We will be in Paris in Oct. We have been to Paris several times before and are thinking of visiting Strasbourg as a day trip from Paris. TGV trian is about 2hours 15 min. An early morning train will get us to Strasbourg by 10:30AM. We would have time to see a few highlights, walk about, have a meal and take an 8PM train back to Paris.

The reason I am reluctant to stay overnight is that we will already have visited Rouen and Normandy and I'm trying to avoid another change of hotel.

Our itinerary looks like
Overnight flight to Paris
2 nights Paris
Train to Rouen and 1 night Rouen
rent car in Rouen, drive to Caen for museum and stay 1 night in Bayeaux
Visit Normandy battlefields (with tour), return car in Bayeaux or Caen and train back to Paris
5-6 nights Paris including a day trip to Strasbourg.

I would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.

Thanks

I think it is just a personal decision about what you want to do on your vacation, how much you want to see a place, and how much time you are willing to invest in doing that.

Personally, I kind of have a rule for day trips that any place I want to see that is within 2 hrs (one way) of where I'm staying is worth it. I've stretched that a little for special occasions up to maybe 2.5 hrs one way, but that would probalby be the only day trip I'd do on that trip (if I'm staying in a city a week or less). That still gives you most of a day to see a place, if you get there by 11 am and then leave very late afternoon or around 6 or even 7 pm. The time you have allocated seem more than enough to me, more than enough to see a few highlights, you can see the main things in Strasbourg in that time frame.

Ultimately, it's just up to you, not sure what anyone can tell you that you don't know already.

If I had your kind of background, I would allocate a lot more days in Alsace area in general. You have already been to Paris several times and you plan to spend at least 2+5=7 more nights this time. And in the future you would probably spend many more times in Paris. You have to decide if you really want to continue to allocate so much time in Paris at the expense of other destinations.

Also why split your stay in Paris?

The reason we are splitting our time in Paris is that after an overnight flight, I would prefer not to have the added trek of getting to Rouen either by car from CDG or train into Paris and then train to Rouen. Having a day or two in Paris before heading to Rouen is more my pace. I also have a preference to end our trip in Paris-- no reason, just my preference.

Your plan sounds good to me! You can have a good look around Strausbourg in the time allotted. Enjoy! CJ

I don't know when your overnight flight arrives in Paris. Suppose you head straight to your accommodations in Paris. Can you check in? If not, what are you going to do?
Compare this to heading straight to Strasbourg by train upon landing. It is a 2:31 to 3:17 trip depending on departure time. You still have days before heading to Rouen by car. You are still ending your trip in Paris.

To just answer your question: yes, it is very doable and would be enjoyable as well. Obviously, one day visit is not optimal, but if that's what you decide, it will still be time well spent.

The quality of the experience will depend on how much you've researched what you want to see and do, know opening/closing times etc.

You can see a lot of Strasbourg via the boat tours. If you spend half the time at the Cathedral area and half the time in Little France you will have done well.

My family and I took this exact same day trip two winters ago to spend the day exploring Strasbough's Christmas market. It was a long day, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Since we were staying for a week in an apartment in Paris, we didn't want to incur the added expense of spending a night in Strasbourg.