Walk around in Strasbourg: quai des Bateliers

Quai des Bateliers runs along the Ill between pont Saint-Guillaume and pont du Corbeau.

Recently pedestrianized, quai des Bateliers is like a little green haven in the middle of the city. A space where you can breathe, take a walk along the water with your family, your friends, or your partner. The atmosphere is cool and calm, flowing with the river and the boats gliding past. 

Stop for a moment under the lush trees, relax for a while on one on the pontoons directly above the Ill, or on the large floating pontoon (by pont du Corbeau). The crooked houses between n°22 and n°26 seem to lean against each other, as though they had their own definition of balance.

The quay is lined with cafés, galleries, shops and independent bookstores. We particularly enjoy the Librairie du Tigre (n°36), which specializes in comic books. 

In the springtime, you can see wisteria cascading down a few of the façades along the opposite riverbank. 

As you walk along the quay, the Cathedral appears in the background. The view from the footbridge passerelle de l’Abreuvoir is particularly appreciated by photographers.

A little further down, the Cathedral seems to play hide and seek behind the Palais Rohan (vestige of the 18th century aristocracy’s way of life, and now home to three museums) and the Historical Museum (which presents the history of Strasbourg from the Middle Ages to the founding of the European institutions).

Quai des Bateliers ends by pont du Corbeau, where you can continue towards: 

• rue d’Austerlitz and the neighborhood of la Krutenau to your left 
• quai Saint-Nicolas and la Petite France if you follow the river 
• rue du Vieux-Marché-aux-Poissons, the Historical Museum, the Cathedral and the Palais Rohan to your right.

Alternatively, you can choose to walk level with the water along the banks of the Ill, which you can access either from pont Saint-Guillaume or from the Palais Rohan.