Must-sees in Strasbourg
This summer 2023 we were lucky enough to take a trip to discover the beautiful area of Alsace. The truth is that we were thinking that the area was just beautiful fairytale villages and that much of its charm was in its famous Christmas markets. What we didn’t expect at all was to discover a city that we liked as much as Strasbourg. And that is why we want to tell you about our experience and bring you this list of must-sees in Strasbourg.
The first thing to mention is that we were lucky enough to visit the city in one day with two superb guides, two friends who have been doing a doctorate in the city for 5 years, so they know it like the back of their hand.
Strasbourg is the capital city of the historical region of Alsace and the Lower Rhine. It is considered to be one of the European capitals, along with Luxembourg and Brussels, which is why it has so many buildings of European organizations such as the Council of Europe and the Court of Human Rights. The city passed several times from the French to the German empire and suffered the consequences of the two World Wars of the 20th century, so when they ended, it was considered a perfect place to establish the base of such important European organizations as a sign of peace and respect.
To get to Strasbourg, there are several options. Strasbourg has an airport where you can find international flights without any problem. The problem is that from Spain, this airport is usually more expensive than other options. We chose to go to Basel (Switzerland), which is an hour away from the city, and we took the flat in the beautiful town of Colmar. The flight cost us less than 100 euros from Barcelona, so it is a reasonable price.
Finally, as mentioned, our visit to the area was part of a 3-day tour of Alsace, so we stayed in Colmar. To get around, we hired a car directly from Basel airport. If you want to book a car in Strasbourg, we leave you our link so you can search on Autoeurope.
Having said that, let us now recommend our must-see in Strasbourg.
Notre Dame Cathedral in Strasbourg
An AMAZING place and the top of the must-see list in Strasbourg. It has nothing to envy to other great religious buildings we have seen (it reminded us a lot of Cologne Cathedral). Obviously, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Notre Dame de Strasbourg Cathedral is a Gothic building and its construction dates back to the 11th century and it is said to have taken 400 years to complete. The first thing that catches your attention is its façade, as it has so many details that you could spend hours looking at it and trying to decipher the mysteries it holds. For example, in the area of the door, there is a representation of the Devil as a young man trying to seduce some women.
Another thing that caught our attention is that the construction only consists of one tower. The initial plan was for two, but this was aborted in order to build just one, which at the time was the tallest tower in the world at 142m.
One of the main attractions of the site is its impressive astronomical clock, a true jewel of science. Legend has it that its creator went blind building it, as he wanted it to be a unique and unrepeatable clock. We don’t know if it’s true, but seeing the amount of details it has, we can believe that he had an intense work 🙂
Our recommendation for visiting the monument is to climb to the top of the Cathedral’s viewing platform to admire the city from the best possible perspective. To do so, you will have to pay €8 at the ticket office (it is located on the right side of the building, facing the main façade) and there are about 332 steps, so we recommend you to be prepared and in good shape. Afterwards, you can visit the interior of the cathedral.
If you only want to visit the interior, the visit is free and it is open from Monday to Saturday from 8.30am to 11.15am and from 12.45pm to 5.45pm, and on Sundays and public holidays from 2pm to 5.45pm.
Le Petite France
This is the most beautiful and best-known neighbourhood in the city, and no wonder. It is another UNESCO World Heritage Site and is located about 10 minutes’ walk from the cathedral. For us, it is a neighbourhood that should be enjoyed by strolling quietly and getting lost in its streets.
As a curiosity and a sad historical fact, the neighbourhood was totally destroyed during World War II, so after the war and the reconstruction, it was rebuilt to form this wonderful and beautiful place.
This place is also the main attraction of the city at Christmas time, due to its markets and decorations. Strasbourg is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe at Christmas time.
As main points of interest in the area, we recommend you:
- St. Martin’s Bridge, which is the place where you can take one of the best pictures with views of the river and the typical Alsatian houses.
- Maison des Tanneurs: typical house of former times where a family of tanners used to live and which is nowadays a restaurant.
- Barrage Vauban
- Ponts Couverts
Barrage Vauban, one of the must-see in Strasbourg
This place is considered part of the Petite France neighbourhood, but we wanted to dedicate a separate section to it as it is for us one of the must-see in Strasbourg due to its impressive history.
This construction dates back to medieval times and was used as a defensive system against enemy river attacks. How did they do it? In the event of an enemy attack, they would close the floodgates and raise the level of the river with the accumulation of water and flood all the areas behind the barrier, making it impossible for the enemy to gain access. For example, this system was used during the Prussian siege of the Franco-Prussian War and resulted in the flooding of the entire Neuerdorf area.
Today, this place can be accessed free of charge as it is a viewpoint overlooking the Cathedral and Ponts Couverts and houses a collection of sculptures in its lower part.
Ponts Couverts
Like the Barrage Vauban, it is part of the Petite France district and was also a defensive construction.
Ponts Couverts is a series of 3 bridges and 4 towers built in the 13th century, just opposite the Barrage Vauban. Today, they serve as a bridge to connect the two parts of the river and are a great place to cross to access the Petite France. Like the rest of the neighbourhood, we recommend you walk along them and imagine ancient times, when they served as a defensive zone against attacks on the city.
Cathedral Square and Kammerzel House
One of the places we found to be a must-see in Strasbourg is the area around the Cathedral, especially the main square. It is a lively and busy square (it is the most touristic area of the city) which houses a rather curious place, the Kammerzel house. This building is one of the best preserved and oldest medieval Gothic-style constructions (15th century) and is considered to be the most beautiful building in the city. The truth is that it stands out because it is a very original construction right next to the cathedral and in a style that we are not used to seeing.
