Hello. In the summer of 2007 my husband, two teenage sons and I are planning a trip to France to meet & visit with a family who lives in Mulhouse France (internet pen pals). Has anyone spent much time in this area, and if so can you give us some advice about where to stay and what to do and see in this part of Europe? We'll be close to Germany and Switzerland, and would love to spend a little time there as well. We'll probably only have a couple of weeks total. We're total rookies, speak only English (although we're working on trying to learn a little French), and will be traveling on a budget, so we're looking for help as we begin to plan this big adventure. We plan to also visit Paris, and so aren't sure about where to fly into and out of, if we should rent a car to get from area to area or strictly use public transportation, etc. Thanks for sharing you knowledge and expertise.

One of the main things to know about Mulhouse is that it has several world-class industrial museums (automobile, railway....)

Mulhouse has been badly damaged during WWII and has been hastily rebuilt in the 50's . There is not much left from the past, and it's a industrial city.
If you are in the area, Colmar is much prettier

The highlight of one of our trips to France was a planned stop in Mulhouse to visit the fantastic Schlump Museum (aka: The French National Motor Museum).

Whether or not, you are a European car buffs (we are), your family will enjoy this jewel of a car museum. It is laid out beautifully and has a nice little restaurant. Your DH and your teenage sons should love it an you will not find it boring. I'm sure that your friends are planning to take you there - as from what I remember of the City, there wasn't much else there. Of course this was about 15 years ago and the museum was the only reason that we were there.

We only spent the day there as we made the planned detour just for the museum.

It has an interesting history and the largest collection of Bugattis (sp) in the world I believe.

Google the Schlump Museum, Mulhouse and read the interesting story about the Schlump Brothers, Hans & Fritz, and how assembled the vast collection and then lost it to the French Government before they could open their museum.

Have a marvelous trip. You have plenty of time to learn a little French and to plan your trip.

You will be right across border from Basel, Switzerland and not too far from Strasbourg, France, a beautiful City near the German border - a short train trip.

Taking the train in France is a great and reasonable way to see the country. Compare the price of a rental car and gas (not in Paris), to train tickets or passe for the four of you. Check on second class or youth passes for the boys and go second class yourself, as it is so much cheaper than first class. Pack lunches for the train, also much cheaper and usually better than buying food on the trains.

You have started planning a year in advance, so you have plenty of time to read, and to ask questions here, helping you to decide your agenda, and you have your new friends to help.

Whatever you decide, you will have a wondeful time, no matter what your budget is.

Enjoy,

Nina

Hi L,

This is a lovely area to visit by car.

Go to www.viamichelin.com and look up Mulhouse.

Zoom in and follow the small roads from Mulhouse to Strasbourg. Lots of pleasant little Alstian towns along the http://www.alsace-route-des-vins.com/

Also check out Colmar, Strasbourg and Nancy.

Since you also want to see Paris and have only 2 weeks, I suggest flying into Paris (5 days) and then taking the train to Mulhouse.

There are PREMS fares for 20E 2cl and 30E 1cl. See www.voyages-sncf.com

Get a car in Mulhouse. Drive the Rte du Vin up to Strasbourg (2 nights).

Drop the car in Strasbourg and train to the Stuttgart airport in Echterdingen.
See www.bahn.de

Fly home.

If you plan to drive into Switzerland, you must buy the road tax sticker.

Have a lovely visit.

The only thing that I remember about Mulhouse is teh nice City Hall.
You can visit Colmar (by train is one hour), the old city is beautiful and the Bartholdi museum is very interesting.
Also, you can go to Strasbourg, that is very nice, see the cathedral, the Rhine, old city.

All I know is that a Frenchman corrected my pronunciation -- it's pronounced ma-LOOSE.

Daytrip into Zurich, only about an-hour-and-a-half drive from Mulhouse.

Colmar, plus a lot of other pretty Alsatian towns like Riquewihr, and Eguishem are only wihin 45 minutes drive from Mulhouse.

BTW, since you are on a budget, you may want to look into the cost of flying directly into Mulhouse/Basel airport or into Zurich; rather than into Paris and taking alternative transportation from Paris to Mulhouse.

The name of the auto brothers is Schlumpf, not Schlump. The family will certainly take you there.

