Mulhouse travel guide
Bugattis, steam engines and an old textile town in southern Alsace
Mulhouse is the largest city in Haut-Rhin, close to Basel and the German border. Come for the national car and railway museums and the Écomusée d'Alsace nearby; two days covers it, and May to September is the most comfortable time. Costs are above average, and many passports enter visa-free.
Down in the far south of Alsace, Mulhouse sits within a short ride of Switzerland and Germany. Textile mills made it rich, earning it the nickname of the French Manchester. Its pull for visitors is two big museums: the Cité de l'Automobile, built around the Schlumpf brothers' collection of Bugattis, and the Cité du Train, the largest railway museum in Europe. Each needs a good half day.
Do not come expecting timber-framed Colmar. The old town was mostly built in stone and took heavy damage in the Second World War. Still, Place de la Réunion repays a visit, with the former town hall and its painted trompe-l'oeil facade (now a free history museum) and the Temple Saint-Étienne, a Protestant church that looks medieval but dates from the 19th century. Nearby, the 16th-century Cour des Chaînes is now an arts centre.
Getting here is simple. EuroAirport lies about 25 km south and also serves Basel and Freiburg. Trains come in from Paris, Strasbourg and the Mediterranean coast. Three tram lines handle the city, and a tram-train shares line 3's tracks before running out on the railway to Thann.
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Top things to do in Mulhouse
Two national museums on wheels, a painted town hall and an open-air village museum just north of the city.
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Best time to visit Mulhouse
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Highs of 20 to 26C; the Écomusée d'Alsace is open and the old town squares fill with terraces, though May is the wettest month, with about 87 mm of rain.
Highs of 6 to 10C and frosty nights; the car and train museums are indoors, and Place de la Réunion hosts a Christmas market.
The Christmas market on Place de la Réunion runs from late November until just after Christmas, a quieter alternative to the crowds in Strasbourg and Colmar.
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Getting there
EuroAirport's French side and the Basel line
EuroAirport, about 25 km south, is shared by Mulhouse, Basel and Freiburg and has separate French and Swiss exits. Follow the signs for France. Bus 11 runs from the French side to Saint-Louis station in about ten minutes, and regional trains from there reach Mulhouse in under 20 minutes; outside business hours the trains drop to one an hour, so late arrivals may prefer a taxi, which takes around half an hour. By rail, Gare de Mulhouse-Ville is on the main line between Paris and Basel: TGVs from Paris Gare de Lyon take a little under three hours via the Rhine-Rhône high-speed line, and the same route brings TGVs up from Lyon and the Mediterranean towards Switzerland and Germany. Regional trains run to Strasbourg in about an hour and to Basel in about 20 minutes, and a cross-border service goes to Müllheim for connections to Freiburg. FlixBus and ALSA coaches stop near the station, and drivers arrive on the A36 and A35 motorways.
- EuroAirport (French exit)
- Bus 11 to Saint-Louis, then a regional train; about 40 minutes in all with good connections
- Gare de Mulhouse-Ville
- TGVs from Paris and Lyon, regional trains to Strasbourg and Basel
- Müllheim trains
- Cross-border link for Freiburg and Karlsruhe
- Coaches
- FlixBus and ALSA stop near the station
- Leaving by the Swiss exit puts you on the wrong side of the customs line, with no bus to Saint-Louis.
Where to stay
Réunion square, Rebberg or the station
The station and Place de la Réunion are only about ten minutes apart on foot, so any central address works. Decide whether you want restaurants on the doorstep or quiet nights.
- Old town
- Around Place de la Réunion and Rue de l'Arsenal; walkable to restaurants and the museums' trams, livelier and noisier on weekends
- Quartier Nouveau
- The 19th-century grid around Place de la République; elegant mill-owners' buildings and a calmer feel
- Station area
- Chain hotels on the canal side; practical for early trains to Basel or Paris, plainer streets
- Rebberg
- Leafy hillside of villas south of the station, near the zoo; quiet, but a climb from the centre
- Visitors have little reason to stay in Bourtzwiller or Les Coteaux, which have a rougher reputation.
Getting around
SOLEA trams and the Thann tram-train
The old town is compact enough to walk in 15 minutes end to end. For the museums, SOLEA's three tram lines do most of the work. Line 1 stops right outside the Cité de l'Automobile at Musée de l'Auto. Line 3 and the tram-train serve the Musées stop in Dornach, a short walk from the Cité du Train and Electropolis; the tram-train then continues on the railway to Thann. One ticket covers tram and bus; buy it at tram-stop machines or in the SOLEA app and validate it on board. Day and three-day passes make sense if you are visiting both museums.
- Tram line 1
- Musée de l'Auto stop for the car museum
- Tram-train
- Shares line 3's tracks, then runs on the railway to Thann; Musées stop for the Cité du Train
- Soléa buses
- Out to Ungersheim for the Écomusée d'Alsace; not every trip stops at the museum
Know before you go
What makes Mulhouse worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- The Bugatti Royales at the Cité de l'Automobile, two of the six Type 41 cars ever built.
- Place de la Réunion, with the painted facade of the old town hall and its free city history museum.
- The Écomusée d'Alsace at Ungersheim, 16 km north, where old Alsatian houses were moved and rebuilt as a working village.
