Practical Cozy Travel

Tag: France

  • A Summer Grand Tour of Belgium, Luxembourg, Alsace & Switzerland: Our Day-by-Day Itinerary

    Last summer we looped through Belgium, Luxembourg, a slice of Germany, the Alsace region of France, and into Switzerland — mostly by train, with a private driver for the longer country-to-country legs. It packed in a lot without ever feeling rushed, and it’s very repeatable whether you’re traveling solo or wrangling a group of five like we were. Here’s the full day-by-day, with links to everything I wrote up in detail.

    The route at a glance

    Illustrated map of a 12-day cozy Europe itinerary with home bases in Brussels, Luxembourg City, Strasbourg and Zurich, plus day trips to Bruges, Ghent, Dinant, Durbuy, Trier, Colmar, Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle, Lucerne and Mount Rigi
    Four home bases, everything else a day trip. Dotted lines are excursions; dashed lines are the travel days between cities.
    • Belgium: Brussels as a base, with day trips to Bruges and Ghent
    • The drive south: scenic stops in Durbuy and Dinant
    • Luxembourg: Luxembourg City, plus a day trip across the border to Trier, Germany
    • Alsace: Haut-Kœnigsbourg castle and Colmar en route to Strasbourg
    • Switzerland: Zurich, plus Lucerne and Mount Rigi to finish

    The day-by-day itinerary

    Day 1 — Travel day. An overnight flight over, landing early the next morning. If you want the full breakdown of how I fit this whole trip into a carry-on, that’s here.

    Day 2 — Brussels. Arrival and the Old Town, including the Grand-Place. My honest take on Belgium’s capital: Brussels: An Honest First Look.

    Day 3 — Bruges. An early train and the storybook canals — my favorite of the three Belgian cities. Bruges: The Storybook Belgian City.

    Day 4 — Ghent. Belgium’s underrated canal city (take the tram, not the walk). Ghent: Belgium’s Underrated Canal City.

    Day 5 — Brussels to Luxembourg. A private driver let us break up the drive with two lovely stops. Durbuy & Dinant: The Prettiest Stops Between Brussels and Luxembourg.

    Day 6 — Trier. An easy day trip across the German border to Germany’s oldest city. A Day Trip to Trier.

    Day 7 — Luxembourg City. A leisurely day of clifftop views, the Grund, and a lot of good cafes. A Leisurely Day in Luxembourg City.

    Day 8 — Luxembourg to Strasbourg. A fairytale castle and the storybook town of Colmar along the way. Luxembourg to Strasbourg: Haut-Kœnigsbourg & Colmar.

    Day 9 — Strasbourg. Alsatian charm, a grand cathedral, and — for the skincare lovers — a proper French pharmacy haul. Full day here: Strasbourg: Alsatian Charm & a Grand Cathedral.

    Day 10 — Zurich. A relaxing arrival into Switzerland: wandering the Limmat, the old-town classics, and watching locals leap off the bridges into the river. First Look at Zurich.

    Day 11 — Lucerne & Mount Rigi. A private-tour day and the highlight of our Switzerland leg — Lucerne’s Chapel Bridge and Lion Monument, then a gondola and cog railway to the top of Mount Rigi. Lucerne and Mount Rigi: The Best Day of Our Switzerland Trip.

    Day 12 — Flight home. A pure travel day. My rule for the last morning: no ambitious sightseeing — breakfast, one last check that nothing got left in the hotel safe, and head for the airport. Still short on gifts? Don’t panic-buy from a souvenir shop. Swiss grocery stores, the shops at Zurich’s main train station, and the airport all have a good spread — just check what will actually clear a carry-on before you buy.

    Before you go

    Two posts that made this trip run smoothly: what I packed for 12 days in a carry-on, and how I used AI to help plan the whole thing.

    ← Back to all Destinations

    Next up: Belgium — Brussels →

  • Strasbourg: Alsatian Charm, a Grand Cathedral, and a French Pharmacy Haul

    Strasbourg: Alsatian Charm, a Grand Cathedral, and a French Pharmacy Haul

    Strasbourg struck a really nice balance for us — big enough to feel like a proper city, but with all the half-timbered, canal-laced charm of Alsace. It’s a lovely place to slow down, shop a little, and eat very well.

    Where we stayed

    Our Marriott was in a perfect location, which made a real difference — we could walk out the door and be in the thick of it. In a city this walkable, a central base is worth prioritizing.

    The sights

    The Strasbourg Cathedral is stunning and worth lingering at — the detail on the facade is something else. From there, La Petite France with its canals and the Ponts Couverts is the prettiest stretch to wander, and Place Kléber and the Palais Rohan round out the classics.

    Half-timbered houses along the canals of La Petite France in Strasbourg

    We also did the Batorama canal boat tour: I’ll be honest, I didn’t love it as much as some of the others we’d done — but the rest of my group said it was their favorite, so it’s clearly a your-mileage-may-vary thing and worth doing.

    View from the Batorama canal boat tour along the waterways of Strasbourg, France

    Eat, drink, and reserve ahead

    The food was a highlight — the frittatas were well worth trying, and the region’s wines are genuinely excellent. We had lunch at La Corde à Linge, and my tip is simple: you can reserve, so do it. It saves you standing around at the busiest time of day.

