Me and my son have a day off to roam, and after spending 6 months with a guest family in France last year, he's itching to practice his French. As France is close by (we live not far from Basel), does anyone have a recommendation for a day trip just over the border? Been going regularly to Saint Denis for groceries, nice town but not really a "destination". Colmar is nice, but overrun with tourists. Any tips? Never been to Mulhouse for example, is it worth an afternoon? Any tips appreciated!

Alsace, Rhiquwihr, Kayzererg

Car museum in Mulhouse, Colmar, etc.

Tom

https://www.grandesetapes.com/chatea...nbourg-alsace/

Oh yes the Schlumpf auto museum, then the amaizing train museum, then there is the citadel at Belfort, then off to the Grand Ballon and don´t knock Colmar where you can see one of the last remaining "Judensau" sculptures in the world.

Monkey Mountain in selestat, and there are 2 or 3 castles there, one with an aviary. Its a nice day but limit chance to speak and practice French I suppose.

Strasbourg of course and the villages around Colmar as have been mentioned.

You could also consider Dijon, which depending where you are 'not far from Basel' could be a possible longer day trip.

Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle and a visit to one of the small picturesque towns nearby (mentioned earlier in the thread) would make a nice day out.

Monkey mountain, 90km from Basel, but worth the trip. There's a nearby bird of prey park, Volerie des Aigles, that can easily be included in the day.

Actually I find that the Vogese are far better place to visit than the Black forest, the German side of the rift. For one they are not overrun with touries and two it feels more natural than the artificial clichee you find in the Black forest.

I would second the train museum and the car museum.

Another cool (any not so well known) place is Neuf Brisach. A well preserved baroque era citadel.

Been to both!

Tom

The stork park is pretty cool as well.

Tom

Here is train museum link : https://www.citedutrain.com/


I never knew about it but guess a visit is in order !

So we ended up going to Mulhouse with the goal of visiting the train and/or car museums. Ended up spending all our time in the old town, and will definitely go back again to see the museums another time! Takeaway:


- Unlike Colmar and the rest, Mulhouse is a real French city and not mainly a tourist attraction (even has a noticeable Muslim and African population).

- Nice charming old town with plenty of place to eat, shop and just sit outside in the main square.
- In retrospect, taking the train would have been better than driving. They are upgrading the motorway which added 30 minutes to the drive. It's only 30 minutes from Basel by train.
- They have an excellent tram system that runs regularly throughout the city.
Fun fact: Mulhouse was once part of the alliance of (what would become) Swiss Kantons allied against the Habsburgs.

Will go back again!

I went to the Christmas Market at Mulhouse last year, it was very pretty.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Ronchamp. It's about 1 hour by car and has a very interesting church by Le Corbusier which makes a nice day trip.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartmannswillerkopf

walk the trenches. see the cemetary.

If you have a car:

WWII concentration camp in the Vosges:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natzweiler-Struthof


hike and visit the crash site (intermediate hike)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Inter_Flight_148

then go here for lunch / walk the grounds:
http://www.mont-sainte-odile.com/

Mulhouse, Saverne, Eguisheim (best Christmas market, even in the days after x-mas; but warning: as this is a circle shaped old town it is common to be hard pressed to find back to the parking lot, so be careful with the vin chaud), Strasbourg, further out west in Epinal: super dining ... etc. , just explore.

Me too. I really enjoyed Mulhouse, and will be going back.