Are you planning to visit Strasbourg for a weekend or for vacations? Welcome! Here are 15 things that I think are must-to-see during your stay.
Riding a bike
Strasbourg is THE French capital of cycling, with 560 kms of bike paths! It is an excellent way to enjoy the city at your own pace.
There are many ways to rent a bike in Strasbourg! You can choose between children's bikes, tandem bikes, electric bikes and cargo bikes. Strasbourg has many parking lots where you can safely hang your bike up.
Seeing the Covered Bridges and the Barrage Vauban
This is a very good base to start your visit of Strasbourg. Especially if you come by train and just picked up a Vélhop at the station. The Covered Bridges (Ponts Couverts) were originally built over the Ill River to protect the city from attacks from the South of Strasbourg. You'll see the House of Covered Bridges. It's obviously a must-see photo to do in Strasbourg.
Then the techniques of combat having evolved, the Ponts Couverts were not enough and the Barrage Vauban (a dam) was then built. You can go inside, there are often free exhibitions. There is also a very nice panoramic terrace above. You will then have a magnificent view on the big island and the Cathedral of Strasbourg.
Visiting the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Strasbourg
Finally, go to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Strasbourg. It covers the period from 1870 to today with works by Monet, Renoir, Pissarro or Gauguin. There is also an important collection of the Strasbourg painter Jean Arp. You can see the Fibonacci sequence in blue neon lights at the top of the façade.
Taking a walk in La Petite France
Once past the Ponts Couverts, you enter La Petite France quarter, which represents THE postcard of Strasbourg. This picturesque district of the Grand Ile is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. You will find there half-timbered houses including the Maison des Tanneurs (probably one of the most photographed monuments in Strasbourg), restaurants, canals and a swing bridge. There is also the unmissable and impressive plane tree of the Quai de Turckheim planted in 1667.
Eating an ice cream
You can now walk up the main street (Langstross Grand'Rue) towards the Cathedral of Strasbourg. After crossing the tramway, go into the rue Gutenberg and turn left at the next street. You will arrive at Toscani, my favorite ice cream shop in Strasbourg. It offers delicious homemade ice cream at reasonable prices.
The other great ice cream shop in Strasbourg is Franchi in the rue des Francs-Bourgeois (opposite the Vox cinema). You may have to wait a little before being served. Note that you can find Franchi's artisanal ice creams at Les Affranchis in the Rivétoile shopping center.
Going to Place Gutenberg
Once you have well eaten, go to Place Gutenberg.
It was named in honor of Gutenberg who invented printing during his stay in Strasbourg between 1434 and 1444. There's a statue that pays tribute to him. Gutenberg is represented holding a parchment in his hands where it is written: "And the light was". The square is bordered by the former City Hall, now the Chambre du Commerce et de l'Industrie (CCI).
Visiting the Cathedral of Strasbourg
The Notre-Dame Cathedral is truly the symbol of Strasbourg with its pink Vosges sandstone and its unique bell tower.
You should take the opportunity to admire the Kammerzell house, the oldest in Strasbourg. It is today a famous restaurant known for its fish sauerkraut.
There are so many things to say and to see about the Cathedral... It is in any case a must for its engravings, its astronomical clock and its platform which offers you a panoramic view of Strasbourg. The cathedral can be visited very well with children.
The Cathedral's also a nice place to see in Strasbourg during the nightlife.
Taking a boat trip
You can find the Batorama pier near the Cathedral of Strasbourg. The boat trip is really worth it. It will offer you a condensed view of Strasbourg around the Grande Île - passing by the magnificent Lycée des Pontonniers with its Harry Potter school look - up to the European institutions. An audio-guide, translated in different languages, gives you very instructive comments on the city and its stories.
Enjoying a boat trip is also quite an unusual activity to do in Strasbourg!
Seeing the Place de la République
The Neustadt (or German Quarter or Imperial Quarter) contrasts sharply with the Grande Île. Built from the 1880s until the First World War, it was intended to be a showcase for the German Empire after the annexation of Alsace. It also tripled the area of Strasbourg.
The Place de la République includes the train station, the court, the Parc de l'Orangerie and the Avenue de la Forêt Noire. I find it the most symbolic. It's even more charming at springtime when its magnolias are in bloom.
