Colmar is located in Alsace, part of the new Grand Est region of Champagne-Ardenne-Alsace-Lorraine. It is a charming old city with half-timbered houses, narrow streets and canals. It is famous for the spectacular Issenheim Altarpiece in the Musée d’Unterlinden, which has undergone a major renovation. The altarpiece is one of the largest religious masterpieces in Europe, but Colmar has many other attractions, including the Bartholdi Museum, the New York Liberty State sculptor who was born here.
Colmar also has a great Christmas market. Colmar is a surprisingly underrated city, just 50 minutes by train from Strasbourg.
Colmar tourist office
4 rue Unterlinden
Tel.: 00 33 (0) 3 89 20 68 92
Website
Paris to Colmar by train
TGV trains to Colmar depart from Gare de l’est in Paris (Place du 11 Novembre, Paris 10 th arrondissement) throughout the day.
Transport covers at Gare de l’Est
Metro
- Line 4: Porte de Clignancourt to Porte d’Orleans
- Line 5: Bobigny-Pablo Picasso in Port d’Italie
- Line 7: La Coureuve 8 May 1945 in Ville Juif to Louis Aragon
For buses and RER lines , see the Paris bus map
Connections to Colmar
There are regular daily TGV return trains between Paris and Colmar that take 2 hours and 55 minutes. There are also trains from Paris with changes in Strasbourg and Mulhouse, which take from 3 hours to 48 minutes.
Colmar has regular services to Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Bale / Basle, Metzeral and Nancy and Brussels.
Colmar Station is on Avenida de la República, a 10-minute walk from the center of Colmar.
Book your train ticket
- From the US book On Rail Europe
- From the UK book on voyages-sncf (formerly Rail Europe UK)
Get to Colmar by plane
Two international airports serve Colmar, both operate direct or connecting flights to all European capitals and the rest of the world.
- Strasbourg-Entzheim Airport is 44 miles (70 kms) from Colmar by road. Driving takes around 50 minutes.
There is also a direct train between the airport and Strasbourg station, with train connections to Colmar.
Strasbourg-Entzheim Airport has direct flights to 24 destinations, including major French cities, as well as Algiers, Amsterdam, Brussels, Casablanca, Djerba, London Gatwick, Madrid, Marrakech, Porto, Prague, Rome and Tunis.
- EuroAirport ( Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Airport ) is 44 miles (70 kms) from Colmar by road. Driving takes around 45 minutes.
EuroAirpot flies to 86 destinations, including major French cities, as well as North Africa, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, and many Eastern European countries.
- For international flights from the USA . In the US , you will have to change in Europe as Frankfurt is a typical transfer airport.
Paris to Colmar by car
The distance from Paris to Colmar is approximately 304 miles (490 kms), and the journey takes around 5 hours 30 minutes, depending on your speed. There are tolls on the Autoroutes.
Car rental
For information on how to rent a car under the return lease scheme which is the cheapest way to rent a car if you are in France for more than 17 days, try the Renault Eurodrive Buy Back Leasing.
How to get from London to Colmar
By train through Paris , take Eurostar.
If you book directly from London, you will have to change in Paris from Paris Nord to Paris Est. The whole journey takes from 6 hours to 17 minutes. Or you will have to change twice: in Paris from Paris Nord to Paris Est, then in Strasbourg from the TGV to the TER (Train Express Regional). The whole trip lasts from 6 hours to 20 minutes.
By coach to Paris
Eurolines offers cheap service from London, Gillingham, Canterbury, Folkestone and Dover to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Paris Gallieni. Six coaches a day; 2 all night; Travel time is 7 hours. The Eurolines stop is located at the Paris Gallieni bus station, 28 ave du General de Gaulle, right next to the Gallieni metro station, near Porte de Bagnolet (metro line 3, final stop).
Eurolines website for French travel
OuiBus (formerly IDBus and run by voyages-sncf) also operates between London and Lille and London and Paris. OuiBus also runs from Lille to Amsterdam and Brussels.
Web site from sheep
By car from the UK.
From the UK, take the ferry across the Channel. Or take Le shuttle on Eurotunnel.
From Calais, the journey is 380 miles (610 kms) and takes around 6 hours and 30 minutes, depending on your speed. There are tolls on the highways.
From London, the journey is 481 miles (773 kms) and takes around 9 hours, depending on your speed. There are tolls on the highways.
