Diana Dauphine is a good option if you want to stay close enough to the old city center. The hotel is located in the old city building but the rooms are comfy and relatively spacious. In all the aspects, the amenities and the level of comfort justify the price. The only thing you should be aware of in case you arrive by car is that you have to cross the tramway line in order to enter the narrow hotel parking entrance, which is not obviuos from the 1st glance, especially . You also may experience some difficulties if you drive an SUV or carry a roof box: in this case you'd better find some parking space in the block (which may be difficult in this district) due to the limited height of the parking entrance. I have to say that the Strasbourg tramway isn't noisy and won't bother you even if you have a room with street view.

This is part of the Accor group of hotels and although it is one of the more budget options, the rooms were a good size, everything clean, everyone friendly and a good location. Along with a nice breakfast buffet thrown in, can't ask for too much more!! Oh and free wi fi if you feel the need to waste your time in such a lovely city by being online!!

On our way to visiting family in Switzerland, my mother and I needed a cheap place to spend the night, half way our journey. We decided on Strasbourg and checked for affordable hotels in the area. Formula 1 hotels came up on the map 4 times. Cheap it is, for only € 34 per room, per night. A room that is suitable for three people, making it € 11.33 per head. For that little money, little luxury is provided. Toilets and showers are out in the hall, shared with at least 12 other (mostly fully booked) rooms. The walls are made of the thinnest cardboard, the floors bounce with every step you take. Loud drunken youth and early up and about construction workers occupied the other rooms of our wing. A noisy experience was the result. The rooms are clean and tidy enough though. Drinks are available in a vending machine, breakfast sets you back only € 4.00 but is still overpriced because of poor quality. If you are young, don't have money, not expecting luxury and you’re the last one to go to bed, this is your place! My nearly 70 year old mother however, will not be returning to a Formula 1 hotel.

coming soon   

”To bring two cultures together, one has to build a bridge between them”, is a popular saying. Another saying goes: a relationship is like a garden, when well nurtured and maintained, it blooms in abundance. With these sayings in mind, Strasbourg and Kehl, both cities on either side of the Rhine between France and Germany, erected a 150-hectare garden with a beautiful bridge as a tangible symbol of Franco-German friendship. This garden is called ‘Jardin des deux rives’, or the Two Shores Garden. The bridge (La Passerelle Mirmam) by Parisian architect Marc Mirmam, is a modern structure accessible only for pedestrians, bikers and people in a wheelchair. The bridge connects the two sides of the garden, which is a unique place to visit. Besides enjoying a stroll, numerous cultural events and attractions that are organised on a regular basis, can be visited. These include a temporary gardens competition, flower shows, music, dance and street theatre events. There are also stables, a circus tent and many sculptures scattered throughout the gardens. Visiting these gardens is free and very relaxing. When walking through the garden, you lose the notion of being amidst two large and bustling cities. If you are on a European tour, hurrying from one busy town to the next buzzing city, and you find yourself near Strasbourg, make sure to visit the gardens where the serenity will help you come to your senses.

Strasbourg was really, really nice. I've been told that most french cities aren't like Strasbourg. It was clean, and people were way polite. I visited a few places on my friend's recommendations. Tried a crepe (even ordered it myself in french!) I wondered around town with a new friend I met coming out of the hostel. We saw Little France, the cathedral, and other sites around the city center. We also saw a Serbian demonstration, and saw somebody get taken down and dragged away after he threw some potatoes and the leftist. After the night ended, I went out again around midnight. I managed to find this bar open and spent a few hours there. I also managed to get lost. Since I didn't know where I was, I couldn't find my way back. I ended up wondering around for an hour, got a person to guide me for another hour (though i think he was leading me in the wrong direction) and finally I saw the cathedral and found my way back after being lost for three hours. I spend the next day recovering and ended up staying an extra night just to spend some time in the city.

What a cold night!! we went to a walk through the city. All Christmas Lights were still shining. The town center is incredible. You feel like if you were in Middle Ages!

Before heading to Switzerland, we had to make a stop by my house first. My wife had a birthday coming up while we were in Switzerland and I needed to get my gift for her. It had proved to be impossible to prepare, wrap and store the gift without my wife noticing, so I postponed that to the very last minute. Now that she was out of my way (so to speak), I finally had the time to gift-wrap and write a card to go with the present.

