La Petite France

Depart from Place de l'Homme de Fer (tram station, lines A, B, C, D and F).

(S/E) From the square, head south parallel to the tram tracks (lines A and D), keeping them on your left. Before reaching Place Kléber, turn right, go under a porch and take Rue du Fossé des Tanneurs. Follow this street until it crosses the wide Rue du 22 Novembre. Turn left and then immediately right into Rue des Drapiers.

At the next crossroads, turn left onto Rue Sainte-Hélène, then right onto the small Rue du Savon. You will come out onto Grand Rue (a wide pedestrian street) and first turn left then right to take Rue du Bouclier towards the church of the same name (sign). At the junction at the bottom of a slight descent, at the corner of a hotel, turn right into Rue des Dentelles. Continue straight on until you reach Place Benjamin Zix (Methodist Evangelical Church on the right).

(1) Then turn left, walk past a restaurant and turn left again towards the lock on the canal. First turn right then left onto a footbridge to walk along the lock basin. At the end, turn right twice to follow the opposite edge of the basin. Then walk past a hotel-restaurant on your left, turn left and come out onto a street just next to a bridge on the left.

Cross the street and turn slightly right opposite, under the archway near No. 6, to reach Square Louise Weiss. Turn right immediately and join the towpath. Follow it to the left with a branch of the Ill River on your right. At the end, climb briefly to reach the Ponts Couverts.

(2) Turn right to cross the Ill and continue along Quai Turckheim to the foot of a medieval tower. Then turn left and take the bridge that crosses the Ill with a lock on the left. Continue straight ahead and, after about 30 metres, turn left into Allée de Jacmel (chicane).

Walk alongside the ENA buildings and you will come out at Place Hans-Jean Arp. Then turn left, leaving the Museum of Modern Art on your right, to reach the entrance to the Vauban Dam Bridge.

(3) Enter the structure and immediately take the stairs on the right leading up to the terrace. Cross the Ill on the bridge terrace and enjoy the view, particularly to the left of Petite France and the cathedral (information panel). At the end, go down the stairs. At the end of the bridge, opposite the Hôtel du Département, turn left and walk along the Ill.

Turn left onto the Ponts Couverts to cross the Ill again. At the end of the first bridge, turn right towards Petite France (sign) and go down a cobbled alleyway. At the end of the lane, turn right onto Rue des Moulins, which is also paved. At the end of the street, at a small square (waterfall on the right), turn left and take the Pont Saint-Martin bridge to cross the Ill.

(4) Just before leaving the bridge, take the stairs on the right that lead to the towpath. Follow this path for about 700 metres, with the Ill River on your right. Pass successively under the Rue Martin Luther bridge, the Rue de la Division Leclerc bridge (over which the tram passes) and the Pont Corbeau bridge.

(5) Continue for another hundred metres or so along the Ill. At the riverboat landing stage (and before the ticket office), turn left into a narrow street (follow the red diamond markings of the Club Vosgien). When you reach a small square, continue straight ahead and then turn right into Rue des Cordeliers. At the next crossroads, turn left into Rue de Rohan and you will come out onto Place du Château with the Palais de Rohan on your right and the cathedral opposite. Cross the square to the left to reach the front of the cathedral.

(6) Go around the cathedral on the left, leaving the Maison Kammerzell on your left. At the chevet of the cathedral, turn right into Rue des Frères. Follow this street, ignoring the perpendicular streets, until you reach Place Saint-Etienne. Then turn left along the square and follow Rue des Pucelles. At the end of the street, turn right onto Rue du Parchemin. Cross Rue Brulée and continue straight on to Quai Lezay-Marnésia.

(7) Turn left and walk along the river on your right. At the bridge, cross the tram tracks and the street (take care) and, at the corner of the Fontaine de Janus, turn left. After passing the opera house, cross the tram tracks again (take care) and head for the square where the statue of General Leclerc stands.

(8) Cross Rue de la Comédie and cross Place Broglie, heading south-west with the Town Hall on your left. At the end of the square, turn left onto Rue du Dôme. Take the first right, Rue du Temple Neuf, then the first left, Rue du Sanglier. At the next crossroads, turn right, still on Rue du Sanglier.

Take the first right, Rue du Chaudron, then right again onto Rue des Orfèvres. After a few metres, go under a porch on the left to reach Place du Marché Neuf. Go around the square on the left and continue along Ruelle Sainte-Marguerite.

Then turn right onto Rue des Grandes Arcades and follow this street to Place Kléber. Turn left and cross this large square. At the end, turn right and walk parallel to the tram tracks to return to Place de l'Homme de Fer (S/E).

Public transport is by far the best way to get to this walk! Simple trainers are sufficient for this urban route. It is useful to bring a map or plan (at least the one accompanying this description).

The time indicated is walking time, which does not take into account the many stops and various visits that can be made. There are numerous bars and restaurants along the way. Various shops (most of which are closed on Sundays).

Visitor numbers, recommended times and opening hours:
- La Petite France and the cathedral district are very touristy and therefore very busy, especially in the summer. If you want to avoid the crowds, don't hesitate to start early in the morning or to take this walk in the late afternoon.
- Visits to the cathedral are not permitted during services.
- From the last weekend in November to 24 December, the famous Christmas Market is held. This is actually several markets spread across several locations, notably Place Broglie (8) and around the cathedral (6). This walk can therefore be an opportunity to explore these markets. N.B. If you suffer from agoraphobia, it is best to avoid this time of year...
- In the event of flooding of the Ill River in winter, the towpath is closed to pedestrians. In this case, when you leave the Pont Saint-Martin (4), continue straight ahead. At the first intersection, turn right onto Rue de la Monnaie. At the next crossroads, turn right and walk past Saint-Thomas Church. Do not take the bridge, but turn left onto Quai Saint-Thomas. Cross the tram tracks and Rue de la Division Leclerc and continue straight ahead onto Rue de la Douane. Cross Place de la Grande Boucherie, turn left into another square and rejoin the main route on Rue des Cordeliers on the right.

This hike has been completed 10 times by the author, with various variations, the first on 12 December 1992 and the last on 10 September 2022.

Things to see along the way (among others):

- Place de l'Homme de Fer (S/E), a lively central square covered by a rotunda.

- La Petite France, between (1) and (3), with the banks of the Ill, its bridges and locks, and numerous old half-timbered houses.

- Ponts Couverts (Covered Bridges) and their square towers (13th-16th centuries) (2).

- ENA buildings and Museum of Modern Art, between (2) and (3).

- Vauban Bridge-Dam (17th century) (3) and its terrace offering a superb view of Petite France and the cathedral.

- Ill towpath between (3) and (4).

- Notre-Dame Cathedral in Strasbourg (11th-15th centuries) (6).

- Janus Fountain in front of Place Broglie.

- Place Broglie (8) (pronounced "bro-gli" and not "breuil"): Monument to General Leclerc; Statue of Marshal Kellermann; Monument to La Marseillaise (created here in 1792); Town Hall; location of the largest and most authentic Christmas market.

- Place Kléber, between (8) and (S/E): Strasbourg's largest square, with its monument to General Kléber, where a gigantic Vosges fir tree stands in December and January.

Historical note:
During the 20th century, Strasbourg was liberated twice, on 22 November 1918 and 23 November 1944.
- The first gave rise to large solemn demonstrations on Place Kléber, and Rue du 22 Novembre is an important thoroughfare leading to this square.
- The second is commemorated every ten years by the raising of the French flag on the spire of the cathedral, in memory of the Oath of Koufra taken in 1941 by the Free French Forces commanded by Leclerc in Libya.