Road Trip through Europe – Strasbourg

Having left Stuttgart on day 12 of our Road Trip we took a detour through the forest to see & ride on the Sommerbergbahn which is a funicular railway at Bad Wildbad on the way to our next stop, Strasbourg, unfortunately after driving for quite a while through the forest we discovered that the road was in fact closed due to major works! We therefore diverted and headed direct to Strasbourg.

Strasbourg is the second most popular city in France with Paris being the first and is the capital of Alsace, it is a small city covering around 78 square kilometres.

We arrived at out hotel the Camponile Strasbourg Ouest Zenith (now called the Kyriad Direct Strasbourg Ouest – Zenith) just off the A351 motorway, parked up & caught the tram D (there is a network of trams lettered A to F) into the centre.

The main places of interest are:
The Cathedral which you can’t miss with its 142-metre-high spire, has some amazing stained glass dating back to the 12th & 14th century especially the Rose window and a stunningly beautiful organ with animated figures, its golden filigreed casing with rich reds and blues is 20 metres high, it was built in 1489.

Petite France – is an enchanting historical area with part timbered houses, boats gliding along the river Ill (ill), glorious flowers, over hanging trees and cobbled alleyways and pavement cafes. It’s quite simply stunning! We spent quite a while wandering around the beautiful streets enjoying all they had to offer. Take a seat at one of the pavement cafes, have lunch or a cool drink and just soak up the atmosphere whilst watching the world go by!

There are lots of old typically French buildings and sleepy squares to discover, it all has a very relaxed feel about it, just what you want on holiday!

We found a lovely restaurant called Aux Armes de Strasburg located in Place Gutenberg for a delicious late lunch of Meatballs (patties) in a red wine sauce and Ham Hock in a beer sauce, both were served with potatoes and green salad, they were delicious!

The boat trip along the river which I would recommend, lasted around one and a quarter hours, we passed by lots of historical buildings along with the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights which are both worth seeing.

It was August and extremely hot so a hat, sun cream and water is a must!

                                                                          Next stop Reims