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.
Overview
Grand-Est, created in 2016 from the historic provinces of Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, stretches along France's eastern frontier and wears its borderland history on its sleeve — French and Germanic influences blend in its architecture, its dialects and its cooking. Its capital, Strasbourg, is one of the most beautiful cities in France and a seat of European democracy: its soaring pink-sandstone Gothic cathedral, the canal-laced half-timbered quarter of Petite France and the whole island of the Grande Île are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, while the European Parliament and the Council of Europe sit just to the north. South of Strasbourg, the Alsace Wine Route threads for some 170 kilometres past flower-decked half-timbered villages — Riquewihr, Eguisheim, Kaysersberg — and the picture-perfect town of Colmar, whose 'Little Venice' canals and Unterlinden Museum (home to the Isenheim Altarpiece) anchor a region of Riesling and Gewürztraminer. To the west lies Champagne: Reims, where the kings of France were crowned in a Gothic cathedral that is itself a UNESCO site, and Épernay's Avenue de Champagne, beneath which millions of bottles age in chalk cellars — the famous houses of Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot, Moët & Chandon and others open their doors for tastings. The old province of Lorraine adds the elegant Art Nouveau of Nancy, whose Place Stanislas is among the finest squares in Europe, and Metz, with its luminous Gothic cathedral and the striking Centre Pompidou-Metz. Along the German border the Vosges mountains rise in rounded, forested 'ballons', laced with lakes, ridge-top roads (the Route des Crêtes), hiking trails and modest ski resorts around Gérardmer; quieter corners keep the memory of the First World War at Verdun. And each December, Strasbourg — the self-styled 'Capital of Christmas' — and towns across Alsace fill with the oldest and most celebrated Christmas markets in France. TGV trains put Strasbourg under two hours from Paris; the region is best explored by train between the cities and by car along the wine route and into the mountains.
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'.
Ways to Experience This Destination
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.
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.
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'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
Tourism & destination guides
Official Alsace tourism site — Strasbourg, Colmar, the Wine Route and its villages, gastronomy, Christmas markets, events and accommodation across Alsace.
Official Eurometropolitan tourist office of Strasbourg — the cathedral and Grande Île, Petite France, boat trips, guided tours, the European quarter and the Christmas market.
Official Reims tourist office — the coronation cathedral, Champagne house and cellar visits, the UNESCO vineyards and guided tours of the city.
Cities in Grand-Est
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