OK, so for those of you who might be going to Strasbourg on your travels, or who are thinking of going, I've now been there three times (if you count the day trip I did in December for the big Christmas market, which is TOTALLY SO WORTH IT). I thought some of you might want a recap of things to do, and to know what we liked and what we thought wasn't really all it was cracked up to be. Let me include a disclaimer right off the bat and say that there are many more things to do in and around Strasbourg that we either didn't have time for, or that just weren't our "thing", but they might be quite fun and interesting; so don't let my list stop you from exploring beyond.
The part of Strasbourg most tourists want to see is called the Grande Ile; it's a short walk or tram (A or D) ride from the train station. The entire Grande Ile is classified as a UNESCO world heritage site, by the way; it's just THAT old and that great. It really is like stepping back in time in many ways. If you look at a map of Strasbourg, you'll see that the old city is completely surrounded by water. And one of the cool things to do is take a boat tour, which leaves from a dock just near the cathedral. Rain or shine, these tour boats will guide you (free audio in 11 languages plus special children's commentary in 4 languages) through a peaceful 70 minute trip around the island. You don't need to reserve in advance, just show up and buy your tickets; however if you need wheelchair access you might want to contact them in advance, as according to their site only certain boats are equipped for wheelchairs. Best times to go are in the morning before lunch hour, or in the late afternoon, say 5pm or later (I think we got on a boat around 6:30pm, which is about the latest in the day when the light is still good for photos; tours operate until 9pm in summer, though). Mid-day the lines are longer, and in summer it's the hottest part of the day, and the sunlight isn't optimal for photos mid-day anyway. FYI, the boats operate year round, but with shorter hours and fewer departures in winter.
The beautiful Notre-Dame de Strasbourg Cathedral is the center point of the old city, and it is spectacular. Looking at it at different times of day, when the light changes, you notice different things about the facade and the intricate carvings of the red stonework. Inside, the stained glass and massive painted pipe organ are lovely; but the hallmark is the famous astronomical clock. Entry to the Cathedral is free, but if you want to see the clock operate, you'll need 2€ per person, and you can ONLY see it by going over to the right side of the building (on the right as you face the front of the cathedral) and queuing up for tickets around 11:15 in the morning (except Sundays and holidays). They actually close the entire Cathedral to the public for the hour it takes to show the clock, so don't plan to visit just before that or they'll kick you out; after the "clock show", which lasts from 12:00-12:30pm, you can tour the entire cathedral then. (However, you can tour the cathedral freely both before and after that, if you don't care to see the clock presentation.) There will be a long line for the clock, but they seem to let everyone in who wanted tickets, and even though we were toward the end of the line we ended up getting a good viewing spot through some gentle "pardon, pardon" maneuvering through the crowd. There's a film (with commentary in French, German and English) that explains the history of the clock (it's a bit long-winded, but if you get bored, you can take photos and text-message them to your friends or Twitter followers, like I did!), and then they operate the clock itself (otherwise the clock is shut down to preserve its delicate mechanisms, so this is the only time each day to see the clock in action). This was the second time I've seen it, and its quite amazing.
Strasbourg is a very walkable city (although the cobblestones can be a bit hard on the feet), so unless you have mobility issues, you can pretty much walk anywhere and everywhere you want to go in the center of the city. You will find every conceivable shop, for those of you who are marathon shoppers, most of which you will also find in Paris -- even a Galeries Lafayette and a Printemps! (Which is why I pretty much skipped the shopping, since I can get the same stuff right here.) Near the cathedral, of course, are a lot of tacky souvenir shops, but if you look around you as you walk, you'll be able to pick out the more interesting and authentic boutiques that sell glazed local pottery, linens and (our favorite) pain d'épices (spice cakes or gingerbread). There are two shops selling pain d'épices that I've now tried; one is just in front of the cathedral in a building with an orange-colored and frescoed fascade, and I liked their loaves of gingerbread with chunks of ginger; the other is in Petite France and is called Mireille Oster. We got a little bag of small squares of gingerbread there on Saturday for our afternoon snack, and liked it so much we went back on Sunday (yes, they were open on Sunday -- many stores don't open in France on Sundays, by law, but in certain key tourist zones you can find some specialty boutiques that are allowed to open) and bought 3 more bags to bring home with us. They do on-line orders, by the way -- here's what we bought in the store -- and even come to Paris sometimes for special markets.
