Where to stay in Strasbourg

The old boatmen's quarter east of the island, now full of students from the university next door, bars and tarte flambée places. Ten minutes' walk to the cathedral.

The quarter round the main station, west of the island, with chain hotels and the trains to the airport, Colmar and the wine villages. A few minutes by tram to the centre.

The island in the Ill: the cathedral, Place Kléber and the shopping streets, with nearly every sight a few minutes apart. Busy by day, quiet at night.

The German city built after 1871 around Place de la République and the university: wide avenues, Art Nouveau façades and calmer, cheaper rooms.

The western tip of the island, where the tanners and millers worked on the channels of the Ill. Hotels in old houses by the water; crowded in the afternoon and at Christmas.

Leafy streets of villas round the Orangerie park and the EU institutions, with a few upmarket hotels. Quiet, except in the parliament's session weeks.