The Place de la République is surrounded by remarkable neo-renaissance and neo-classical buildings such as the Palais du Rhin (former imperial palace), the Théâtre National de Strasbourg (former Landtag) and the Bibliothèque Nationale Universitaire (BNU).
Going to the European Parliament and the European quarter
Going up the German quarter along the streetcar line, you arrive at the Wacken and the European Institutions. Like Brussels and Luxembourg, Strasbourg is the European capital and home to the European Parliament. Other European institutions are also located there such as the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, the Agora or the European Pharmacopoeia. They are all concentrated between the Wacken, the Orangerie quarter and the Robertsau quarter.
Visiting the Botanical Garden
On your way back east from Strasbourg, stop by the Botanical Garden. It is the second oldest in France after Montpellier's one. It has a botanical, historical and academic vocation. You can discover particular species or simply walk in the shade of its trees. I particularly like to go to the tropical greenhouse in winter.
Walking in the Parc de l'Orangerie
The Parc de l'Orangerie is one of the most emblematic parks of Strasbourg. You can go there to walk among the flowers, take a ride in a boat or a small car, have a drink or an ice cream, enjoy the children's games or see the animals in the small zoo.
Strolling around the Rivétoile district
Rivétoile is a recent neighborhood built on former port docks. It includes a modern shopping center, housing, the UGC Ciné Cité complex and the Malraux Media Library. It is becoming a dynamic and lively place and mixes modernity and rehabilitation of old port buildings. I find this district inspiring and increasingly more pleasant to live in. It is more alive in the summer with the Docks and Rivétoile Plage: a sandy beach, pedal boats, self-service deckchairs and games for children.
Going up the bassin d'Austerlitz, we come across the Vaisseau. It is like the City of Sciences of Strasbourg for children. It has the particularity to be bilingual French-German. My kid loves going there.
Going to Germany by tramway
Strasbourg is a border city with Germany. It is very common for us from Strasbourg to walk or shop in Kehl, Germany.
To get there, take the D tramway line direction Kehl-Rathaus, get out at the last stop, and enjoy your short visit in Germany!
Since you are on the Rhin river, take the opportunity to visit the Jardin des Deux Rives. The park was inaugurated in 2004. It extends on both sides of the French-German border. A bridge - that can be walked on - links the two countries. Take the opportunity to climb the Weißtannenturm and observe Strasbourg, the Rhin river, the Vosges and the Black Forest - at 44 meters high.
Sightseeing in the most colorful street in France
The Rue du Jeu des Enfants is a pedestrian zone. By proposing animations, the inhabitants of Strasbourg wish to revitalize this street of the city center.
Eating good food in a good restaurant
Strasbourg has 904 traditional restaurants, including 6 Michelin starred ones. It's easy to find a place to eat in Strasbourg. The cosmopolitan character of Strasbourg can be found in the plates with Lebanese, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Indian restaurants, ... and of course the unmissable winstub - traditional Alsatian restaurants.
Among my favorite restaurants in Strasbourg, there're Winstubs, but also starred restaurants and even a floating restaurant on a boat!
The best Alsatian restaurants in Strasbourg
In the traditional Alsatian restaurants, I recommend: the Tire Bouchon, the Zehnerglock, the Gurtlerhoft near the Cathedral or the Corde à Linge in Petite France. The Maison Kammerzell is also worth a visit but only during the winter promotions (1 fish sauerkraut offered for 1 purchased).
If you are looking for the traditional Winstub, you will find at the Raven Bridge, next to the Alsatian Museum. You sit at a large table that you share with the other guests. The food is excellent.
If you are looking for a more modern place to eat a good tarte flambée (or flammekueche), I recommend the Méteor brewery or the Brasserie du Tigre which has the particularity of having an inner courtyard particularly pleasant in summer!
Gluten-free restaurants in Strasbourg
Strasbourg finally has some very good gluten-free addresses. Among them, we have 2 essentials: Pur Etc, Presqu'Île Malraux (Rivétoile quarter) or the Venezolatino, Rue de la 1ère Armée (it has vegan and gluten-free options!). There're also very nice gluten free bakeries in Strasbourg!
Well, are you now ready to visit Strasbourg during your stay ?
