IWAHLM-16
Strasbourg - How to get there
Venue
The Bill Collis Memorial Workshop IWAHLM-16 will be held at the SOFITEL Grande Île. This is a 5 stars hotel close to the major historical highlights of the city.
Strasbourg is located in the East of France on the left bank of the Rhine river that is the border with Germany. The city proper has roughly 300,000 inhabitants but the metropolitan area has 860,000 inhabitants.
View of the hotel SOFITEL Grande Île – On the left the hotel MERCURE Strasbourg Centre- On the right the 14th century temple St Pierre le Jeune.
Climate
Strasbourg lies in the plain of Alsace between two low altitude mountain ranges (Les Vosges in France and Black Forest in Germany). The winter season is cold, but the end of the summer is the best time of the year.
Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the European Parliament of the European Union. An organization separate from the European Union, the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights is also located in the city.
It is the second city in France in terms of international congress and symposia, after Paris.
How to get there
By Air
The Strasbourg Entzheim airport is connected to Lyon, London Gatwick, Amsterdam, Rome and other destinations by several flights per week.
Paris Airport to Strasbourg
The most convenient solution is to land in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. There are several high-speed trains (TGV) connecting this airport with Strasbourg in less than 2 hours.
At Paris Airport the train station is situated between the terminals 2C/2D and 2F/2E at the lower level.
https://www.tourisme93.com/Local/tourisme93/dir_img/pdf/plan_CDGParis.pdf
There is an automatic shuttle service (CGDVAL) between the terminal 1 and the train station,
Please be aware that this is at the end of summer vacation, so the trains tickets may book up early. We suggest you book your train tickets early to prevent any problems with the train seats being sold out.
Train booking site: https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/
Download train schedules for Paris CDG airport and Strasbourg September 2024 here.
By Train
Direct trains from Paris, Bruxelles, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Basel, Zürich, Lyon, Marseille
There are generally 12 high-speed trains per day connecting Paris (Station Gare de l’Est) with Strasbourg in less than 2 hours.
Download the train schedule for Gare de l’Est and Strasbourg September 2024 here.
By Car
Strasbourg is located 491 kms from Paris, 217kms from Frankfurt. Like in any large city parking is expensive. The Sofitel-Mercure has an underground parking (42€/day), Reservation must be made at the time of booking. The most convenient solution is to use one of the Park & Ride parking lots (P+R) around the city close to tram. Suggested parking North of the city: P+R Rives de l’Aar connected to Tram line B. 4.20€ the first day including the tram ticket, 10€ per additional day. Some hotels also have parking facilities nearby like the Ibis Les Halles or Novotel Les Halles for example.
City Map
The map below shows the location of the conference venue, the gala dinner venue Kammerzell close to the cathedral, the historical Rohan Palace, the lovely Petite France area.
Moving around in Strasbourg
There are several tram (streetcar) lines and many bus lines. Tickets must be purchased on vending machines before boarding. The tickets must be validated before boarding on the validation posts located on every platform.
Tram station for the SOFITEL: Homme de Fer – Tram lines A-B-C-D-F
To get to the European Parliament on September 5 we will meet at Place de la République and ride the tram line E as a group. We will distribute the tickets for that trip.
