Nestled along the border with Germany, the Alsace is one of France’s most unique regions. When I was planning a European rail trip, the region’s capital Strasbourg seemed like the perfect place to start. Strasbourg has a beautiful riverside setting, buildings straight out of a fairytale and that unusual mix of French and German influences. It’s small enough to be able to walk around but big enough to have plenty of places to eat and drink – and come winter it goes totally over-the-top as a Christmas wonderland. So here are my favourite things to do in Strasbourg.
Read more: Colmar, Alsace: A guide to France’s fairytale town
The best things to do in Strasbourg

Half-timbered houses in Strasbourg’s historic Petite-France district
Wander the streets of Petite-France
The Petite-France district is Strasbourg’s historic heart – with its narrow streets of half-timbered houses lining the canalside, decked out with colourful baskets of flowers. Originally the houses here were built for tanners, fishermen and millers, but today you’re more likely to find restaurants, hotels and gift shops. Despite being busy it’s still a really charming place to wander around the backstreets or stop for a drink along the waterfront.
One of the best views of Petite-France is from the terrace on top of the Barrage Vaubin, a 17th-century weir. From there you get a great view of the covered bridges – which slightly confusingly haven’t been covered for the last 300 years. There are also four square stone towers, which are all that’s left of the 14th-century ramparts that were built to protect the city.

The covered bridges from the top of Barrage Vaubin
Take a boat tour around the canals
Strasbourg’s old town is an island – the Grande Ile – encircled by canals and the River Ill. So one of the best things to do in Strasbourg is get a view from the water on a sightseeing boat tour (€13.50 for adults, runs up to 35 times a day and takes 70 mins). Some boats are open-top for sunny days and there’s a commentary in 12 languages so you know what you’re looking at.
The route starts in Petite-France, stopping at two locks because this area has a higher water level, then carries on through the tanners’ quarter, under the covered bridges, past the Barrage Vauban and the Neustadt Imperial Quarter. It also travels up the river to the modern buildings housing the European Quarter, European Court of Human Rights and Council of Europe.

A Strasbourg boat trip along the canals
Look out from Strasbourg cathedral
Gothic Strasbourg cathedral towers over the city – for over 200 years until 1874 it was the world’s tallest building. It was supposed to have two spires but only one was ever built, which you can see from over 30 miles away. You can’t climb to the top of the spire, but you can climb 320 steps to the cathedral’s viewing platform. You need a head for heights though as the spiral staircases run up the corners of the building so you can see right down to the ground.
From the top you can see as far as the Black Forest over the border in Germany on a clear day as well as having a bird’s eye view of the red roofs of the old city below. Back on ground level it’s worth popping inside the cathedral, especially on a sunny day when the light shines through the stained-glass windows. It also has one of the world’s largest astronomical clocks which strikes ‘noon’ (at 12.30pm!) with animated figures of the 12 Apostles parading in front of Jesus.

Views down to Strasbourg from the cathedral
Watch a light show
During the summer nights, Strasbourg’s cathedral and Barrage Vaubin are transformed into giant canvases for a sound and light show (shows last 10 mins and run several times a night from July to September). Each year the show is slightly different. This year the barrage transformed into everything from a train to a sea monster, all reflected in the water below.
Lights above, inside and under the arches help make it seem like the building has come to life. And at the cathedral the architecture was used really cleverly to make it seem like it was on fire or had demons crawling out through the stained glass windows. I’d never seen anything like it – but you can get an idea from this video of a previous show at the Barrage.

Illuminations at the Barrage Vaubin
Visit the European Parliament
With its ultra-modern towering glass and steel buildings, Strasbourg’s European District is a complete contrast to the history-filled cobbled streets of Petite-France. The city is the official seat of the European Parliament, with MEPs meeting here 12 times a year for plenary sessions in the impressive hemicycle – a 800-seat semicircular debating chamber. The Parliament building covers 220,000 square metres and is set around a central courtyard, 60 metres high.
Visitors can take a look around the building during normal opening hours (1pm–5pm Monday to Saturday plus 9.30am–12pm on Saturdays). The tour includes the parlamentarium, a 360-degree cinema with interactive displays explaining the role of the European Parliament. And if your visit coincides with one of the plenary sessions you can watch parliament in action.