    One more must for skincare lovers

    If you love a good skincare find, save some time (and suitcase space) for a French pharmacy. I did a proper haul at the Pharmacie de l’Homme de Fer right in the center of Strasbourg — the sunscreen alone was worth it. It turned into enough of a thing that I gave it its own post: my full French pharmacy haul, and how to shop one carry-on-friendly.

    ← Haut-Kœnigsbourg & Colmar

    Next up: French Pharmacy Haul →

    Part of A Summer Grand Tour of Belgium, Luxembourg, Alsace & Switzerland.

  • My French Pharmacy Haul: Shopping Pharmacie de l’Homme de Fer in Strasbourg

    My French Pharmacy Haul: Shopping Pharmacie de l’Homme de Fer in Strasbourg

    This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through a link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure here.

    If you’re a skincare person, a French pharmacy is one of the most fun (and surprisingly practical) stops you can build into a trip. In Strasbourg I made a beeline for the Pharmacie de l’Homme de Fer, and I walked out with a whole new routine. Here’s why it’s worth the suitcase space, and how to shop one without blowing your carry-on liquid limits.

    Why bother with a French pharmacy?

    French pharmacies carry cult-favorite skincare and sunscreen that’s often hard to find (or much pricier) back home. The formulas tend to be elegant, well-priced, and genuinely good — the kind of thing beauty editors quietly stockpile. For me, the sunscreen alone justified the visit.

    Finding it in Strasbourg

    The Pharmacie de l’Homme de Fer sits right on Place de l’Homme de Fer, one of the central squares and a major tram hub, so it’s genuinely easy to fold into a day of sightseeing. You can wander the cathedral and La Petite France, then swing by here without going out of your way.

    What I brought home

    I picked up a whole new skincare regimen here, with the sunscreen as the star. On a hot, walking-heavy trip like this one, a lightweight, actually-pleasant-to-wear SPF isn’t a luxury — it’s the thing I reached for every single morning.

    French pharmacy haul from Strasbourg: Avène XeraCalm A.D, Caudalie Vinoperfect, SVR Xerial 50, La Roche-Posay Anthelios UVMune 400 SPF 50+, A313 pommade, Avène Cleanance Comedomed and Bioderma Sébium Pore Refiner
    Everything I actually brought home from the Pharmacie de l’Homme de Fer.

    How to shop one without a carry-on headache

    A few things I’ve learned so your haul actually makes it home:

    • Budget the suitcase space (and a little weight allowance) before you go in — it’s easy to get carried away.
    • If you’re carry-on only, remember full-size liquids need to go in a checked bag, or stay under your 3.4 oz / 100 ml limit in your quart bag.
    • Bring a couple of TSA-approved silicone travel bottles so you can decant and keep using your favorites for the rest of the trip — they’re leak-proof and squeezable, which matters more than you’d think.
    • Wrap anything glass in clothing, and keep receipts in case of any customs questions on larger hauls.

    Can’t get to France right now?

    Plenty of French pharmacy staples have close equivalents you can track down at home, so you can build a similar routine without the plane ticket — and it’s worth keeping a set of refillable travel bottles on hand for whenever the next trip comes around.

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    ← Alsace — Strasbourg

    Next up: Switzerland — Zurich →

    Part of A Summer Grand Tour of Belgium, Luxembourg, Alsace & Switzerland.

  • Luxembourg to Strasbourg: A Fairytale Castle and the Storybook Town of Colmar

    Luxembourg to Strasbourg: A Fairytale Castle and the Storybook Town of Colmar

    This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through a link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure here.

    The drive from Luxembourg down to Strasbourg is a destination in itself if you build in the right stops. We had a private driver for this leg, which let us break it up with a hilltop castle and one of the prettiest towns in Alsace. Here’s how it went.

    Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg

    This restored medieval château sits high above the Alsace plain, and the views from the top are stunning. One honest heads-up: there are a lot of stairs. It rained while we were there, which made the stone a bit slippery, so if stairs or uneven footing are uncomfortable for you, this may be one to admire from below rather than climb. If you’re up for it, though, it’s a genuinely memorable stop.

    View over the Alsace plain from Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg on a rainy summer afternoon

    Colmar (I wish we’d had more time)

    Colmar was absolutely stunning — the kind of place I wish we’d given a full day. The half-timbered architecture and the canals of La Petite Venise are beautiful to simply arrive and walk through, no agenda needed. The old town around Maison Pfister and the Koïffhus is dense with restaurants, shops, and little eateries, and it’s well worth wandering off the main drag to find the quieter, equally pretty corners.

    Half-timbered buildings in the old town of Colmar in the Alsace region of France

    The rain had held off by the time we arrived and actually cooled things down, so we got beautiful weather for it. Don’t miss the Marché Couvert (covered market) if you’re there at the right time — it’s a lovely spot to graze.

    The takeaway

    If you’re routing between Luxembourg and Strasbourg, these two stops turn a transfer day into one of the prettiest days of the trip. If I could redo it, I’d shave time somewhere else and give Colmar a proper afternoon — it earns it.

    Comfort tips: grippy, closed-toe shoes for those castle stairs — especially if it’s wet — and something for the rain, because Alsace weather can turn on you mid-visit. I wore the New Balance 1080 v15 and keep the BAODINI mini travel umbrella in my day bag — it’s tiny, fits in a purse, and doubles as excellent sun protection on the hot days.

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    ← Luxembourg City

    Next up: Alsace — Strasbourg →

    Part of A Summer Grand Tour of Belgium, Luxembourg, Alsace & Switzerland.