Features
A Day in Strasbourg
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A Day in Strasbourg
You awake early in the morning, and your time in this wonderful old city is limited. Here's what to do:
Spend an hour or so strolling around the historic center, visiting one of the daily produce markets and taking some photos
in the morning light. Bakers and pâtisserie (cake) shops will be open, and you may be tempted to nibble on something as you
go. Around mid-morning head for the Ill river, near the Palais Rohan, and buy your ticket for one of the 70-minute boat tours
of Strasbourg. On the tour you can sit back and listen to the English commentary about the city's history and important monuments.
The tour circles the central island, passing churches, fine buildings and flower-hung, timber-framed houses before heading
upstream to give you a glimpse of the modernistic glass and steel palaces housing the buildings connected with the European
Union.
Head next for the cathedral, timing your visit so that you'll be there at 12:30, when the marvelous astronomical clock swings
into action. For lunch there is a wide choice of pretty outdoor eating places. Try a local specialty, such as tarte flambée
(onion tart) or a beautifully presented salade composée (chef's salad).
If you enjoy museums, the afternoon's the time for checking out two of the best. At the top of the list is the Alsation Museum
(Musée Alsacien), closely followed by the Gothic treasures in the Museum of the Works of Our Lady (Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame).
After this, you may be ready for a drink at a sidewalk café.
Evenings in Strasbourg feature a special dinner in one of the dozens of superb restaurants; be sure to eat a local dish, or
follow the set menu, which is bound to be good. Afterward you can go to the movies (in English), a concert, enjoy a folklore
display or simply stroll through the atmospheric old streets, and have a nightcap at a music bar. For nightowls, there are
discos and clubs that stay open into the early hours.
Info:
Boat tours leave from the landing stage near the Palais Rohan daily on the half-hour 9:30-9, Apr.-Oct.; 9:30-5, late Nov-Dec
31; less frequently 10:30-1 and 2:30-4, rest of year. Call Bateaux Strasbourg-Fluvial (Phone:03 88 84 13 13) for details.
Admission: Moderate. Consult the tourist office about the 3-day inclusive “Strasbourg Pass” and for evening events.
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