We are also planning a trip to Mulhouse in September. Hope you post a report of your trip. Need restaurants etc. My grandparents were born in Mulhouse when it begonged to Germany. My gradmother always pronounced it Mulhousen. The French say Maloose.
I found the cheepest flight was to fly to Frankfurt, rent a car there and from there go to Strasburg. I found an apartment on VBRA for the week cheap. We will take day trips from there for five days, then to another destination. Have a great trip.

This story about this car museum and how it ended is fascinating. When I was understand that the brothers were cooking the books in their business in trying to keep buying more Bugattis. The museum layout was done by the brothers and when it went belly-up, the brothers went across into Switzerland. This museum really was a private collection for mom's rememberance.

Any way, when the brothers had to scurry, the authorities discovered this collection. At first thought, they planned on selling the cars. Then the state decided to Nationalize this collection and it became a National Museum. Remember this was the first period of Mitterand's era. Nationalizing was quickly arranged.

The museum didn't any renovation. The old street lamps and the placing spots for each car was built by the brothers. They had one helper about this collection but nobody else knew of this place.

The cars alone worth the drive over and spend a few hours but the story is worth this too.

The brothers kept their business during the second world war. I think that they built fabrics and textiles for the Germans. I never saw that the brothers were Nazis but they sure weren't fighting the war.

Fascinating story.

Blackduff

We had to stay in Belfort which is near Mulhouse. Not much to see in Mulhouse itself. If want to drop by Belfort, it is tiny, not much to see but it has a nice old town with just one landmark, the Belfort Lion, a huge stone monument.

I would suggest taking the advice of visiting other eastern France cities like Colmar and Strasbourg which are nearby and have more things to see and do.

Train service is really good so take advantage of that.

The Schlumpf Bros. abandoned the unopened and highly secret museum, just steps ahead of the tax man. They had been skimming for so long to finance their car collection and the govt. finally took action - not knowing about the cars. Inspite of the size of the collection it had remained a closely guarded secret.

The brothers, l/2 Swiss, owned property in Basel and quickly fled over the border and by all acccounts continued to live quite well.

The unpaid mill workers marched on the warehouse, again totally unaware of the collection. The warehouse guard, quickly gave in and allowed them entrance to the warehouse and all of it's treasures. Then the French government stepped in and nationalized the museum and opened it to the public.

I deliberately didn't post the history of the museum because I enjoy researching my travel destinations, as I'm sure most Fodorites do. That is half of the fun of the trip for me.

I thought that your boys might enjoy reaching it on-line rather than reading it here. It makes the trip so much more personal for kids if they 'discover' things for themselves.

Colmar is a beautiful city, and you have been given some wonderful suggestions.

Purchase a few good travel books, Fodors, Let's Go France, etc.. and start researching the areas you want to visit.

If you live near a Border's or a Barnes & Noble or any large book store, you can all go together, pull as many books as look interesting from the travel shelves, and sit down in the cafe, and check out the books at your leisure. Then buy what looks to be the most interesting and fits your budget and schedule needs.

Let's Go France, is not always the most accurate, but it covers so many areas, including train transportation, budget restaurants, some quite good, sights, and things for kids that it is a worthwhile purchase IMHO. We've found a lot of smaller towns and areas well worth a detour.

Nina

Leelo:
My suggestion is NOT to fly into Paris. Check out Lufthansa (one of the better overseas carriers) for a flight into Frankfurt (I don't think there are direct flights from USA to Stuttgart..but check on it). Rent car in Frankfurt and take in the SchwarzWald (Black Forest) for outstanding scenery, rivers, falls and trails the kids will love...stay two nights at any of the hundreds of "Zimmer Frei" (reasonably-priced B and B) establishments along the way and drive on to Mulhouse.

Look at the Michelin Map or red-covered EuroAtlas (American Map Comapy) in any Barnes and Noble of Borders store...and concentrate on the picturesque and quaint Alsatian villages between Colmar and Strasbourg along the Route des Vin (wine route). You will find Colmar to be a very lovely old city.
Plan on spending a day in Strasbourg, one of France's truly beautiful cities with a magnificent cathedral and canals (Try the lower-priced Cathedrale Hotel where we just stayed last month)...then back about two hours Autobahn drive to Frankfurt to catch the Lufhthansa flight.
Considering travel time, you will have spent about 11-12 days visiting...and the days do fly by. I would not try to do Switzerland at the same time, unless while at friends in Mulhouse they decide on a day or two trip in nearby Switz.....

You have a grand trip in store for you and the boys!

Stu T.