Strasbourg 7 Day Itinerary
Strasbourg has been French, German, and French again inside one century, which is exactly why its food, architecture, and self-understanding don’t resemble anywhere else in either country. The tarte flambee costs around 15 euros at a decent winstub. The cathedral tower costs 8 euros to climb and closes for lunch even when the queue wraps the square, so plan accordingly. A tram single ticket runs 2.10 euros and covers the whole network including the airport run.
Getting in and around
Strasbourg Airport connects to the city centre via the tram D line in about 15 minutes. Trains from Paris Gare de l’Est arrive in 1 hour 47 minutes on the TGV, making it a straightforward long-weekend destination from the French capital. Within the city, the tram network (lines A through F, operated by CTS) covers almost everywhere you need to go. A 24-hour pass makes more sense than buying singles if you plan to move around much.
Where to stay
Hotel Cour du Corbeau on Rue des Couples in the Old Town occupies a 16th-century coaching inn courtyard and charges mid-range rates (expect 150-200 euros for a double). It is genuinely well located and the rooms facing the courtyard are quieter. For a cheaper base, guesthouses in the Krutenau district south of the cathedral offer doubles around 80-100 euros and sit within walking distance of both the Old Town and the European Parliament area.
Day 1: Arrival and the Old Town on foot
Walk from your hotel to the cathedral without a map. Getting mildly lost in the Grande Ile, the island that forms the historic centre, is the correct introduction. The Notre-Dame Cathedral’s sandstone facade has the quality of carved lace, and it looks different in morning light versus afternoon light, which is reason enough to pass it twice. Climb the tower in the morning before crowds build: 330 steps, 8 euros, views across to the Black Forest on a clear day.
Petite France, the former tanners’ quarter, rewards a slow afternoon walk along the canals. The Ponts Couverts are three medieval towers with a footbridge across the Ill; the best view of them is from the Barrage Vauban, a dam-fortification with a rooftop terrace that is free to access.
Dinner: Chez Yvonne on Rue du Sanglier is the quintessential winstub, loud, slightly chaotic, and excellent for choucroute garnie and backeoffe. Book a day ahead or arrive before 7pm. A full meal with wine runs about 30-40 euros per person.
Day 2: European institutions and the MAHSS
The European Parliament visitor centre offers free guided tours on weekdays, book online. The Council of Europe building is nearby and has its own visitor programme. Neither is a tourist attraction in the conventional sense but they explain why Strasbourg exists as a city in the political imagination of Europe in a way that a museum panel cannot.
The Musee d’Art Moderne et Contemporain (MAHSS) on Place Hans Jean Arp has a good permanent collection anchored by works from the 1870s onward with particular strength in Expressionism and Dada, both movements with obvious Alsatian context. The sculpture terrace has decent river views.
Evening boat tour on the Ill. Several operators run 70-minute illuminated tours departing from Pont Saint-Martin after dark; they cost around 12-15 euros and show you Petite France from the water at its most photogenic.
Dinner at Winstub S’kaechele, a smaller and less-famous winstub than Chez Yvonne, where the flammkuchen is particularly good and the room is more intimate. Reservations essential.
Day 3: Saturday market and Krutenau neighbourhood
If your Day 3 falls on a Saturday, start at the Marche de la Douane on Rue de la Douane from 7am. Local farmers, organic producers, cheesemongers, and charcutiers run stalls here. Buy Munster cheese from Alsatian producers and compare it with the supermarket version. The difference is significant. On other days, the Marche de l’Esplanade runs Tuesday and Friday mornings.
Spend the afternoon in Krutenau, the student quarter south of the cathedral, which has the best cafe terraces, independent bookshops, and the least tourist pricing in Strasbourg. Lunch at one of the brasseries on Rue du Faubourg de Pierre. Consider the river walk along the Ill toward the Orangerie Park for late afternoon.
Skip the zoo inside Orangerie unless you have children with you. The park itself, with the rose garden and the formal French sections, is the point.
