Some days ago, I had the chance to spend a perfect weekend with friends. We visited the French city of Strasbourg and experienced the fantastic "route du vin" in the Alsace region. Read about this (highly recommendable) trip here...
What to do if you don't have much time to travel but you want to go abroad anyway? You choose a destination that is not too far away but still "different", right? So did my friends and I when we decided to do a weekend trip to the French city of Strasbourg, only about one hour away from Basel. We haven't known this city before but were absolutely amazed by this wonderful place! We were very lucky and the weather was just perfect- warm and sunny, so we enjoyed a weekend full of nice walks along the river, good food (and wine, off course! :-) ) , a lot of laughter and good talks. Why can't every weekend be like that?
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| You don't have to go to Thailand to have markets on a boat! |
We stayed in a great appartment that we had found with Air b'n'b - the gigantic cathedral was just in front of our nose! And other than other people, I love to be woken up by unusual sounds that make you aware of not being at home - such as the melodious (and admittedly very loud) ringing of the church bells in this case.
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| Good morning, Strasbourg! |
In the evening we took a long walk along the Rhine and found a very cool bar on a boat. I could have sit there for hours, just enjoying my drink, the view and my friends!
The next morning (after being woken up by bell ringing as I already described) we did like we think French people do: We went to a "boulanger" and bought some café and croissants. Ooh, comme la vie est belle! There was still morning mist hanging in the little streets of the old town, which gave a very special atmosphere.
After our petit-déjeuner and packing our things (I could have stayed much longer!!), we decided to do a little detour on our way home and take the "route du vin" (wine route) instead of the normal highway that would bring us straight home. We had discovered this route just the day before and I'm soo glad we did! The narrow and curvy "route du vin" runs from Marlensheim to Thann and on the way, we found a lot of very charming, little villages, nice restaurants, impressive vineyards, old chateaux... It was amazing and I couldn't stop taking pictures! I could have stopped at every vineyard and try the local wine, but unfortunately we didn't have enought time for that (added on my bucket list!).
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| The beautiful village of Riquewihr |
We arrived in Basel in the late afternoon - with a lot of fantastic impressions, nice memories - and an incredible thirst for good, French wine! :-)
Some tipps for Strasbourg and the Alsace region:
1. Strasbourg by boat: We did a boat tour on the Rhine to see the city from a different view. It was really worth it - even if it is quite touristy, you get a nice view of the city. I was also impressed by the watergates, that bring the boat to another level of altitude in no time. What a masterpiece in engineering (and I tell you, I'm not usually impressed by those kind of things!! :-) ).
2. Yummy Strasbourg: France is known for its food. There are plenty of (good) restaurants in Strasbourg but make sure you try the typical food of the region: Spaetzle, Flamkueche, choucroute- and a good (white) wine off course!
3. The "route du vin": Take this panoramic route if you drive from Strasbourg to Basle or vice-versa. It's soo nice to drive along vineyards and picturesque little villages! You won't regret it! Check out the website to learn more: https://www.elsass-weinstrasse.com/