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The best place to stay in Strasbourg for travellers on a shoe-string budget is Ciarus.
It offers clean, comfortable en-suite hostel accommodation, which is often booked up by MEPs.
For the best tarte flambees go to Les Trois Brasseurs at 22 Rue des Veaux. It often has special deals on tarteflambee and beers.
For great beers, go to Academie de la Biere on Rue Adolphe Seyboth. It is a great place to have a few drinks after wondering around beautiful Petite France.
Top restaurant to enjoy tarte flambee - Les Trois Brasseurs, 22 rue des Veaux
From the beginning of December Strasbourg has the best Christmas market in Europe, with hundreds of stalls selling reasonably priced presents, hot wine, Christmas decorations, Christmas trees and many other things.
It is beautiful to photograph and wonderful to visit.
Try and avoid visiting in the one week in four when the European Parliament is sitting - it means there are hardly any hotel rooms available!
It may not be the first Eurostar city that you associate with cutting edge European culture, but in fact Strasbourg is the home of television channel Arte – a station that many would assume is broadcast from Paris or even Amsterdam.
The ‘Channel 4’ of the European world, they bring ambitious, cultural programming to France and surrounding countries.
Check out their website in advance to see if there is a themed evening of films and discussions showing when you are in town. If you are lucky you may even catch a live opera broadcast!
Cheese is often undervalued but not at La Cloche a Fromage, Strasbourg.
The restaurant (a closely guarded secret amongst MEPs) is tucked down a cobbled street. Inside, it is dominated by an enormous, temperature-controlled Cloche.
All recipes contain cheese, apart from the chocolate fondue.
A selection of cheese from the Cloche is scientifically ordered in a "snail" on your plate and you eat your way into the middle saving le grand fromage for last.
Strasbourg is lovely toured by bike. The city has a number of bike rental shops and provide bikes with big baskets and locks, which allow yo to get on and off and carry all your shopping as you go.
Strasbourg is a brilliant place for food. For original and inexpensive experiences, try to get away from the touristy venues around the cathedral and head to ‘Broc en Stock’ (15, quai des Pêcheurs), an Italian restaurant where everything, from the chair you’re sitting on to the bikes and lamps surrounding you are for sale.
To enjoy Flammekueche (specialty from Alsace, like a square thin crust pizza with cream, onions and bacon), go to the trendy ‘Le Flam’s’ (29 rue des frères).
And to experience superior jacket potatoes French-style, head to ‘La robe des champs’ (4, Rue de l'Ecurie).
The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Strasbourg - once the world's tallest buildings - is an absolute must-see in Strasbourg.
A very well crafted astronomical clock chimes "noon" at 12.30pm each day, when figures of the 12 apostles appear in parade.
Fancy burning some calories? Have a go at the 330 steps to the platform..
However it's worth it, as the spectacular view on the Black Forest and Vosges are a wonderful reward.
Besides, Strasbourg is linked with the Alsace's wine route and is one of its civic centres.
You must try the Cloche au Fromage; the only all-cheese restaurant I've ever seen.
Right in the heart of the city, and not a gimmick: it is an excellent choice for eating.
The most romantic place in Paris is the Pont des Arts.
This pedestrian bridge lies betweens the Louvre and the Academie Française. Go there at sunset with a bottle of wine and enjoy youselves!
Climbing the staircase from the lower Church to the higher Church in Sainte Chapelle is a huge surprise.
Not visited as often as many buildings in Paris because it appears tucked away in the courtyard of the Palais de Justice.
Worth the Eurostar journey just on its own, especially in the colder months, is La Charlotte de l'Isle - a tiny but extremely captivating and bewitching 'Salon de The' on the tranquil and beautiful Ile st Louis.
The hot chocolate is to die for, rich and sensuous and almost thick enough to stand your spoon up in!
It is open only Thursdays to Sundays, 2pm until 8pm and is situated on 24, rue St louis-en-l'isle. Metro Pont Marie.
For the height of urban cool visit the Buddha Bar 8-12, rue Boissy d'Anglais.
Subtly lit and lorded over by an enormous buddha, this temple-like establishment stays at the forefront of Parisian cool.
While folks come to indulge in the Asian-inspired cuisine, many take advantage of the ambience at the cocktail bar, checking out the beautiful patrons and their style-conscious activities! Tres Bon!
There are lots of secret gems in Paris, but Chez Paul’s wine bar and brasserie, near the Bastille, is without a doubt the most Parisian.
This enthralling little place is invariably packed with genuine locals of the bizarrely-dressed-cigarette-in-hand variety.
Paul himself is normally there behind the well-stocked bar, in his thick round lunettes. He might serve you a little grudgingly if you aren’t French (something I personally rather treasure), but the food is stunning and you will soak up both the atmosphere and the beautiful wine long into the night.
13, Rue de Charonne, 75011 Paris. +33 1 47 00 34 57
For all the vegetarian food lovers: A speciality veggie restaurant in the heart of Paris is 'Le Potager du Marais' on 22, Rue Rambuteau.
And if you are a chocoholic do try the spicy chocolate tart!
Shakespeare and Co. is the English language bookshop in the Latin Quarter, recently featured in the film Before Sunset. The shop sells rare books and offers a bed to aspiring writers and practising bohemians in return for a little work.
Former owners Sylvia Beach, publisher of Joyce’s Ulysses, and Marxist fleamarket devotee George Whitman may have passed on, but the shop still offers a window onto the Paris of the Modernists and the Beats.
On Sundays at three Paris’ Anglophone community gathers for tea, cake and bookish gossip.
The best cocktail bar in the city is between the Pantheon and the Luxembourg Gardens.
Cosy, intimate and friendly this place has it all. The back street location and unassuming frontage makes it a true local hangout – strictly for those in the know.
It opens and shuts late so is perfect for long nights when you don’t want to face a noisy dancefloor.
And with more than three hundred cocktails on the list you’re sure not to get bored.
For good, solid French home cooking try "Le Vieux Bistro" on the Ile de la Cité, a charmingly rustic brasserie. Uncomplicated, charming and as central as it gets!
14, rue du Cloître-Notre-Dame
Paris 75004 France
Best thing to do in Paris: enjoy an evening aperitif in the bar at the top of Tour Montparnase and watch the sun set over the Seine.
Have a second while the city's lights come up - very romantic. Not only that, it's one of the few places in Paris where you're protected from a view of Tour Montparnase.
Afterwards enjoy dinner in one of the several Alsatian bistros in the area.
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