The European Parliament
Try some Alsace specialities
The Alsace region is famous for its beer and wine – and Strasbourg is a great place to try some. Its dry Reislings are the most well-known but there are also other white wines like Gewürztraminer and sparkling Crémant d’Alsace. You can take a half-day tour of the Alsace wine region from Strasbourg to find out more. The Alsace is also France’s biggest beer producing region, and there are microbreweries in Strasbourg like Kohler-Rehm and Lanterne.
Soak up the alcohol with some traditional Alsatian traditional dishes. Try tarte flambée (a thin pizza covered with crème fraîche, onions and lardons), choucroute garnie (picked cabbage served with boiled potatoes and sausages) or bäckeoffe (a casserole made from beef, pork and lamb). And in winter fill up on bredele biscuits and vin chaud at the Christmas markets.

A Strasbourg winstub
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69 Comments
Beachbums1
August 11, 2014 at 2:00 pmGreat post and such beautiful photos!
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 9:46 amThanks so much, it was a really beautiful place!
Tricia A. Mitchell
August 11, 2014 at 2:04 pmAh, lovely Strasbourg! I used to live just an hour from Strasbourg, so made regular weekend pilgrimages there, and to villages throughout Alsace, to buy wine and cheese. Though I’ve made a few ascents of Strasbourg’s cathedral, I never did make it to a light show. Suppose that’s reason to return. 🙂
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 9:46 amIt’s always good to have a reason to go back! The light shows were so impressive, I was in awe of how they were created. Would love to go and explore more of the Alsace region sometime too.
colorsburst
August 11, 2014 at 2:24 pmthis is so wonderful :O 🙂 wanna go here someday. haha
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 9:48 amThanks – hope you do get to visit sometime!
Laura
August 11, 2014 at 2:52 pmI changed trains a few years ago in Strasbourg and was sad I didn’t have time to explore the city – and now I’m even sadder after looking at your beautiful photos! Looks like a lovely city.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 9:48 amIt’s definitely worth a visit sometime – it had such a nice feel to it and a good combination of a walkable size and enough to see and do.
Viaggiando con Bea
August 11, 2014 at 3:37 pmVery nice post. I’ve been in France several times and I really can’t decide which region or town I prefer. France is wonderful. You can’t miss going trough Loira Castle or Alsace (http://viaggiandoconbea.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/in-giro-per-lalsazia/), you can’t loose town like La Rochelle or Ile de Noirmoutieur (http://viaggiandoconbea.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/verso-la-loira-atlantica/).
Just make a little tour 🙂 trough my blog and perhaps you can discover places you’ve never seen. Bye Bea
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 9:56 amThanks for the tips Bea, I can’t believe there are so many parts of France that I still haven’t visited – enough to keep me going for a while yet!
Viaggiando con Bea
August 12, 2014 at 2:26 pmI suggest you “Loira Atlantca”. When I saw Bayonne, Dune du Pilar, La Rochelle or Ile de Re I couldn’t have ever immagined how much beautiful it was. Sorry for my English, probably I would have been able to transfer my feeling with my language. Ciaoo Bea
Gloria Espinoza
August 11, 2014 at 4:45 pmThis post gave me a new travel destination 🙂 i love your blog!
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 9:57 amThanks so much – and really glad to have introduced you to Strasbourg!
danceofdemocracyindia
August 11, 2014 at 7:13 pmGood description and so are the pics. Must say angles of pictures are great, providing perspective of the place. Thanks for sharing.
‘dod’ Rangers
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 9:58 amThanks, it’s a great place to photograph – so many different things to see!
Abby's Corner
August 11, 2014 at 8:50 pmReblogged this on Abby's Corner and commented:
All I want to do is travel. I should be a travel journalist.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 9:59 amThanks for reblogging!
Mani (A New Life Wandering)
August 11, 2014 at 9:13 pmI’d love to go. You convinced me. Especially after watching The Hundred-Foot Journey at the movie theater yesterday. I highly recommend it.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 10:00 amGlad to have convinced you! Thanks for the tip about the film too, I’d not heard of it but looks really interesting.
Jessica | Defining Wonderland
August 11, 2014 at 9:15 pmI did a Christmas-time river cruise a few years back and Strausbourg was definitely one of my favorite stops. They definitely do go all out for the holidays and I felt like a delighted fairy tale character walking around the snowy town, snapping photos and sipping glüwein. Absolutely wonderful and I’m so glad you made this town a part of your trip!