Good to know
- Leave EuroAirport by the French exit; the Swiss side does not connect to the bus for Mulhouse.
- Avoid Bourtzwiller and Les Coteaux at night; the centre itself is generally calm and safe.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Mulhouse, month by month
Museum days or a trip out to the Écomusée? Mulhouse's month-by-month averages help you decide.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Mulhouse (Meteociel, via Wikipedia).
The car and train museums and the Écomusée d'Alsace over two days
Two days cover Mulhouse's museums. Spend the first at the Cité de l'Automobile, whose Bugattis include two Type 41 Royales, and the Cité du Train in Dornach, then eat on Rue de l'Arsenal. Use the second for the Écomusée d'Alsace at Ungersheim, about 16 km north, and the wallpaper museum at Rixheim.
The car collection was assembled by the Schlumpf brothers, textile bosses who bought cars obsessively, and passed into public hands in 1981 after their business collapsed. The halls run from steam carriages to racing cars; allow three hours. At the Cité du Train the national collection fills long sheds, and Electropolis is next door. In the evening, look up at the painted town hall on Place de la Réunion; on Rue de l'Arsenal, Zum Sauwadala serves famously large portions.
At the Écomusée, farmhouses, a tannery and half-timbered homes from across the region were dismantled and rebuilt, and craftspeople work in them through the season. Only some Soléa buses call there, so check the route planner. The wallpaper museum is in the Commanderie at Rixheim.
Choucroute, flammekueche and the Canal Couvert market in Mulhouse
Mulhouse eats like the rest of Alsace: choucroute garnie, baeckeoffe, flammekueche, kougelhopf and Munster cheese, best tried in the winstubs around Rue de l'Arsenal. The Marché du Canal Couvert is the city's big market, and Riesling or Gewurztraminer comes from the Route des Vins, which starts at Thann.
Choucroute garnie piles sausages and smoked pork on sauerkraut. Baeckeoffe slow-bakes meat and potatoes in white wine in a sealed pot, and flammekueche, a thin tart of cream, onions and bacon, is the cheap evening option, shared straight from the board. Kougelhopf is a raisin brioche ring. Winstub lunch menus are good value. The Canal Couvert market, a short walk from the centre, sells charcuterie, cheese and produce from both sides of the Rhine, and Thann is reachable on the tram-train.
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How we research our Mulhouse travel guide
Museum hours and the Soléa buses to the Écomusée d'Alsace are checked on mulhouse.fr and with the operator. France.fr and the EU's Entry/Exit System and ETIAS pages cover the rest.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of MulhouseFrance.frEU Entry/Exit System and ETIAS
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Mulhouse.
General
Leave by the French exit and take bus 11 to Saint-Louis station, then a local train to Mulhouse. Trains run hourly outside business hours, so check times for late arrivals.
Visitors have little reason to go to either, and both have a rougher reputation. The centre around Place de la Réunion is generally quiet and safe at any hour.
Easily. Mulhouse is on the main line from Paris to Basel, and regional trains take about 20 minutes, making it a simple day trip.
Zum Sauwadala on Rue de l'Arsenal serves choucroute and other Alsatian dishes in famously large portions.
Not formally, but it was an independent city-republic allied to the Swiss Confederation for centuries, and only voted to join France in 1798.
The city's textile past: each year a special Christmas fabric is designed and used to decorate the stalls and streets. It is also far less crowded than the Strasbourg and Colmar markets.
The old town is compact enough to walk in 15 minutes end to end. For the museums, SOLEA's three tram lines do most of the work. Line 1 stops right outside the Cité de l'Automobile at Musée de l'Auto.
Timing & weather
Allow at least half a day. It is France's largest motor museum, with the Schlumpf collection of Bugattis, and the tram line 1 stop Musée de l'Auto is right outside.
The best time to visit Mulhouse is May to Sep. Warm days for the open-air Écomusée and long evenings in the old town.
- Best overall: May - September (Highs of 20 to 26C; the Écomusée d'Alsace is open and the old town squares fill with terraces, though May is the wettest month, with about 87 mm of rain)
- Winter: November - February (Highs of 6 to 10C and frosty nights; the car and train museums are indoors, and Place de la Réunion hosts a Christmas market)
July is the warmest month in Mulhouse, with average highs of 26°C, and January the coolest, with lows of -1°C. May is the wettest month, at about 87 mm of rain; February is the driest. Museum days or a trip out to the Écomusée?
Getting there
Yes, especially with children. It is the largest railway museum in Europe and needs around half a day.
Yes, with two full days: both museums on the first, at about half a day each, and the Écomusée d'Alsace on the second. One day is enough for a single museum and Place de la Réunion.
It is at Ungersheim, 16 km north, off the D430. Soléa buses run out from Mulhouse, but only some trips call at the museum, so check the Soléa route planner before setting off.
Visa & documents
France belongs to the Schengen area. Citizens of the EU and of many other countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records non-EU travelers' fingerprints and a photo at the border.
Health & safety
Crime against visitors to France is mostly petty. Pickpocketing is common in Paris on the Metro, especially line 1, and around the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre and Gare du Nord. Rail and air strikes and street demonstrations can disrupt transport, so check before travel days and keep away from protests.
