate it isn't everyone's cup of tea. I am a 20 something who does not have the financial resources to devote months to travelling so as to see everything (and in depth) and I am sure that there will be a time at which my current plans may seem ludicrous even to myself. Anyway, there is definitely some research to be had as to whether I will do Strasbourg in a day from Paris or over 2 days on its own. Thanks everyone for the feedback.