From Wikitravel

Strasbourg (German: Straßburg) [1] is the capital of the Alsace region of France and is mostly known for hosting European institutions. However, it is also a very nice place to visit, especially for its old town. The city itself is one of the 9 biggest cities in France, with a population of about 450,000 people if you include the surroundings. Part of the conurbation is located on the eastern bank of the Rhine, in Kehl, Germany.

Strasbourg is the seat of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights and is one of the seats of the European Parliament.

Contents 1 Understand 2 Get in 2.1 By plane 2.2 By train 2.3 By car 2.4 By bus 3 Get around 3.1 By bike 3.2 By bus 3.3 By tram 4 See 5 Do 6 Buy 7 Eat 7.1 Traditional restaurants 7.2 Modern restaurants 7.3 Budget 7.4 Mid range 8 Drink 9 Sleep 9.1 Budget 9.2 Mid-range 9.3 Splurge 10 Contact 10.1 Phone 10.2 Internet 11 Get out

Understand

The city is one of the 9 largest in France with nearly half a million inhabitants in a metopolitan area spanning across the river into Germany.

Get in

By plane

Strasbourg International Airport (SXB) is located south-west of the city at Entzheim, with domestic as well as international flights (but not as many as a real European capital should have...). There are several flights a day to and from Paris. http://www.strasbourg.aeroport.fr

Buses take travellers to the southern hub of the urban transport network (Baggersee station), which is connected to the A-line tramway (direct line to the town center). A tram-train line running directly from the airport to the town center is planned to open in 2008.

By train

The railway station is located in the western town center, with connections to the tram system and with buses and many taxis waiting outside (to the left of the station forecourt).

The trip from paris currently takes a little less than 4 hours, usually on the German train to or from Munich. From Lyon the travel time is around 5 hours.

Locally in Alsace, the TER network is quick and efficient. It takes about 50 minutes to arrive from Mulhouse, or about an hour from Basel.

By car

You can reach Strasbourg by various highways:

• from the west (Paris, Benelux) taking the A4 highway (E25). About 4 hours from Paris
• from the south (Switzerland, Lyon), taking the A35 highway (E25). About 5 hours from Lyon
• from the north and east (Germany), taking the A5 highway (E35).

By bus

• Eurolines provides bus services to the city.
• Lufthansa operates a bus shuttle between Strasbourg and Frankfurt, Germany

Get around

General information on transport in Strasbourg: http://www.strasbourg.fr/Strasbourgfr/GB/SeDeplacer/

By bike

Strasbourg is ideal for cycling - the city center is flat and there are plenty of bike lanes and bike paths. You can rent bikes at:

• rue du Maire Kuss, in front of the train station
• rue des Bouchers, on the south bank of the Ill river, near the rue d'Austerlitz and the Porte de l'Hôpital tramway station.

Bikes are allowed on trams except in peak hours.

More information on cycling in Strasbourg: http://www.strasbourg.fr/strasbourgfr/fr/sedeplacer/avelo/

By bus

By tram

40 kilometers of tramway lines run through the city.

See

The tourist office recommends a variety of walking tours through the town (Middle Ages, Renaissance, Modern and Contemporary) and bike tours through the faubourgs (Neudorf and Neuhof).

Water-bus tours are available near the Palais des Rohans (south of the cathedral). Those tours (about 45 min.) run around the town center and the European district.

• Gothic cathedral, built between 1176 and 1439, with a 142 meter tower (the highest cathedral tower in France)
• Maison Kammerzell (XVth century) (to the left of the front of the cathedral)
• Petite France district (XIIth - XVIth century)
• Palais des Rohans, french style palace, built after the acquisition of the town by the French (1681)
• Stockfeld, garden city built in the early XXth century in the south-east of the Neuhof (southern part of the town) (bus line 24)
• European district (bus lines 6, 30, 72) :
  • Council of Europe's seat (Le Palais de l'Europe) (1977), built by Henry Bernard
  • European Court of Human Rights (1995), built by Richard Rogers
  • European Parliament (1999), built by Architecture Studio
• ARTE headquarters (if you like this TV station). 4, quai du Chanoine Winterer, F-67080 Strasbourg Cedex. Near to the European district.
• B-line tramway terminus at Hoenheim (northern conurbation) (2001), built by the contemporary achitect Zaha Hadid.

Do

The Christmas market. Many places, but the most important and beautiful are place Broglie and place de la cathédrale, although they are crowded... The best place to drink hot wine (vin chaud) and to eat Christmas cookies (Brédalas).

Buy

From time to time, the city organizes a general market in vast parts of the center, where many street vendors offer various products and the shops join in with special discounts. Then, the city center on the island is partly closed for parking or driving and the trams don't go on the Rue des Francs Burgeois. The 29th July 2006 (a saturday) was such a day, information about regular market dates is hard to find on the net. If you manage to track down the date of this market, write it here and don't miss it.