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 10:01 amI would love to see it at Christmas – I’m planning a long weekend in December so will have to see if I can squeeze in a return to Strasbourg as glüwein in the snow sounds like my type of thing for sure!
sduffey2014
August 11, 2014 at 11:57 pmSo incredible that there are such beautiful cities in the world I have never even heard of! Thanks for this post, it added yet another place for me to explore. 🙂
Lucy Dodsworth
August 13, 2014 at 9:48 amThanks – I’m always coming across new places I’d never heard about too – the travel list always gets longer rather than shorter!
JenR
August 11, 2014 at 11:59 pmStrasbourg is high on my list – I believe there is a statue of a great, great relative somewhere in the town square. Your comment about Christmas has me leaning towards planning a trip at that time of year but the light show on the cathedral looks amazing! It looks very similar to the show on the cathedral in Chartres.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 10:02 amHow funny – you will definitely have to go and find it then! It was lovely in summer but the photos from Christmas look so beautiful too – I will have to go and try it out to properly compare them!
Roberto Rodriguez
August 12, 2014 at 1:13 amNice pictures and report. I have been to Strasbourg twice and it is really a beautiful city, very inspiring and romantic. I also recommend to all travellers there to visit the region around, the little town of Colmar for instance, it’s picture perfect.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 10:03 amThanks, I would love to go and see more of the Alsace region too – I have heard Colmar is lovely so that might be my next stop!
1beccainamillion
August 12, 2014 at 5:20 amI love Strasbourg! I just completed over four months of studying abroad there. The picture you used in the section about the canal boat tours- that was a high school where I was working to help students develop English skills. It was lovely to hear the perspective of a fresh visitor to my favorite city!
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 10:04 amWhat a great place to study abroad – and how funny that I used a photo of your school! I can see why it’s your favourite city, I really fell for it too in only a few days there.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 12, 2014 at 9:59 amThanks for reblogging!
Packing my Suitcase
August 12, 2014 at 12:31 pmOhh I love Strasbourg, its a very pretty city! I went there in 2008. The only thing I haven’t done was watching this light show. Great post and pictures 😀
Lucy Dodsworth
August 13, 2014 at 9:48 amThe light show was really impressive – I’ve seen them before but this was a whole different level!
Packing my Suitcase
August 14, 2014 at 9:08 amYes!!! It looks amazing, I can tell by the picture, and Im sure that in person was even more! 🙂
bevchen
August 12, 2014 at 2:09 pmThe illuminations look amazing!
I’ve been to Strasbourg so many times (it’s just down the road from where I live) and it never seems to get old. I definitely like it better than Paris 🙂
Lucy Dodsworth
August 13, 2014 at 9:49 amWhat a great place to have almost on your doorstep! I really loved it there and hope to go back and see it in the winter sometime too.
Francesca (@WorkMomTravels)
August 12, 2014 at 10:12 pmI always thought I’d love Strasbourg, and now I’m convinced! I’m a sucker for canals and those buildings do look like something out of a fairy tale. Nicely done!
Lucy Dodsworth
August 13, 2014 at 9:50 amIt does have that fairytale look – you almost expect Hansel and Gretal or the Seven Dwarves to come out of one of the houses in Petite France!
Chasing Sunsets
August 13, 2014 at 8:54 amYou find the best of things in the little places. I have never heard of this place before but now I only wish I had gone there during my trip to France.
Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and choose a place in the map. Maybe that works!
Lucy Dodsworth
August 13, 2014 at 9:51 amThere’s definitely something to be said for trying the lesser-known places out, there are some real gems around!
Ellen
August 13, 2014 at 7:08 pmGreat post and captivating pictures. Makes me want to go there!!
Lucy Dodsworth
August 14, 2014 at 2:35 pmThanks Ellen, it’s a lovely place and hope you get to visit someday!
Darlene
August 14, 2014 at 3:08 amWhat an enchanting place. I really must visit there sometime soon. A perfect place to spend your birthday.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 14, 2014 at 2:34 pmIt was great – there was a huge firework display on July 14th and live music and dancing in the park, so couldn’t think of a better birthday venue!
Kinisi