Also in Petite France (which is the oldest and most quaint part of the old town, with many half-timbered houses everywhere) I've found a Christmas shop, called Noel en Alsace, also on rue des Dentelles near Mireille Oster. When I was there the first time, three years ago, I bought lace tree ornaments for everyone in my family; they are small, flat and pack well, with no worries about breakage.
I've now stayed in two hotels in Strasbourg. When I was there on my own in August 2007, I stayed at the Mercure just across from the train station; I often chose hotels near the train stations on that trip, so that I could easily drop off and pick up my luggage without having to drag it with me across a strange city. The Mercure is clean and modern, and although it's not on the Grande Ile, it's a short walk to get there. It was perfectly fine, and I'd have no problem staying there again if I needed to do so.
On this trip, we booked into the Hotel de l'Europe, just on the edge of Petite France. It's a Best Western hotel, and is partly in a building that dates back to the 1400s. We chose this hotel because it was offered as part of a package with the train tickets through the SNCF (see voyages-sncf.com), but it proved to be a winner! When we reserved, we upgraded ourselves once from the basic Standard level room to the Chambre Tradition, which cost us 50€ for the 2-night stay. When we arrived, we discovered they'd given us another FREE upgrade, to a Superior room... which had an enormous king-sized bed and a large, modern and very clean bathroom (price difference: Standard 85€, Superior 120€ per night). A full buffet breakfast is included (eggs, ham, cereals, pastries, yogurts, juice, coffee), the staff was very friendly and helpful without being annoying, the location was fabulous and a direct 5-7 minute walk from the train station. Plus, we discovered they have SPA services on-site (!!!), although we didn't take advantage of that. If I were coming back to Strasbourg, I'd want to stay here again, definitely, even without the extra upgrade. By the way, the rooms ARE air-conditioned here, with individual controls.
Restaurants: there seem to be hundreds of them around every corner, so you won't go hungry. For Georges' birthday on Friday night, we wanted to go somewhere special, so I booked a reservation at the historic Maison Kammerzell which is the neighbor of the cathedral and is also a hotel. They have a terrace, but the part of the attraction is the painted ceiling in the interior on the ground floor. We had a very nice meal there, where Georges ordered a choucroute (sauerkraut with all kinds of sausages, ham and potatoes on top) that was so big, he couldn't finish it, and he hardly ever does that. He also had the onion tarte as a starter, which I tasted as well, and it was very good. I started with a foie gras that was really fabulous, and then went with the magret de canard (like a duck steak) which had a raspberry gravy, and that was delicious, too. Top it off with a bottle of local wine, and some decent table service (even though several of the waiters seemed the age of high-school boys and they were a little hesitant), and you've got a very nice experience.
For lunch on Saturday, we decided on The Dubliner's Pub (with Irish wait-staff) because we wanted some good beer, but we also had a very nice meal there on the terrace. I'd eat there again. For dinner on Saturday night after our late-afternoon boat tour, we went to the well-known Ancienne Douane, which means the old customs house. It's a plain and rather ugly big building that now houses a restaurant with a large river-front terrace, and it's mentioned in all the tourist guides. However... although we managed to score a table on the terrace without a reservation (we wanted to eat in that general area, as there was a spectacular music and light show at the cathedral later that evening), we found that both the food and the service were really very average. Not bad, just average; so we felt it was really overrated, and we wouldn't bother going back.
