Western Europe Road Trip: Strasbourg & Colmar

Our Western Europe road trip was already a success, the first day was spent in Belgium and Luxembourg kayaking and exploring the casemates. Now, we were in the car and on our way back into France to see two amazing cities along our route: Strasbourg and Colmar.

Western Europe Road Trip
Strasbourg & Colmar, France

We started the morning in Lulxembourg City and anxiously got on the road to our first stop, Strasbourg. It’s just a little over a 2 hour drive, an easy trip along the route that got us to Strasbourg by late morning.

We will have another short drive after walking around Strasbourg and a side trip to the top of a mountain side, before ending our day back in Colmar.

Drive Time: 2 hours 15 minutes – Luxembourg City to Strasbourg

Strasbourg, France

To experience a bit of German architecture and history, just visit Strasbourg, France. This city was once a part of Germany and the buildings you’ll see here show that rich history. Strasbourg lies right on the border of the two countries, giving partial cause for the city to bounce back and forth between French and Germany political ownership over approximately 300 years, finally settling as a city in France.

As you enter the city you’ll be immediately greeted by the Eglise Saint-Paul. It sits right beside the river with picturesque bridges crossing the river. It’s quite the statement building to greet you to the city.

We parked near the church and headed off on foot to see the city and find the Cathedral Notre Dame of Strasbourg. The buildings everywhere we looked were gorgeous, but the Cathedral stopped us in our tracks.

We arrived just minutes before the top of the hour and got to see the bell tower chime with the excitement of the group of tourists around us it was a really neat experience! After wandering around the town for a few hours, we were back in the car and en route to Colmar, when we spotted this really neat castle off in the distance on the top of the hillside.

We detoured off the freeway for a closer view and found these incredible sprawling vineyards – it was beautiful! We didn’t make it to the castle, but it was so neat to be able to make the trip whatever we wanted it to be. We meandered through this really small town and it felt like we had stepped into Beauty and the Beast.

Drive Time: 1 hour Strasbourg to Colmar, France

Colmar, France

Our next stop was Colmar, France, where there is a picturesque “Little Venice” street. It’s really beautiful, and definitely worth a stop for pictures along the little Venice area. We didn’t find a whole lot else to do in the town, though, and made our way to Gaschney in the Parc Naturel Regional Ballons des Vosges area.

We had planned to hike along the trail, but it was really more of a driving route. It was absolutely stunning up there with fast fields of greenery and cows with their enormously sized cow bells. The loop took us through some historical stopping points that were fascinating! Overall, it was a fun side trip just outside of Colmar.

After the driving route, we headed back down into Colmar for dinner, where I tried a munster cheese tarte flambée. The cheese was too strong of a flavor for me, but it was still a fun experience – and the dessert was amazing!

The next day would bring the highlight of our trip, a day spent in Murren, Switzerland.