The single best reason to visit
Strasbourg is a lovely city with plenty of historic charm. It has half-timbered houses and pretty canals that look like they belong in a storybook. Yet let us be completely honest about why people really book their tickets.
They come to see the cathedral. The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg dominates the entire skyline. It is an absolute masterpiece of Gothic architecture that makes most other buildings look like boring concrete blocks.
You can try to focus on the local museums or the political institutions of the European Union. Your eyes will always wander back to that single massive spire. It is the true heart of the city and the ultimate reason to visit.
The golden beauty of the night
The cathedral is impressive during the day but the real magic happens after the sun goes down. The city turns on the floodlights and the whole structure undergoes a total transformation.
The building is made from a specific pink sandstone from the Vosges mountains. At night the artificial lights turn this stone into a glowing wall of warm gold. The thousands of detailed statues and intricate carvings seem to come alive in the shadows.
It is an amazing sight that stops tourists dead in their tracks. People stand in the surrounding square with their mouths wide open. It is probably the most beautiful free show in the whole country.
Winning the tourist numbers game
Strasbourg punches well above its weight when it comes to attracting crowds. The city welcomes around four million visitors every single year. That is a massive number for a place that is not a tropical beach resort and especially for a city that has less than 300 thousand inhabitants.
To put that into perspective you can look at other famous French cities. Strasbourg easily competes with heavyweights like Nice or Lyon or Bordeaux. Of course it cannot catch Paris because the capital is in a league of its own.
Still pulling in four million people to the eastern edge of France is a serious achievement. A huge portion of those travellers make the journey specifically to stand in front of the giant golden church.
Moving past the Christmas obsession
Most people associate Strasbourg with December. The city calls itself the capital of Christmas and the festive markets are world famous. The cathedral looks great surrounded by wooden chalets and the smell of mulled wine.
It is a mistake to think the city shuts down once the holiday decorations come away. The summer months have become incredibly popular for tourism too. The warm evenings are actually the perfect time to appreciate the building.
During the summer nights the city often puts on spectacular light shows directly on the facade of the cathedral. You can sit outside at a local café with a cold glass of Alsatian wine and enjoy the view without freezing your toes off. The golden giant is a spectacular host in any season.
