Traveling with family is not always an easy thing : children have their own rhythm, their own desires. Attractions may not always be adapted to them. I like to create programs that suit my 7-year-old daughter, far from traditional visits of museums or often crowded must-sees.
Strasbourg is a city fun to explore with children. For this program, you can stay in the area around the cathedral with fun activities for both parents and children.
Find out about my list of 10 kid-friendly activities that you can do in 1 day with children in the city center of Strasbourg! Monster hunts, discovery of funny anecdotes, a majestic snack and a train ride…Let's have fun!
Visiting Strasbourg with a guided tour for children
Start your day in front of the Tourist Office on the cathedral square. As for my daughter and I, we booked a qualified guide for a guided tour of the city.
Here we are for an 1-hour visit around the cathedral of Strasbourg, starting with the Place du Château. In front of the 3D bronze model of the cathedral, our guide explains to us the history of the building and its main architectural principles.
This is not a History lesson but a fun game: how many bells are there in the cathedral? What differences can be found between bottom and top windows? How tall is the cathedral? What color is the roof? We willingly play the game.
My daughter is particularly captivated by the story of the dragon knight that stands above the ticket booth to access the platform. Among other amusing details of the cathedral, we had fun looking for a whale, a unicorn and the devil represented under the sympathetic features of a man with an apple but who hides behind him snakes and toads.
There are also some free tours with no reservation needed near the Cathedral. You can easily recognize the guide that holds a big sign with “Happy Free Tour” written on it. However, note that the tour may be less adapted to children. Your choice.
Looking for monsters at the Musée de l'Œuvre Notre Dame
Some museums in Strasbourg - such as the Alsatian Museum or the Œuvre-Notre-Dame Museum - offer games for children. All you have to do is ask at the reception desk to collect them for free.
With my daughter, we went on a hunt for the monsters hiding in the lovely museum of the Œuvre Notre-Dame. With the help of the leaflet, we had to find 11 details hidden in different elements of the museum's collection. The booklet showed the drawing of the detail and indicated us the room where we had to look for the drawing. A little riddle was there to help us. It is also an opportunity to find details of the nearby cathedral with reproductions or originals preserved here, such as our famous devil or the unicorn.
For more than an hour, we walked through the corridors and rooms of the museum like investigators. Each detail found was a victory for my daughter. At the end, children win a small reward.
Visiting the cathedral of Strasbourg for children
By dint of circling around, my little girl asks me if we can go into the cathedral of Strasbourg. We started looking not only for the strongest man of the cathedral but also for the man to the balustrade. She also wants to light a candle and make a wish.
We also go back to see the impressive astronomical clock. The ballet of the figures that move at the time of the change of the hour impressed her, just like the large rose window in Steinbach did.
Strasbourg City Card - 7-Day City Pass
Explore Strasbourg with a 7-day city pass that offers discounted rates for attractions and activities. Climb up the Strasbourg Cathedral, take a guided walking tour, or visit the Château Vodou Museum.
Visiting the city with the family with the Little Train
We tried the Little Train of Strasbourg which leaves every 30 minutes from the cathedral square. It's a good way to visit the city in a different way, without tiring my daughter's little legs while learning anecdotes with her own headphones on. She was so focused during the trip that I was forbidden to talk to her.
For 40 minutes, we drove through the alleys of the old Strasbourg: from the Gutenberg square to the House of Covered bridges and the Petite France quarter. It shakes quite a bit on the cobblestones.
You choose between 2 different Little Train tours that cost 6€ for children (6-14 years old) and 8€ for adults : the "Petite France" tour and from the "Grande Île" to the Neustadt tour.
I do prefer (and my daughter too) the boat ride where the view along the water is more original and the commentaries are more adapted to children. But the little train offers an interesting and cheaper alternative for families in order to have a good overview of the city.
The "Grande Île" to the Neustadt Little Train tour takes you to the Neustadt quarter from the cathedral. You will pass by the Place Broglie, behind the courthouse and then you will take the imperial axis from the Palais du Rhin to the Palais Universitaire, passing by the Place de la République and the Lycée des Pontonniers.
Taking a ride on a carousel
There is a carousel set up on the Place Gutenberg, giving a very picturesque touch to the place. If you are walking around Strasbourg with children, they may ask you for a ride. So my daughter chose the most beautiful carriage to dream for a few moments after a busy day.
Bringing back a small souvenir from Strasbourg
When we play tourists, we also want to bring back a souvenir of Strasbourg. In the same street, we went to Poteries d'Alsace store which is located Rue des Frères. We bought there a nice production of handmade pottery made in Soufflenheim (an Alsatian town) with traditional Alsatian cooking molds, which are original dishes and terracotta decorations.
Other kid-friendly things to do in Strasbourg
Eating at Pop & Lino restaurant
For lunch, I recommend Pop&Lino pizzeria, which is 5 minutes away from the cathedral, near Flam's restaurant. The owner is very attentive and the small patio is perfect to eat outside in a quiet place. No children's menu: the chef concocts the pizza that the child wants. Tomato sauce, ham, cheese and olives for my daughter. A few minutes later, a superb pizza in the shape of a rabbit appears. Magic guaranteed!
Snacking at Bistrot & Chocolat
Snack time… What an important moment for a kid! In France, at 4pm, children love having a sweet snack! I took my little girl to Bistrot & Chocolat (halfway between a restaurant and a tea room). The address is well known by vegetarians for lunch or brunch. In the afternoon, the restaurant turns into a tea room with a nice selection of pastries, some of which are gluten-free or vegan. My daughter threw herself on the chocolate éclair. As for me, I enjoyed a strawberry and white chocolate charlotte.
Discovering science while having fun
For this program of activities to do with children during 1 day in Strasbourg, I chose to stay around the cathedral but I could have taken you to less touristic places.
Le Vaisseau's concept is based on a simple idea: children are more interested in science if it's fun to play. There're fun activities to do for families there.
Families can have fun with children at permanent or temporary exhibition spaces, indoors and outdoors, workshops and a cinema with 3D films on scientific subjects as varied as the human body, nature, recycling or water.
It's located in Neudorf district, easily reachable from the city center of Strasbourg.
Enjoying less touristic spots
On the Malraux peninsula (Presqu'Île André Malraux in Strasbourg), near the Rivetoile shopping center, there is plenty of things to do for a full day with kids : a little electric boat ride with Captain Bretzel, a picnic or an ice cream at the Citadelle park, ... In summer, the docks are transformed into a beach. You can go there for free!
To go there, you can take the tramway C, E (stop "Winston Churchill") or A, D (stop "Etoile Bourse").
Have fun!