That being done, we headed out once more, but this time truly on our way to 'La Suisse'. Somewhere deep in the Belgium Ardennes, the forecasted black ice hit us, and it hit us hard. Although the roads were well prepared and not slippery at all, the car was a completely different story. The temperatures out side, combined with the wind chill factor of the moving vehicle made the car so damn cold, that the rain froze as it hit the windscreen. Covered in unbelievable amounts of ice, the windshield wipers stopped working all together. We drove slowly to the nearest parking area and cleared the wipers and the windshield of the ice. The car has windshield heating and an especially for the winter adapted window screen wash, so we thought we would be OK. But you know how it goes with guys and thinking… after a mile or two we were looking out for the nearest parking possibility again. The electronic window heater, even when combined with the blower at full heat and strength, seemingly had no effect. When the alcohol drenched screen wash was applied, it became even worse. So yet to another parking space we trotted. And after that, again and again and again. We ended up driving all night from parking area to parking area so we could chop the ice of the screen, the blades, the grill and other vital parts of the car. In hindsight, it would have been better to find a hotel but as I said; guys and thinking… well, to bad. Lucky for us it was Christmas, hardly anyone else was on the road. The important thing is; we made it safely through the night.

It was about six in the morning when we were in the vicinity of Strasbourg and I was treated to one of the best sunrises ever. In all fairness, I don't get to see much sunrises, for I am not a morning person. However, even the most die-hard early birdie there is, would consider this sunrise spectacular. Although, it wasn't so much the sunrise as it was the scenery. The moist air, the lack of wind and the extremely low temperatures covered everything and anything in a thick layer of frost. Combine that with this morning's pink light and what do you get? Great photographs for one thing, as you can see in below pictures.

Visited our largest Christmas market today, in Strasbourg, just across the border into France - birthplace of Arsene Wenger for those who follow English football!  This market is huge, spread out over about 8 sites around the city, all with different themes.  It is also Europe's oldest Christmas Market, apparently, having begun in 1570.  Now being the weekend, there were people everywhere and it was often quite difficult to look at the stalls as you kept being carried along by the crowd, particularly in the area around the massive cathedral (we didn't even attempt to go in, the queues were so enormous).  We wandered all over town and think we saw every market, with everything from food and handicrafts to books and an enormous Christmas tree.  There was even a market selling products from Quebec, which was this year's cultural exchange city.  We weren't able to take a river cruise as the water was flowing too fast and high after heavy rains, but we could have taken a horse and carriage ride if we'd wished.  Strasbourg is a lovely city, and at this time of year there is plenty to see.  We tried the local vin chaud and got our souvenir market mug and stopped in a little cafe for coffee and mini kugelhopfs.  All in all, a great day and most enjoyable.  We walked back to the coach park instead of taking the tram, and slept most of the way back to our hotel, having walked our little feet off today!

It was a pity that the water in the river was too high, that is why is was not possible to take the boat. I’m an experienced Christmas shopper, but I never have seen so many people at a Weihnachtsmarkt (= market where they sell Christmas stuff).

Strasbourg is a French town, but it feels a little bit German. There is a big and beautiful church. I visited Strasbourg only for 1 day. That is way to short. I hope I’ll  comeback some day.

Do not go on a Saturday. I read that in this time of the year 500.000 people visit the city on a Saturday or Sunday but I think that there were many more people.

A cosy pub with over 70 beers on offer. Buzzing atmosphere (on Friday night anyway)very near to Petite France. Didn't eat here but they do offer food as well.

We just stop here suring the night so that we could rest a little bit on the car and see the European parlament by night.

when your in Strasbourg and you are looking for a typical regional food, there is this lovely square behind the cathedral where you have a nice choice of different restaurants who offer all the local specialties like: tarte flambée and choucroute with eisbein .... but you get ordinary food as well. the waiters speak several languages most German and English. this scare is between a row of houses and you can only get glimbs from the street. it is less crowded than the one right next to the cathedral and it feels very French. at night you find there many young people enjoying a beer after work. but they don't serve dinner before 19.00 a clock, like in the rest of the city!