There is a marché aux Puces (flea market) on rue de Vieil-Hopital on Wednesday and Saturdays. The Place des Halles, 24 place des Halles is a shopping center with about 110 shops and restaurants. Is is north of the center, walking distance. Open Mon-Fri 09:00 to 20:00, since June 2006 also Saturdays until 20:00.

Galeries Lafayettes and Printemps have shops, Galeries Lafayettes at rue du 22 Novembre, Primtemps is at 1-5 rue de la Haute Montée. Rue Hellebardes and Gutemberg offer designer clothes and Man's Clothes. Bruno Saint Hilaire has designer clothes for man and has a shop in 8 Rue Gutemberg. A low budget clothing shop is in 6 Rue de la Lanterne, offering second hand clothes. In the rue de Juifs are some gadget shops.

Eat

Alsacian specialities are numerous and can be eaten in many traditional restaurants, in the city or in the neighbourhood. Particularly you oughtn't visit Alsace without having the sauerkraut (choucroute in French). Other specialities include the Alsacian pork-butcher's meat, Flamenküche or flams (tartes flambées in French) which is a sort of wafer thin pizza made with onion-cream sauce, Baekehof, beef and pork stew cooked, with potatoes and carrots, usually served for two or more persons and Fleischnackas, mixed beef meat presented like spirals and served with salads.

Traditional restaurants

• Au petit bois vert, in the Petite France district : well cooked flams and alsacian specialities in a small room with smiling waiters. The cooker usually comes at the end of the evening. Great terrace during the summer under a big tree on the bank of the river. No reservation, mid-range prices. 1, Quai de la Bruche.
• Le Sanglier (The boar), in the Carré d'Or district, near the cathedral. A small restaurant with a traditional setting. If you want a Baekehof, you must inform the restaurant 24h before. Mid-range prices. Rue du Sanglier.
• A l'ancienne douane (To the old customs house), near the cathedral, next to the Ill river. A big restaurant for tourist groups. You are almost sure to find a place here even if you have no reservation. Mid-range prices. Rue de la Douane.

Modern restaurants

• Mooze, near Place Kleber : sushi restaurant. Sushi moves on a conveyor belt in front of you. Rue de la demi-lune.
• Tiger wok Oriental food. They cook your dish in front of you. Rue du faisan.

Budget

• La Gallia, the oldest university restaurant of France, in a 19th century building, built by the Germans (this explains the ceiling's decoration, with the 2nd Reich armoiries). It is the last university restaurant of France that is managed by students. Not a culinary triumph, but really cheaper prices. Quai du Maire Dietrich, near the Gallia tramway station (C-line).
• Zorba. Rue de Zurich. A little Greek restaurant in the Krutenau area. Sandwichs,souvlaki, kabaab.
• Al Boustane. Rue de la Krutenau. A Lebanese restaurant. Sandwichs, kabaab.
• Flam's. Rue des Frères (near the Cathédrale). [2] Restaurant with a flam theme, you can get any sort you might imagine. The winelist is amazing for a budget joint.
• L'Epicerie, 6 Rue du vieux seigle, sidestreet of Rue des Francs Burgeois. Main dish are various sandwiches "tartines", each costs about 4€. Food from noon to night. Tables on street and inside. Here two pictures: 1, 2

Mid range

• Chez Yvonne, in the Carré d'Or district, near the cathedral. Usually frequented by Jacques Chirac, when he comes to Strasbourg, because of its well known tête de veau (cooked veal head). More expensive.

• Rue du Sanglier. Considered by some to not be very good.

• La petite Mairie

• Chez Tante Lisele, in the Grand Rue. Very friendly.

Drink

• Beer : Alsace is the first beer-producing region of France and Strasbourg has many breweries. Best known are Kronenbourg and Fischer, whose factories can be visited for free, with free drinks at the end of the tour.
• Alsacian white wine : usually drunk with alsacian food, but also with fish.

Sleep

There are many hotels around the station, especially in the place de la Gare and in the rue du Maire Kuss. Most of Strasbourg's hotels are fully booked during the Christmas Market period (December) and when the EU parliament is in session.

Budget

• The Formule 1 hotel is a budget hotel located 55 route du Pont du Rhin. Tel : (+33)891705401.

Mid-range

• The Mercure Gare centrale hotel is a 3* hotel near the main train station of the city. Address: 14-15 Place de la gare. Tel : (+33)3/88157815.

Splurge

• The Sofitel hotel is located near the Cathedral and the Petite France in city centre. Address: 4 place Saint Pierre le Jeune. Tel : (+33)3/88154900.

Contact

Phone

Local cellphone service is mainly provided by Orange, SFR and Bouygues Télécoms.

Internet

There are many cyber-cafés on the quai des Pêcheurs, that stay open fairly late (B-line tramway, Gallia station).

Get out

• Haut-Koenigsbourg castle
• Alsacian wine road
• Colmar
• Kaysersberg
• Riquewihr
• Obernai

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