Grand-Est, France

State guide with cities, regions, and key information.

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Introduction
Grand-Est runs along France's eastern border with Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and Switzerland — a region of vineyards, half-timbered villages, great cathedrals and forested mountains that brings together the historic provinces of Alsace, Champagne and Lorraine. For travellers it means Strasbourg, the cathedral city that is also a capital of Europe; the Alsace Wine Route and the storybook town of Colmar; the Champagne houses and coronation cathedral of Reims; the Art Nouveau of Nancy and the museums of Metz; and the lakes, ridges and ski slopes of the Vosges — with one of Europe's great Christmas-market traditions to crown the year.

Discover Grand-Est

Strasbourg is the capital of Grand-Est and one of France's most captivating cities, its historic core — the Grande Île — a UNESCO World Heritage Site in its entirety. At its heart soars the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture in pink Vosges sandstone, its single 142-metre spire long the tallest building in Christendom and its interior home to a celebrated astronomical clock; climbing the tower gives a view across the rooftops to the Black Forest. Around it spreads a city of Germanic half-timbered houses and elegant squares, most beautifully in Petite France, the former tanners' quarter where canals, locks and flower-hung timber houses make the prettiest corner of the city. Strasbourg is also a seat of European democracy: the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights occupy a modern quarter just north of the centre, reachable by tram or along the Ill. The city's café and winstub culture — Alsatian wine bars serving tarte flambée and choucroute — and its position on the Rhine make it feel as much Central European as French. Each December the Christkindelsmärik, the oldest Christmas market in France (dating to 1570), turns the whole city into the self-proclaimed 'Capital of Christmas'.

Travel Types

Strasbourg & the European Capital

The UNESCO Grande Île, the pink-sandstone cathedral and astronomical clock, canal-laced Petite France, the European institutions and the oldest Christmas market in France.

Alsace Wine Route & Colmar

The 170 km wine road through half-timbered villages — Riquewihr, Eguisheim, Kaysersberg — Colmar's Little Venice and Unterlinden Museum, and Riesling and Gewürztraminer at the source.

Champagne — Reims & Épernay

The coronation cathedral of Reims, the chalk cellars and grand houses (Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot, Moët & Chandon) and the UNESCO Champagne hillsides and wine roads.

Nancy, Metz & the Vosges

Nancy's Place Stanislas and Art Nouveau, Metz's stained-glass cathedral and Centre Pompidou-Metz, and the lakes, ridge roads and skiing of the Vosges mountains.

Frequently asked questions

Very much so — Strasbourg's whole historic island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and two days let you do it justice. See the Gothic cathedral and its astronomical clock, wander the canals and half-timbered houses of Petite France, take a boat trip on the Ill past the European institutions, and eat in a traditional winstub. Strasbourg also makes the perfect base for the Alsace Wine Route and Colmar to the south, and it is at its most magical during the December Christmas markets — though also at its busiest.

The Route des Vins d'Alsace runs about 170 kilometres along the foot of the Vosges between Marlenheim and Thann, and a car is the easiest way to follow it, hopping between half-timbered villages like Riquewihr, Eguisheim and Kaysersberg and stopping at family wineries to taste Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Crémant. Colmar makes the natural base, and guided minibus tours run from Colmar and Strasbourg for those who would rather not drive. Late spring through the autumn harvest is the prime season, and December adds the village Christmas markets.

Yes — this is the heart of Champagne, and the famous houses open their chalk cellars for guided tours that end in a tasting. In Reims you can visit names like Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot, Pommery and Ruinart; Épernay's Avenue de Champagne lines up Moët & Chandon, Mercier and others. Book ahead, especially in summer and at weekends. Reims is about 45 minutes from Paris by TGV, making a cellar visit and a drive through the UNESCO-listed vineyards an easy day or overnight trip.

Cities in Grand-Est

1 city with detailed travel information

Strasbourg