Strasbourg or Colmar?
 

Which would you recommend for a few days in May and why? We may or may not have a car. Any hotel recommendations centrally located for under $100 for a double? Thanks.

Of the two, I'd recommend Strasbourg. And you should get a car.<BR><BR>Better than either of these would be St. Hippolyte or Oberkirch (Germany) - - about 20 miles east of Strasbourg. See www.oberkirch.de for lots of lodging choices.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Vote for Strasbourg, also. Hotel du Rohan is great; doubles are from 92-122 euros. It is a 3 star, prettily decorated, could not be better located--right across from the cathedral on pedestrian street. www.hotel-rohan.com

Why Strasbourg? I thought Colmar was supposed to be nicer??? <BR>Thanks

Strasbourg. Stay at the hotel Regent Contades you will love it. Eat tarte flambe. See the cathedral. Lovely city

This is interesting! I, too, thought Colmar was supposed to be nicer. Those of you who recommended Strasbourg, have you been to both? Why do you think Strasbourg is better?

I recommend Strasbourg also - it's bigger, has a better selection of attractions and restaurants, caf&eacute;s, etc., and it lacks that super-preciousness that Colmar has, IMO. From Strasbourg you can easily traverse the Route du Vin and see Colmar as well as many lovely little towns enroute, and you can hop over into Germany, Freiburg in particular, for a nice day trip.

This is interesting-for a few days and if you were to stay in ONE place, Strasbourg makes sense. But I think you will have missed the charm of the Alsace if you don't travel south(most of a solid hour by car) to Colmar and the other very unique towns. I think a car is essential in this area in order to move about at your own pace on the Route du Vins. The problem is most of the towns and Colmar can be explored in a day or less and three days in any ONE place would be too long. Stasbourg is a big city with lots of shopping, restaurants and sights, completly different from the rural and small time atmospheres of Kayserberg, Ribeauville, Riquewehr and others. But remember, its no fun to have to head all the way back to Strasbourg after wining and dining in the Colmar area.

I have been to both as well, but prefer Strasbourg to stay in. It is basically as StCirq states. Sue, thanks for the note on Hotel Du Rohan. I have seen it and wondered about it. Great location!<BR>cheers!

I've stayed in both. Colmar is not one of France's more appealing towns....which might explain the lack of comment re Colmar (as in" if you have nothing nice to say..."etc).<BR>As noted above, the wine route between the two cities is very appealing, if you want to cross over to Germany, Baden Baden can be an entertaining destination for a brief stop. Best of all,( for some ) Strasbourg is only about 25 min. from Illhaeusern and the<BR>great restaurant " Auberge de L'Ill",<BR>3 Michelin stars and a charming location on the river. It's a great spot for lunch.<BR> You really should have a car to do justice to this area.

topping

I second Paul's opinion. If you want the real Alsatian charm, you should visit some of the smaller cities south of Strasbourg. <BR>The Petite France area in Strasbourg is quite scenic but not with the same atmosphere than e.g. Obernai, Colmar, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr, ...

ttt

Just got back from France and one of the areas we visited was the Alsace. We stayed in Colmar and day tripped to Strasbourg. We preferred Colmar to Strasbourg for a no. of reasons. It is smaller, however the "old town" seemed larger than the Petit France section of Stras. In other words, we found the whole town charming vs. just a section of Strasb. However, the cathedral in Stras. is beautiful - on the outside, especially. Colmar was big enough to explore w/o the business of a city. We did not do museums in either place, so I can't comment on the quality or availability of them. We got lost on the wine trail heading s. from Stras. Leaving Stras. we would have thought there would be a sign out of the city leading you to it. The trail seems better marked if you start off on it going from south to north. We, personally, wouldn't bother w/ the wine towns in the Strasb. area, b/c the ones closer to Colmar were more interesting/charming. Maybe when one stays in a particular place whether it be Stras. or Colmar you become more familiar with it and it becomes "home." You therefore get to know it better and develop a preference for it. I also suppose if one has a preference for a city vs. a large town or vice versa that would weigh in on your decision of which is better Stras. or Colmar.

I enjoyed both places, but if you are interested in painting, the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar houses Grunewald's Isenheim Altarpiece. Viewing the altarpiece in that intimate museum is an extraordinary experience.<BR><BR>I seem to recall that we stayed in Strasbourg and took a train to Colmar for a day trip. Is that possible? (It was many years ago).

Yes, Julie, that is possible because I think there is a train every hour between the 2 places.