Strasbourg
Nothing prepares you for your first glimpse of Strasbourg's Cathédrale Notre-Dame, completed in all its Gothic grandeur in 1439. The lace-fine facade…
Must-see attractions in Alsace & Lorraine
Metz
The lacy golden spires of this Gothic cathedral crown Metz’ skyline. Exquisitely lit by kaleidoscopic curtains of 13th- to 20th-century stained glass, the…
Nancy
Lodged in a regal 18th-century edifice, Nancy's standout gallery occupies art lovers for hours. A wrought-iron staircase curls gracefully up to the 2nd…
Nancy
Nancy’s crowning glory is this grand neoclassical square and Unesco World Heritage Site. Designed by Emmanuel Héré in the 1750s, it was named after the…
Metz
Designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, with a curved roof resembling a space-age Chinese hat, the architecturally innovative Centre Pompidou-Metz is…
Strasbourg
Hailed as a ‘Versailles in miniature’, this opulent 18th-century residence is loaded with treasures. The basement Musée Archéologique takes you from the…
Strasbourg
History seeps through the twisting lanes and cafe-rimmed plazas of Grande Île, Strasbourg's Unesco World Heritage–listed island bordered by the River Ill…
Colmar
Gathered around a Gothic-style Dominican cloister, this revamped museum hides a prized medieval stone statue collection, late-15th-century prints by…
Alsace
France’s oldest winegrowers’ cooperative, which brings together 40 vintners, was founded in 1895. The huge, contemporary building contains a viniculture…
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery
Lorraine
The largest US military cemetery in Europe is this WWI ground, where 14,246 soldiers lie buried – a sobering sea of white crosses reaching as far as the…
Strasbourg
Criss-crossed by narrow lanes, canals and locks, Petite France is where artisans plied their trades in the Middle Ages. The half-timbered houses,…
Lorraine
Comprising 7km of underground galleries, this cavernous subterranean citadel was designed by military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban in the 17th…
Colmar
If you see just one thing in Colmar, make it the Little Venice quarter. Canal connection aside, it doesn’t resemble Venice in the slightest, but it's…
Alsace
On its fairy-tale perch above vineyards and hills, the turreted red-sandstone Château du Haut Kœnigsbourg is worth a detour for the wraparound panorama…
Alsace
Along the main street that threads through the old town, keep an eye out for the 17th-century Pfifferhüs, which once housed the town’s fife-playing…
Lorraine
This heart-rending museum, which, in the words of owner Jean-Paul de Vries, is all about ‘life stories’ and ‘the human being behind the helmet’. Artefacts…
Lorraine
Rising like a gigantic artillery shell above 15,000 crosses that bleed into the distance, this sombre, 137m-long ossuary, inaugurated in 1932, is one of…
Alsace
Three régions (Alsace, Franche-Comté and Lorraine) converge at the rounded 1247m-high summit of Ballon d’Alsace. The mountain is a scenic base for…
Strasbourg
Occupying a cluster of sublime 14th- and 16th-century buildings, this museum harbours one of Europe’s premier collections of Romanesque, Gothic and…
Parc Naturel Régional des Ballons des Vosges
Alsace
Head away from the crowds and into the serene Parc Naturel Régional des Ballons des Vosges, 3000 sq km of pristine greenery in the western Vosges. In…
Lorraine
Sitting high on a hill, this is the strongest of the 38 fortresses and bastions built along a 45km front to protect Verdun. When the Battle of Verdun…
Lorraine
The village of Fleury, wiped off the face of the earth in the course of being captured and recaptured 16 times, is now the site of this memorial. It tells…
Nancy
Once home to the dukes of Lorraine, the regal Renaissance Palais Ducal now shelters the Musée Lorrain. The rich fine arts and history collection…
Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain
Strasbourg
This striking glass-and-steel cube showcases an outstanding fine-art, graphic-art and photography collection. Besides modern and contemporary works of the…
Alsace
Ecomusée d’Alsace is a fascinating excursion into Alsatian country life and time-honoured crafts. Smiths, cartwrights, potters and coopers do their thing…
Lorraine
Located in crater-scarred countryside 10km northeast of Verdun, this fort was constructed between 1881 and 1884. It was the second fort – Douaumont was…
Strasbourg
Designed by Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi and opened in September 2012, France's biggest mosque (accommodating 1500 worshippers) sits on a bend in…
Strasbourg
A triumph of 17th-century engineering, the Barrage Vauban bears the architectural imprint of the leading French military engineer of the age – Sébastien…
Colmar
In the house where Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was born in 1834, this museum pays homage to the sculptor who captured the spirit of a nation with his…
Alsace
Life spirals around this market square, put to use each Thursday morning, where you’ll find the 16th-century hôtel de ville (town-hall building)…
Alsace
Set amid the vines, this delightful centre is home base for 200 free-flying storks; visit in spring and you're guaranteed to see hatchlings. Cormorants,…
Lorraine
Verdun had a significant military presence from the end of WWII until Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of NATO’s integrated military command in 1966…
Alsace
A stroll through the cobbled streets of the well-preserved medieval centre takes in the early Gothic church; the wall-mounted sundial, dating from 1711;…
Nancy
A highlight of a visit to Nancy, the Musée de l’École de Nancy brings together an exquisite collection of art-nouveau interiors, curvaceous glass and…
Nancy
A saunter through the charming old town takes in the silver-turreted, 14th-century Porte de la Craffe, Nancy’s oldest city gate, and place St-Epvre,…
Alsace
A stunning, romantic tribute to French art-nouveau designer René Lalique, the Musée Lalique harbours a collection assembling exquisite gem-encrusted and…
Strasbourg
Many of Strasbourg’s grandest public buildings, constructed when the city was ruled by the German Reich, huddle northeast of the Grande Île area in the so…
Metz
The largest single Maginot Line bastion in the Metz area was the 1000-man Fort du Hackenberg, whose 10km of galleries were designed to be self-sufficient…
Metz
Delve into the past at this trove of Gallo-Roman antiquities, hiding remnants of the city’s Roman baths and a statue of the Egyptian goddess Isis…
Alsace
Founded in 1452, this library’s stellar collection features a 7th-century book of Merovingian liturgy, a copy of Cosmographiae Introductio (printed in…