Nowadays, it is a Hotel / Restaurant where you can book to eat or stay (as you can imagine, prepare your wallet).
Neustadt or German Quarter
As we have already mentioned, Strasbourg has passed from French to German hands and vice versa on several occasions, so it is only natural that it has a strong German influence. The first obvious aspect is the Alsatian language, which is similar in some respects to German. And it is because of this influence that Strasbourg has a neighbourhood with typical Germanic architecture and elements, Neustadt. It reminded us in some respects of Berlin, to use a well-known simile.
It was built during the Prussian occupation to show its power. And that is why it has large squares, avenues and buildings, which served to show the power of that kingdom.
The most outstanding places in the area are:
- Place de la République
- Avenue de la Liberté
- University Palace
As a detail for lovers of architecture and art, you can see many art nouveau buildings such as the Egyptian house, the Palais des Fêtes or the Villa Brion.
European Area
As you know, we are usually honest in our posts. We didn’t have time to visit it as it is a bit far away and we were only there for one day. It was also a Sunday, so the main buildings in the European quarter were not open to the public.
However, we think it should be added to this list of must-sees in Strasbourg because of its importance in the city.
In this place, the main recommendations that our friends gave us as top buildings are:
- Palace of Europe: the seat of the Council of Europe.
- Palace of Human Rights: Very important not only for its striking architecture, but also for the relevance of the body in our lives.
- Europa Place: This is a village whose purpose is to provide information about the history of Europe and what each institution does within the complex of buildings. It is a great meeting place for exhibitions, debates, lectures…
For visits inside, we recommend that you follow the links on the official website, so that you can find out about the possibilities available to you. We were very interested and we are sure that if we come back, we will visit them.
Rhine river walk
One of the things you are sure to do at some point during your stay in Strasbourg is to walk along the banks of the Rhine River. For us, this is one of the must-see in Strasbourg. It’s a beautiful area to see and has a lot of atmosphere (especially when it’s hot) and allows you to see another view of the city.
Our recommendation would be to walk from Barrage Vauban along the right side of the river facing the cathedral until you reach St. Paul’s Church, another place worth photographing and seeing for its beautiful surroundings.
If you don’t like walking, there is a good option to visit the city by river called Batorama. It’s a boat that takes you around the river so you can see the main sights of the city. It departs from the European Quarter and the Cathedral, as it goes from one to the other. The price is around €15 per person and you can check the official Batorama website for tickets.
Villages of Alsace and around Strasbourg
I think I’m safe in saying that on a trip to visit the city of Strasbourg, most people will combine the visit with a tour of Alsace. And really, it’s no wonder. It is a spectacular and beautiful area.
As we said, we spent 3 days in the area, where we visited several charming villages that are truly fairytale-like. It is no coincidence that it is one of the places with the best Christmas markets in the world, the environment helps a lot.
We leave you our blog link to a detailed summary of 3 days in Alsace, but as a summary, we recommend you to visit:
- Colmar
- Eguisheim
- Ribeauvillé
- Kayserberg
- Riquewihr
It is well worth taking the car and driving through the beautiful surroundings to see these charming villages. It all depends on your visiting speed, but they can be seen in 2 hours each.
As a bonus, we were also able to visit the castle of Haut-Koenigsbourg. It is the most important castle in the Alsatian region, crowning a hill from where it served as a defensive place. The first construction of this castle dates from the 12th century, but after wars and comings and goings, it was abandoned, to be rebuilt in 1899 by the German emperor (as we said, the region has been changing country). It is a visit different from the rest of Alsace and very worthwhile, so we highly recommend it.
Where to eat in Strasbourg?
Obviously, we can’t be experts on Alsatian food because we haven’t been there very often, but we can tell you about the two places where our friends took us to try typical Alsatian food.
The first one is located in the heart of Petite France and is called Chez l’Oncle Freddy. We give it a very good rating, as we were able to try typical Alsatian food of a very good quality at a more than acceptable price (28 per head). We tried Cervela with Münster, sauerkraut, Alsatian salad or Spätzle.
For dinner, we wanted to try one of the star dishes of the area, the Tarté Flambée. We’ll tell you that it’s a kind of pizza with a thin crust (don’t even think of saying that to the Alsatians) but just to give you an idea. The place where we tried them (very top) is called Binchstub.
Where to stay in Strasbourg?
As you will know if you’ve made it this far, we chose to sleep in Colmar, as our trip was combining the Alsace towns with Strasbourg. It’s a great option if you want to do this, as it’s close by, convenient to get around and in the centre of the main towns and attractions to visit. We stayed in a flat in the centre of Colmar which was very well equipped and highly recommended.
If you want to stay in Strasbourg, we have made a small selection of places for different budgets that can be great options:
- Low price – Bright studio in European quarter.
- Medium price – Apartment in the Petite France.
- High price – Apartment overlooking the cathedral.
Strasbourg map
As you may have noticed, Strasbourg is a city that we loved. We think it is a perfect option to see in 1-2 days and in combination in a route through the Alsace area. The combination of architecture, food, beautiful landscapes and culture is perfect to be an appealing place for all kind of travelers.
If you have been able to visit this city, we look forward to hearing your comments to complement our information about the places you must-see in Strasbourg and to help others who want to visit the city.
