Strasbourg City Guide

Cathedral, Petite France & Ill

From the Gothic pink-sandstone cathedral with its astronomical clock, past the carved Maison Kammerzell and the museum Palais Rohan to the broad Place Kléber. On into the half-timbered tanners' quarter La Petite France with its canals, to the Ponts Couverts and up onto the Barrage Vauban with the finest view back, then by boat on the Ill and up to the Prussian showpiece Place de la République.

1. Cathédrale Notre-Dame – The walk begins at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, for over two centuries the tallest building in Christendom. Its pink sandstone façade is a marvel of Gothic stonemasonry, and inside the astronomical clock draws all eyes with its daily parade of figures. Climb the 330 steps to the platform to overlook the old town, the Rhine and, on clear days, the Black Forest.
2. Maison Kammerzell – Right on the cathedral square stands the Maison Kammerzell, one of France's finest half-timbered houses. Its stone ground floor dates from 1467, the three richly carved upper floors with their bull's-eye panes were added in 1589. Every window sill tells, in woodcarving, of biblical figures, musicians and the signs of the zodiac - a Renaissance masterpiece, today a restaurant.
3. Palais Rohan – On the bank of the Ill rises the Palais Rohan, the Baroque residence of Strasbourg's prince-bishops, a palace in the style of French grandeur. Today it holds three museums at once: the Musée des Beaux-Arts with Old Masters, the archaeological museum in the basement and the decorative-arts museum with the sumptuous prince-bishops' state rooms. A combined ticket opens all three.
4. Place Kléber – Place Kléber is Strasbourg's great central square, lined with Neoclassical façades and dominated by the statue of General Kléber, beneath which he is buried. On the north side stands the Aubette, a former guardhouse. In Advent the square becomes the heart of the famous Christkindelsmärik, with a giant Christmas tree.
5. La Petite France – La Petite France is Strasbourg's loveliest corner: the former quarter of tanners, millers and fishermen, where canals of the Ill thread through a tangle of narrow lanes. Half-timbered houses with steep roofs and drying lofts mirror in the water, above all on the Rue du Bain-aux-Plantes. Over little bridges and locks you stroll through a picture book of Alsatian romance.
6. Ponts Couverts – At the western end of the Grande Île the Ponts Couverts span the four arms of the Ill: a row of bridges guarded by four massive 13th-century watchtowers, remnants of the medieval city walls. They owe their name to the wooden roofs that once covered them - open today, but the fortified character remains.
7. Barrage Vauban – Just behind the Ponts Couverts, the Barrage Vauban, a defensive dam built by Vauban in 1690, blocks the Ill - in an emergency it could flood the plain south of the city. From the freely accessible roof terrace opens the walk's finest view: the vista back over the four watchtowers of the Ponts Couverts and the roofs of La Petite France.
8. Batorama Boat Tour – From the pier behind the Palais Rohan the Batorama boats set off on a cruise along the Ill. From the water the Grande Île shows its finest side: through La Petite France, over the locks of the Ponts Couverts and out into the modern European district with the European Parliament and the Court of Human Rights. The daytime tour is best for a clear view of the façades.
9. Place de la République – To finish, the Place de la République, the monumental heart of the Neustadt that the German Empire laid out after 1871. Around a circular park cluster Prussian showpiece buildings: the former imperial palace, the national and university library and the Théâtre National. The wide, green square with its magnolias forms a charming contrast to the medieval old town - and makes Strasbourg's double face visible.