Sunday lunch was spent in Petite France at la Corde à Linge, which means ("The Clothesline"), which has an enormous outdoor terrace under some very large trees, makes great salads of all kinds, and is right on a very charming and picturesque square next to one of the river locks. I ate lunch there twice on my first visit in 2007, and enjoyed it; and we also had a very nice meal there yesterday. The portions are huge so be prepared! I tried the traditional spatzle (prounounced "shzpetzle") which is a German-style "pasta", with tomato-herb sauce, and I really liked it, and I don't normally go for a lot of German food (sorry, Germany, but all those wursts and sausages and potatoes are just a bit too heavy for my tastes). Georges had a starter of marrow-bone (this seems to be a rather popular dish in France, and he said it was very good; although to be blunt, it kind of grosses me out and I won't even try it, even though he has gotten me to try things like frogs' legs). He got such a generous serving of his starter that when his main course arrived (some giant local meatballs with a side order of spatzle), he couldn't eat it all! I ate some of the meatballs and they were very good, with a very nice, light creamy herb sauce. (Shoppers Warning: just across the square from this restaurant, there's are two shops; one sells the typical souvenirs -- we splurged on a refrigerator magnet -- and the other sells some very decent-looking local pottery. However, the people working in both stores were anything but friendly, especially the man in the pottery store, who never said "Bonjour" or "Au revoir", who barely stepped aside so we could enter the shop, and who hovered over us very distrusfully. We felt decidedly UNWELCOME there, and frankly I wouldn't have bought a piece of pottery from that guy no matter what... and I did see one or two things I was considering as Christmas gifts, too. Avoid this shop no matter how tempted you might be; you can buy pottery somewhere else in town, believe me.)
There are so many different things to do in Strasbourg, but we ended up seeing two museums in addition to our Cathedral/clock visit and the boat tour. The Alsatian Museum is my favorite and I strongly recommend going there, and if you only do ONE museum in Strasbourg, let it be this one. It's just across the river from the Ancienne Douane, a short walk from the cathedral. And the Historical Museum of Strasbourg is also very nice, has some interactive exhibits, and is not too big or time-consuming, and it's in the same neighborhood as the Alsatian Museum and The Dubliner's Pub; we ducked in there during Sunday morning's heavy rain showers, and by the time we left, the rain was finished so it was perfect for us.
Depending on the time of year, you can often find special shows, events and markets. Christmas is for the famous holiday market, and people come from all over Europe (and beyond) just for the occasion; I found it a nice day trip from Paris and might even go back again this December. This summer, they did some special light shows at the cathedral, and there was another light show with fireworks elsewhere, along the river, although we never made it over there. The music/light show at the cathedral was really very good, though. Check the Strasbourg Tourist Office to find out what's going on when you're planning to be in town. They also have a "Strasbourg Pass" which is good for 2 or 3 days, and gets you free or discounted admission to museums, the boat tour, and other things. We didn't bother with the passes, but as it happens, if we'd gotten them, we'd have saved at least 3 to 5 euros apiece on the things we ended up doing. If you're on a tight travel budget and will be there for 2-3 days, then the savings could be very useful.
We spent Sunday afternoon, after lunch and before going back to the train station, just wandering around the little tiny islands which are part of Petite France. We found lots of things to take photos of, and several nice romantic kissing spots (a-hem). For some reason, I had not fully explored this part of Strasbourg on my original visit, so it was nice to see it with my sweetie.
I can't say enough good things about Strasbourg, really. Now that I've lived in Europe for a few years and had the opportunity to visit several countries and cities, this continues to be one of my favorites. Other things you can do in and around the area include Rhine river tours, and other tours of the Alsace region, which is so rich in it's dual French and German history. The food and wine are good, the people are mostly very friendly, and it's a short hop (or walk, for that matter) over the Rhine into Germany if your travels take you on to other places. If you get the opportunity, by all means go and spend a day, or two or even three. I don't think you'll be disappointed!
Looking for photos? Here are the ones I took on my trip in 2007. I'll try to post some of the new material from this weekend as well... soon as I get around to downloading the more than 350 photos and videos I shot!
