One week from Paris to Frankfurt -- suggested Itinerary?

We are a family of 4 touring Paris and then we have 6 days to get to Frankfurt. Any suggestions on how to spend those 6 days? Hiring a car seems to be a problem because we would be dropping off in another country. Strasbourg seems to be a logical place to spend some time. What else? Suggestions?

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%26gt;Hiring a car seems to be a problem because we would be dropping off in another country%26gt;

Why not returning the car in Strasbourg?

Strasbourg is not only well worth seeing but also a good starting point for trips to Colmar, the Vosges mountains, the Alsace and Baden wine routes, the black forest high-street, Baden-Baden etc....

france-for-visitors.com/alsace/vosges/route-…

http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/

http://www.baden-baden.de/en/index.html

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Why not take the train from Paris to Strasbourg, it is very fast and efficient. Rent a car and spend a few days exploring Alsace and the Vosges, maybe with a trip to the Black forest or Switzerland. Then carry on by train to Frankfurt.

Colmar is a must see, it is one of my favourite places in France.

If driving the from Paris then I would reccomend a stop of in Reims also.

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Thanks to both. I think I%26#39;ll rent a car in Paris and stop in Remis as suggested and spend a few days around Strasbourg before droppiing off the car and taking the train to Frankfurt. Much appreciated.

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Driving from Paris to Strasbourg and with time to stop and enjoy should be lots of fun. Other than Reims - you have many options - Dijon, Verdun, Metz - even Luxemburg. I would go to the library and borrow a guidebook on France to identify which place(s) are most desirable to you. A night or two in one or two of those towns and then two nights in Strasbourg or nearby in Alsace will probably be a very nice trip.

My wife and I did the reverse- we rented a car in Germany and drove to Strasbourg and Alsace before returning the car back in Germany. Remember there is no reason why you can%26#39;t drive out of France, so you could even go into Switzerland, or up to the Rhine/Mosel Valleys in Germany, or to see Heidelberg. Just return your car in France to avoid the crazy fees...

We spent one night in Strasbourg and two in Alsace along the wine route, but I hesitate to give advice since we were traveling as childless couple. I also don%26#39;t know how well your family does on long car trips or dragging bags through train stations. You can certainly get around Strasbourg itself without a car, so perhaps you may want to keep the car for three days as you drive from Paris via Reims (etc). Then spend two nights/one full day in Strasbourg without a car before getting on the train toward Frankfurt, with a stop along the way in Heidelberg. If you go straight from Strasbourg to Frankfurt (and be careful- the trains do not run that frequently), then you have four days to drive between Paris and Strasbourg...

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Thanks Mvplevine;

My plans change every time I investigate more. We%26#39;re now taking the highspeed train to Strasbourg and spending two nights there before taking the train up to the rheineland and spending the next 4 days exploring castles, doing a boat cruise, etc before flyiing out of Frankfurt. I think I can avoid renting a car completely and using the train. We%26#39;ll just have to make sure that we pack light.

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Sounds like fun! Rick Steves has a nice free discussion of tips of the Rheinland on his website.

You might want to look into the boat rides up the Rhein. I think one or two tours start in Strasbourg, but you may be best off starting from Frankfurt or even Rudesheim. If you are taking the train, be sure to take the slower one that runs along the river!

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