Strasbourg to Kehl: a Rhine garden and footbridge walk

A short walk from Strasbourg into Kehl can be an outing through one landscape on two sides of the Rhine. Begin in the French Jardin des Deux-Rives, cross the Mimram footbridge, explore a selected part of the German garden and riverside promenade, then walk back over the same bridge. The opposite bank becomes part of the park experience.

Allow roughly two to three hours, including a seated pause and the return. This plan starts at the river garden, not at Strasbourg Cathedral. Getting from central Strasbourg, your hotel or a station to the starting park, and travelling onwards afterwards, requires additional time.

Choose a compact outing across the two banks

The simplest version has three experiences: a French garden approach, a crossing with changing river views, and a short German-bank walk. You do not need to tour all of Kehl to feel the change of setting. Keep the return over the same bridge as part of the plan from the start.

This suits an interest in landscapes, contemporary bridge design or the experience of crossing a major river on foot. It can also give a city trip a more open-air afternoon. The reward comes from noticing the relationship between the banks, rather than completing a long list of attractions.

RoadMe makes it much easier to build a complete personal route or trip plan around your interests, dates, pace and budget. Use the app to give this riverside outing a comfortable place within the rest of your day.

Decide how much of your available time belongs to the garden and how much to the rest of Strasbourg. A generous pause on the German side may be more satisfying than adding another destination. The walk works as a small, complete outing, with its start and finish in the French garden.

Start in the French Jardin des Deux-Rives

Use the French garden near the bridge approach as your starting area. First orient yourself to the river and the visible crossing, then choose a short section of the signed public paths. This gives the outing a clear beginning without requiring a circuit of every garden feature.

The transborder garden opened in 2004 as a joint project linking Strasbourg and Kehl. Landscape architect Rüdiger Brosk’s scheme and Marc Mimram’s bridge turned the relationship between the banks into something visitors could experience directly. A formerly dividing riverfront became the setting for shared public space.

The idea does not depend on making the two sides look identical. Different garden settings can belong to the same landscape through their connection across the water. From the French side, notice how a path or open view leads your attention towards the opposite bank.

Allow an editorial estimate of 20–30 minutes for orientation and selected river-facing paths. That is time to settle into the setting, not a promise to see the entire French garden. Keep to the actual public approaches and follow any signs affecting the route towards the bridge.

Before crossing, decide where you intend to finish in the French garden. If your onward journey uses a different park exit, leave time to reach it after returning over the river. A clear finishing point helps keep the park outing separate from the journey back into Strasbourg.

Cross on the Mimram pedestrian and cycle bridge

The crossing you want is the Passerelle des Deux-Rives, also called the Mimram footbridge. It belongs to the garden project and opened in 2004. It is distinct from the Pont de l’Europe road bridge and from the tram bridge; this walk does not follow tram tracks.

Marc Mimram’s design uses doubled, curved, cable-supported paths that meet over the river. The bridge is more than a direct line between two destinations. Its changing alignments make the crossing itself part of the experience, with the water and banks gradually taking different positions in your view.

Walk along the signed public pedestrian route, allowing space for others. The bridge serves pedestrians and cyclists, so it should not be imagined as an exclusively pedestrian viewing terrace. When stopping for a photograph, choose a permitted position that leaves the way clear.

Allow roughly 15–25 minutes for the outward crossing with a brief viewing pause. This is an editorial sightseeing allowance, not a measured walking-speed calculation. If you want longer to study the structure or take pictures, add that time rather than rushing the later garden walk.

Pause where the bridge brings the banks together

The meeting area over the Rhine gives the bridge its most useful architectural story. Two routes come together in a place where you can stop and consider both sides. Connection becomes a place in its own right, rather than simply the distance between one shore and another.

Look at the relationship between the decks, the fine cable lines and the river below. You do not need a technical inventory to appreciate how the structure frames a view. A small change in where you stand can alter the overlap of cables or reveal more of the other path.

Then look beyond the structure. The banks are easier to understand as parts of one landscape when you can see both from the crossing. That is the point of taking the walk all the way to the German garden, rather than turning around as soon as you have photographed the bridge.

This pause belongs within the outward-crossing allowance above. It is not another compulsory stop with a separate timetable. Stay inside the normal public areas, without leaning beyond railings or treating an interesting view as a reason to obstruct the crossing.

On the Kehl side, choose one riverside section

Continue into the German-side garden and Rhinepromenade. Public paths, trees and lawns provide a straightforward continuation of the outing. Choose a modest riverside out-and-back or a small permitted garden loop, keeping the bridge as the reference for your return.

Allow roughly 35–50 minutes for a selected section. This is not enough to promise every feature of the garden or a full tour of Kehl, and neither is necessary. Notice how the river feels from this bank and how the bridge looks when it becomes part of the view behind you.

Make room for a seated pause of about 20–30 minutes. A drink and a small snack can be enough; a substantial meal or an event needs extra time and its own arrangements. The value of stopping is that the riverfront becomes somewhere you spend time, rather than somewhere you merely cross.

Seasonal planting changes the experience without requiring a particular bloom. Choose the ordinary garden and river views as the core of the visit. A tower climb, water-play session, boat outing or guaranteed café seat is not part of this short plan.

Return over the same bridge by default

Walk back along the public route to the Mimram bridge and cross to the French garden. Returning the same way keeps the outing easy to understand and gives you another perspective on the structure. You can look towards the bank where the walk began instead of concentrating on what comes next.

Allow an editorial estimate of 20–35 minutes for the return crossing and approach to your French-side exit, adjusted to your actual starting point. Keep this time available even if the German garden encourages you to linger. The route finishes at the river park, with onward travel still to come.

A tram return can be considered separately: line D links Kehl and Strasbourg, but you need a date-specific CTS journey check, the actual stop, a valid ticket and current traffic information. Reaching the stop, waiting and travelling are additional arrangements. Do not assume that every regional or German transport pass covers the journey.

For this compact walk, the same-bridge return remains the default. It keeps the experience focused on the shared landscape rather than turning the afternoon into a transport puzzle. Choose an alternative only when its actual connection works for your day.

Give the walk a flexible two-to-three-hour block

The following estimates describe a selective park-and-bridge outing. They are editorial planning allowances, not a measured track or a guaranteed total. A slower pace, a detour or extra time looking at the bridge can lengthen them.

RoadMe can work out a personal plan for your whole trip around the experiences you want. Planning in the app is much more convenient for balancing this open-air walk with other interests, comfortable pauses and the time you actually have.

Add your journey to the starting park and onward travel separately. A document check, closure detour, difficult weather or an added stop in central Kehl can also require more time. If your afternoon is limited, shorten the selected promenade section and preserve the pause and return.

Check the day’s conditions and keep other outings separate

Carry valid travel documents and check the current entry and return requirements for your own citizenship and residence status, as temporary border checks may occur. Ordinary public access to the garden and footbridge is free, but that does not establish round-the-clock opening or confirm that every approach is open on your date.

Follow actual signs and any temporary restrictions. Weather and events can change how an outdoor space is used, and pedestrian-and-cycle infrastructure alone does not confirm every slope, surface or mobility requirement. Check particular access needs separately rather than treating this outline as a complete accessibility assessment.

For another day, our guide to choosing a Strasbourg park compares different green settings, while Strasbourg by bike across three districts develops a separate city outing. The European Quarter and Orangerie walk offers another perspective on the city’s European role. None is a compulsory extension of this river walk.