Strasbourg France
 

My husband and I are planning on spending 7 days in Strasbourg & Colmar this fall. We are thinking of 3 nights in Strasbourg & 4 nights in Colmar, doing short day trips from each via train. We are considering renting a car for a day or two in Colmar to hit some of the small villages not accessible by train. Any recommendations for airbnb / vrbo apartments in either city? Any pointers for must-see sites, pubs or restaurants along the way? Any tips on the best transportation from one point to another would be fantastic too! Cheers!!

We stayed in Strasbourg for 3 nights each visit, lovely small city. If you do the boat cruise you will see other areas worthy of later exploration by foot. I liked the palace, it's right by the river and cathedral. Most tourists are in the canal area, which is really picturesque, but the city has lots of nice parks, riverside walks and wonderful buildings.
We did a day tour by minivan of the villages, rather than drive. Really enjoyed it.
Our day trip to the amazing car museum in Mulhouse was an easy train ride, then tram (stops right in front of museum). Stopped in Colmar on the return to Strasbourg, I would have liked a day or 2 there, gorgeous town.
To get to the Haut Koenigsbourg we took the train to Selestat, there's a shuttle bus that takes passengers to the castle. Very easy. In our case, the train was late, so we missed the shuttle and wandered around Selestat a bit, so glad that happened as this is another nice town, a little local market was on, it certainly wasn't one of the 'cute' more touristed towns, but very interesting, nice architecture and a lovely stroll.

We spent a week in Alsace in 2014 and loved the small villages, I would definitely rent a car to explore.

We stayed in Riquewihr and loved it, Colmar we thought was ok but preferred the smaller towns out in the vineyards.

Our pics are here https://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]

if you get to mulhouse, visit the paper museum as well

I'm not clear on what you are asking about best transportation method between some place--do you mean between Strasbourg and Colmar? It's a short train ride.

I don't know why you'd need an apt if there are only two of you and you are only staying 3 days or so, but that's up to you. You will have issues with security deposits and possibly arrival and departure times and probably elevators, if that matters. At least legality isn't such an issue, I'd just make sure the location is convenient.

IMHO this is an area that calls for having a car - so you can drive at your leisure between Strasbourg (worth at least 3 days with all its sights and museums) Colmar (2 days) and some of the small wine towns (would probably stay in one and drive around the others). You can even do some of that by bike if you want.

One thing we really loved was the stork sanctuary - they are incredible!

Colmar is very pretty, but there is far more to do and see in Strasbourg, IME.

I'd not stay in Colmar, but instead in one of the little villages, up to you

The Vosges mountains have a fair bit to do, a concentration camp, castle, walks on the ridge, localc cheeses.

You can hire a bike ride through the vinyards.