Normandy, Brittany & the Best of the North_ With Paris (Fodor's) - Fodor's [82]
A31 links Metz to Nancy, continuing south to Burgundy and Lyon. N83/A35 connects Strasbourg, Colmar, and Mulhouse.
A36 continues to Belfort and Besançon. A4, linking Paris to Strasbourg, passes through Lorraine via Metz, linking Lorraine and Alsace.
Picturesque secondary roads lead from Nancy and Toul through Joan of Arc country.
Several scenic roads climb switchbacks over forested mountain passes through the Vosges, connecting Lorraine to Alsace.
A quicker alternative is the tunnel under the Vosges at Ste-Marie-aux-Mines, linking Sélestat to Lunévillel.
Alsace’s Route du Vin, winding from Marlenheim, in the north, all the way south to Thann, is the ultimate in scenic driving.
TRAIN TRAVEL
Sixteen TGV trains leave Paris (Gare de l’Est) every hour for the 140-mins, 500-km (315-mi) journey to Strasbourg. Nancy is only 90 mins away on one of the 10 direct TGVs also leaving every hour, where there are connections for Toul and Épinal.
Several local trains a day run between Strasbourg and Colmar (40 mins distant), stopping in Sélestat (bus link to Ribeauvillé).
There’s also a snail-pace daily service from Strasbourg to Obernai, Barr, and Dambach-la-Ville. But you’ll need a car to visit smaller villages.
Train Information: Gare SNCF Colmar (Rue de la Gare | 68000 | 36–35). Gare SNCF Nancy (3 pl. Thiers | 54000 | 36–35). Gare SNCF Strasbourg (20 pl. de la Gare | 67000 | 36–35). SNCF (36–35 [€0.34 per min] | www.voyages-sncf.com). TGV (www.tgv.com).
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The Historic Center | Art Nouveau Nancy | Where to Eat in Nancy | Where to Stay in Nancy | Nightlife and the Arts in Nancy | Shopping in Nancy
For architectural variety, few French cities match Nancy, which is in the heart of Lorraine, 300 km (190 mi) east of Paris. Medieval ornamentation, 18th-century grandeur, and Belle Époque fluidity rub shoulders in the town center, where the bustle of commerce mingles with stately elegance. Its majesty derives from a long history as domain to the powerful dukes of Lorraine, whose double-barred crosses figure prominently on local statues and buildings. Never having fallen under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire or the Germans, this Lorraine city retains an eminently Gallic charm.
Getting Here and Around
The jewel in Lorraine’s tourism crown, Nancy, has benefited greatly from the introduction of the record-breaking TGV Est European (www.tgv.com/en) with 10 direct TGVs daily (one leaving almost every hour) from Paris’s Gare de l’Est, 7:12 AM to 8:12 PM, all making the run in 90 minutes. The 12:12 and 6:12 also service Épinal, 45 minutes farther on. Two others, 10:39 and 8:39, take a little longer and involve a change in Metz. Fares vary from €52.30 to €70.70 depending on the train type. Nancy’s train station (3 pl. Thiers | 54000), a 15-minute walk down Rue Stanislas from the town center, is open 24 hours. Fourteen direct trains to Strasbourg (€21.30) leave every 45 minutes from Nancy, and roughly every 10 minutes a train leaves for Metz (€9.30). There are frequent (every 20 minutes) daily TER services to Luneville (€6.30). The 45 lines of the TED bus service (03–83–36–41–14 | www.ted.cg54.fr) cover the entire département, leaving from Place de la République, for a €1.70 flat rate.
Visitor Information
Nancy Tourist Office.
| 14 pl. Stanislas | 54000 | 03–83–35–22–41 | www.ot-nancy.fr.
EXPLORING NANCY
Nancy is at its most sublimely French in its harmoniously constructed squares and buildings, which, as vestiges of the 18th century, have the quiet refinement associated with the best in French architecture. Curiously enough, it was a Pole, and not a Frenchman, who was responsible for much of what is beautiful in Nancy. Stanislas Leszczynski, ex-king of Poland and father of Maria Leszczynska (who married Louis XV of France) was given the Duchy of Lorraine by his royal son-in-law on the understanding that on his death it would revert to France. Stanislas installed himself in Nancy and