Things to do in Mulhouse
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Mulhouse
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months overall: Vosges roads open, wine villages green then in harvest, Rhine swimming possible in Basel.
Christmas market peak on Place de la Réunion, with the annual Christmas fabric across the centre.
Coldest and quietest months outside carnival weekend, with empty museums and the cheapest hotel rates.
Warm and lively with park events, but heat in the Rhine plain and some independent holiday closures.
What's on
- Marché de Noël de Mulhouse 20 November to 27 December
Christmas market on Place de la Réunion built around a new Christmas fabric commissioned each year.
- Carnaval de Mulhouse Usually February or March; check dates
Rhineland Alsace carnival with costumed figures, brass bands and cavalcades through the centre.
- Les Jeudis du Parc Thursday evenings in summer
Free summer Thursday evenings in Parc Salvator with food stalls, picnics, concerts and open air cinema.
Best things to do in Mulhouse
Cité de l'Automobile
Around 400 cars including the largest Bugatti collection in the world, in a former woollen mill.
Cité du Train - Patrimoine SNCF
Europe's largest railway museum, with full size locomotives and a golden age hall of French rail.
Marché du Canal Couvert de Mulhouse
The largest covered market in eastern France, with over 300 stalls and superb multicultural grazing.
Temple Saint-Étienne
A neo Gothic temple on the main square with celebrated 14th century stained glass and a 97 metre spire.
Musée Historique de Mulhouse
A free history museum inside the painted town hall that explains Mulhouse from free republic to textile boomtown.
Musée de l'Impression sur Étoffes
Six million textile samples and printing demonstrations that explain why Mulhouse got rich.
Musée Electropolis
A hands on electricity museum with live electrostatic shows, best paired with the train museum next door.
Parc zoologique et botanique de Mulhouse
A zoo and botanical garden on a wooded hill, with polar bears, lemurs and shaded paths for a half day.
Where to stay in Mulhouse
Historic Centre
first trip, museums plus food, Christmas
Pedestrian old town around the temple and town hall, with the best restaurants and the Christmas market.
Gare Centrale / Porte Jeune
rail day trippers and value chains
Best for early trains to Basel and Colmar, functional rather than charming, and usually the cheapest decent beds.
Rebberg
quiet, green, longer stays, the zoo
Leafy villa quarter south of the centre, home to the zoo and the calmest streets in Mulhouse.
Fonderie / La Filature
younger visitors, arts, budget apartments
Former industrial quarter with street art and cheaper rentals, a short tram ride from the centre.
Think twice about
- Les Coteaux
A priority housing district in the west with concentrated poverty and rougher edges in local reporting, and no visitor sights, hotels or restaurants.
- Bourtzwiller
A priority housing district in the north with a rougher reputation in local reporting, and no reason for a short stay visitor to base there.
Best restaurants in Mulhouse
Restaurant Il Cortile
Mulhouse's starred table in a medieval courtyard, Mediterranean gastronomy with Alsace produce.
Le 7ème Continent
A starred gastronomic restaurant in Rixheim, the most ambitious cooking in the Mulhouse orbit.
Maison Kieny
A 160 year old coaching inn serving refined classic French gastronomy with Alsace roots.
Le Petit Paris
A small bistronomic room whose tasting menu is the best value serious dinner in central Mulhouse.
Mealtin'Potes
A locals' modern French favourite cooking a short, seasonal, market led menu near the centre.
Zum Sauwadala
The classic Mulhouse winstub for tarte flambée, choucroute and Riesling in generous local portions.
Auberge du Zoo
A traditional Alsatian auberge beside the zoo, the classic family lunch after a zoo morning.
Le Faubourg
The insider's newer central table, contemporary French cooking with the city's highest small volume score.
Outdoor things to do in Mulhouse
Fondation Beyeler
Switzerland's most visited art museum in a park, the splurge heart of a Basel day trip from Mulhouse.
La Petite Venise
Colmar's Little Venice canal quarter, the pretty Alsace old town Mulhouse is not, 20 minutes by train.
Eguisheim
A circular wine village of tasting rooms and grand cru vines, with a short hike to its three castles.
Écomusée d'Alsace
France's largest open air museum, a whole Alsatian village to walk with farms, crafts and animals.
Grand Ballon
The highest Vosges summit at 1424 metres, reached by the Route des Crêtes crest road and a short walk.
Hartmannswillerkopf
A preserved First World War battlefield and Franco German memorial walked quietly through beech forest.
Golf du Rhin
A trinational parkland course on a Rhine island, par 72, welcoming visitors at published green fees.
Alsace Golf Links
A links style course on the wine route plain below the Vosges, friendly, scenic and golf first.
Best hotels in Mulhouse
La Maison Hôtel Mulhouse Centre
Mulhouse's most characterful central stay, a townhouse hotel two steps from Place de la Réunion.
Hôtel du Parc - Mulhouse Centre
The grand historic full service hotel by Parc Steinbach, with parking and substantial public rooms.
Berti Hôtel - Mulhouse Centre Gare
A warmly run independent near the station, praised for its welcome and local produce dinners.
ibis Styles Mulhouse Centre Gare
A reliable design chain hotel by the station, with family rooms and predictable comfort.
Hôtel Salvator Mulhouse Centre
A contemporary central hotel by Parc Salvator, with 24 hour reception and tram stops at hand.
B&B HOTEL Mulhouse Centre
The budget workhorse on Avenue de Colmar, compact, clean and a short walk from station and centre.
ResidHotel Mulhouse Centre
Studios and apartments with kitchenettes, the self catering pick for a week long Mulhouse base.
Is Mulhouse expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €65 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €110 a person |
| Splurge | €240 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Cité de l'Automobile: a few days ahead
- Fondation Beyeler: a few days ahead
- Golf du Rhin: a few days ahead
- Alsace Golf Links: a few days ahead
- La Maison Hôtel Mulhouse Centre: weeks ahead
- Restaurant Il Cortile: weeks ahead
- Le 7ème Continent: weeks ahead
- Maison Kieny: a few days ahead
- Book the three starred restaurants days to weeks ahead, and Le Petit Paris for weekends.
- Book central hotels weeks ahead for Christmas market weekends, and months ahead for the best rooms.
- Book Golf du Rhin tee times ahead on weekends and the car museum driving experiences in summer.
Is Mulhouse safe?
- Keep an eye on bags in the market and on trams, and expect some begging around the station.
- Emergency number is 112, and carry ID for the local train across the Swiss border.
- Swim in the Rhine at Basel only in the customary stretches and only if a confident swimmer.
Mulhouse travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Do not expect Colmar: judge Mulhouse on museums, market and food, and day trip for the postcard streets.
- Do not pay Basel prices all day out of habit: picnic from the Mulhouse market instead.
- Do not rush both big transport museums into one afternoon: each deserves half a day.
Getting around Mulhouse: public transport and more
- Walk the centre and use Solea trams: line 1 for the car museum, line 3 for the train and electricity museums.
- Trains run from Mulhouse Ville to Basel in about 25 to 31 minutes and to Colmar in about 20 minutes.
- For EuroAirport, take the train to Saint-Louis then the airport shuttle bus, or pre-book a taxi.
Who Mulhouse suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Mulhouse your trip
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