Day 4: Colmar and the wine villages
The TER train from Strasbourg to Colmar takes 35 minutes and costs under 10 euros each way. Go early, by 9am, before the tour buses arrive. Colmar’s Petite Venise district has the colourful half-timbered canal-front houses that appear on every postcard of Alsace, and they look exactly like that in person. The Unterlinden Museum holds the Isenheim Altarpiece, one of the most extraordinary painted works in northern Europe, a Gothic polyptych that Matthias Grunewald completed around 1515. The museum entry costs around 13 euros and the altarpiece alone is worth the trip.
From Colmar, rent a bike or take a local bus to Ribeauville or Riquewihr, two wine villages on the Route des Vins. Riquewihr is slightly more crowded but better preserved. Buy a bottle of Gewurztraminer at the cellar door rather than a wine bar; prices are far more reasonable than in Bordeaux or Burgundy. Return to Strasbourg by early evening.
Dinner: Au Crocodile on Rue de l’Outre is a Strasbourg institution with refined Alsatian cooking and one of the city’s best wine lists.
Day 5: Slow day, shopping, Alsatian soap
A seven-day itinerary needs at least one unhurried morning. This is it. Walk to Place Kléber, the main city square, and have breakfast at a cafe terrace before the market stalls set up. The surrounding streets hold the main shopping in Strasbourg: the covered Galeries Lafayette arcade, independent food shops on Rue des Orfevres, and the old ceramics dealers near the cathedral.
Two things worth buying: Alsatian pottery (blue and white, hand-painted) from the shops in the lanes off the cathedral square, and baeckeoffe earthenware if you cook stews at home. Savon d’Alep is not Alsatian but the soap shops near the cathedral sell it at honest prices; avoid the airport versions.
The Palais Rohan on the south side of the cathedral contains three museums (Fine Arts, Decorative Arts, and the Archaeological Museum) for a combined ticket around 8 euros. The ground-floor Decorative Arts collection, which reconstructs the palace apartments as they appeared under Cardinal Rohan in the 18th century, is genuinely impressive and most visitors skip it in favour of the fine arts upstairs.
Day 6: The Astronomical Clock and Neustadt
The Strasbourg Astronomical Clock inside the cathedral stages its daily mechanism at 12:30pm, when the figures of the apostles process and the cock crows. Tickets to watch this cost a couple of euros and must be bought in advance from the cathedral ticket desk. Arrive by noon.
Spend the afternoon in Neustadt, the German-imperial district built between 1880 and 1914 when Strasbourg was part of the German Reich. The broad boulevards, the monumental post office and university buildings, and the Palais du Rhin represent a distinct architectural chapter completely separate from the medieval Old Town. Few visitors walk this district and it changes the reading of the city considerably. The Place de la Republique is the centrepiece, with the National Theatre (originally built as the imperial palace of the Statthalter) dominating one side.
Dinner in Krutenau, which has more diverse restaurant options than the Old Town. The stretch of Rue du Faubourg de Pierre has Vietnamese, Turkish, and modern French options at prices that reflect a local rather than tourist clientele.
Day 7: Final morning and departure
The cathedral facade looks different at 8am than at any other time of day, with early light catching the upper stonework. Worth a brief detour before checkout. The kiosk on the square sells Kugelhopf, the fluted Alsatian cake with sultanas and almonds, which travels well wrapped.
Tram to the airport or train station takes 15-20 minutes from the city centre. The high-speed train to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport departs from Strasbourg station and connects to international flights; this is often a cleaner option than flying out of Strasbourg airport for long-haul connections.
Practical notes
Restaurants in winstubs often do not accept reservations more than a day or two ahead. Call the day before, not a week ahead. Tipping: service is included legally but rounding up or leaving 5-10% is standard and expected. Cash is useful for markets and smaller winstubs, though most restaurants take cards. The Christmas market (Christkindelsmärik) runs from late November through December and is genuinely excellent but the city’s hotel prices roughly double and the Old Town becomes very crowded; book accommodation months in advance if visiting then. For any other time of year, April through early July offers the best combination of weather, prices, and manageable crowds.