August 15, 2014 at 6:38 amI love Strasbourg! I have family that live there so always try to stop in there at least for a couple of days. It’s such a beautiful little city – I love all of the canals that snake around it all, and the gorgeous blend of French & German architecture.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 15, 2014 at 11:15 amLucky you having family to visit there! I thought it was a lovely city, totally agree about the mix of French and German influences, it makes it such a unique place.
Pola (JettingAround) (@jettingaround)
August 15, 2014 at 7:14 amNice photos! As much as I love Paris, I really should see more of France. Strasbourg looks beautiful and I’d gladly jump on one of those canal tours.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 15, 2014 at 11:15 amIt’s only a couple of hours on the train from Paris so easy to combine the two (I can never stay away from Paris either!).
Anne Klien
August 15, 2014 at 5:28 pmThat place looks stunning, love to go there one day.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 18, 2014 at 10:56 amIt is a really pretty place – especially around Petite-France with all the half-timbered buildings and baskets of flowers!
thebritishberliner
August 18, 2014 at 9:16 amGreat post Lucy. Surprisingly, I have never been to Strausberg (head bowed in shame), but I certainly want to. I love cities that border countries. So intriguing!
Lucy Dodsworth
August 18, 2014 at 10:56 amIt’s not too far from you in Berlin either! I agree with you on the border cities, they always have a unique mixture from the two different countries.
restlessjo
August 18, 2014 at 8:48 pmNow, how the heck do I get there from here Lucy? 🙂 It’s been on my radar for a while but never in a serious way, but you make it look exquisite and absolutely my kind of place. I’ll have to investigate. Lovely place for your birthday and I hope it was wonderful.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 19, 2014 at 2:44 pmIt’s about two hours on the train from Paris Jo so you can easily do a two-centre trip (or even a daytrip, though it warrants a couple of days to explore I’d say!). Had a lovely birthday thanks – the fireworks were amazing and always nice to celebrate with some fab French food and wine.
WritingDog
August 21, 2014 at 2:41 pmHey Lucy, I like your blog, I can see you are dedicated to your travels! Which parts of the world do you like most? I see you write about a whole range of countries, cold ones like the Scandinavian countries but also way up there in the Middle East. I personally like the countries in Asia a lot. China, Thailand, Mongolia etc. I’ve just returned from a trip to North Korea. If you want you can check it out at my own blog 🙂
Lucy Dodsworth
August 23, 2014 at 10:41 amI’m not sure I could really pick a favourite – it changes all the time! I’ve really been loving the mountains this year with trips to Austria and Norway, but I think it might change and be back to the coast next year! It been a while since I was in Asia too so am overdue a return visit – North Korea sounds fascinating, will check out your stories!
juanalirojas
August 21, 2014 at 6:24 pmReblogged this on juanalirojasderechoenlinea and commented:
Some day…
Alec
August 22, 2014 at 9:27 pmAs if I needed another reason to pack up and move to France :). Beautiful.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 23, 2014 at 10:39 amI’ve always had a read soft spot for France too – it has such a huge range of places to visit!
Suzanne Jones
August 24, 2014 at 9:38 pmWhat a stunning view of the town from the Cathedral! Strasbourg looks like a lovely place to visit – I’d love to see the light show it sounds excellent.
Lucy Dodsworth
August 25, 2014 at 11:32 amThe light show was fantastic! It’s a really pretty little city, great for a weekend trip.
marinabgreviews
September 12, 2014 at 5:40 pmI really love the way you explain Strasbourg and now i think i definately have to see it 🙂 Will put ont the waiting list for the next year.
Lucy Dodsworth
September 14, 2014 at 10:43 amThat’s great – hope you have a great trip when you do make it out there!
Ron
August 7, 2017 at 9:17 amWonderful old city ! Thank you, Madam ! ( I think many german poets lived there)
Lucy
August 7, 2017 at 10:15 amThanks, glad you liked the post!
Stuart Forster
May 2, 2019 at 10:02 amThe region’s Cremant can be very good! I’d love to be sitting at a cafe looking at some of those gorgeous half-timbered houses sipping a glass now.
Lucy
May 14, 2019 at 4:15 pmLove Cremant – and it’s great value too!
Janine Marsh
May 4, 2019 at 11:30 amThanks for the inspiration in this post – fabulous!
Lucy
May 14, 2019 at 4:13 pmYou’re very welcome!
Ron
January 6, 2020 at 1:06 pmVery romantic !
“How fair doth Nature
Appear again!
How bright the sunbeams!
How smiles the plain!
The flow’rs are bursting
From ev’ry bough,
And thousand voices
Each bush yields now…”