Things to do in Schiltigheim: breweries, parks and the tram to Strasbourg

Schiltigheim borders Strasbourg to the north. The village was born in the 9th century around the estate of a Frankish warrior named Sciltung, giving Sciltungsheim, then Schiltigheim. Strasbourg acquired the territory in 1501. The neighbouring village of Adelshoffen, destroyed in 1392 then rebuilt nearby, eventually merged with it. At that time the town counted only a few hundred inhabitants. Its present face took shape much later, when industry moved in and turned a farming village into a town of production.

Beer did the rest. From the late 18th century, Strasbourg breweries left the city for Schiltigheim, where they found room and favourable fermentation conditions. Espérance, Pêcheur, Schutzenberger and Perle settled there. Adelshoffen is the only large brewery founded on the spot. The brewers used underground galleries, since rediscovered. A whole economy grew around them: maltings, cooperage, boiler making, industrial refrigeration.

The town has waymarked a free, self-guided route of 14 stages, over about 3 kilometres. It starts from the Château park and mainly follows rue Principale and rue de Bischwiller. Each stage carries an information panel in French, English and German. A set of audio guides completes it, in French, German, English and Alsatian. The circuit is walked at your own pace, with no booking and no guide.

The route tells three superimposed layers: the rural village, the industrial town and the life of its inhabitants. You pass the town hall, the Linck farm, half-timbered houses of the 17th century, Art Nouveau and modernist buildings, and former inns. A booklet is given out free on request at the town hall, the Villa des Projets, the Linck farm, the Strasbourg tourist office and the 5e Lieu. It also exists as a downloadable PDF.

Tram line B crosses the town. It links Hoenheim Gare to Strasbourg by way of Bischheim, and so serves Schiltigheim along its whole axis. Eight bus routes complete the network. Line G links the Espace Européen de l’Entreprise to Strasbourg main station and on to Rotterdam. Lines C3, C4, C5 and C9 handle local connections, lines 60, 70 and 76 the wider ones. The whole is run by the CTS, whose app gives real-time timetables.

The train is the third option. Bischheim station sits within the Schiltigheim boundary and offers services to Strasbourg, Lauterbourg and Roeschwoog. CTS season ticket holders may use regional trains within the Eurométropole at no extra charge, which makes the journey into the centre very flexible. The network’s vehicles are wheelchair accessible, with audio and visual announcements and tactile paving at tram stops.

The bike is the fourth option, and not the least serious. The Eurométropole of Strasbourg claims the largest cycle network in France, with more than 560 kilometres of cycling infrastructure, and publishes an interactive route map online. Hire is through Vel’hop, which runs three stations in Schiltigheim, with bikes fitted with three gears, a basket and a lock. The VéloParc network offers secure shelters, including one at Bischheim-Schiltigheim station.

The town maintains seven parks spread across its territory, which spares you crossing the town to find greenery. The south-east holds three: the Château park, the Roseraie park and the Aar park. The west has two, the Oiseaux park and the Érable park. The north has the Léo Delibes park and the Résistance park. The Château park stands apart: it stays open at all times and serves as a daily shortcut between two districts.

The facilities vary from one park to another. Many have children’s play areas, water points, basketball hoops, football goals, a boules pitch or fitness equipment. The town also provides allotments and shared gardens for residents who want to grow. For a stay with children, these parks are the most immediate answer in late afternoon.

The town centre market is held on Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, on Thursday mornings. It is a producers’ market, turned towards local produce, and the simplest fixture for stocking up if you are staying nearby. It occupies the same square used for the town’s major events, also known as Place Alfred Muller. It is therefore an easy landmark to remember when you do not yet know the town, and the logical start for a first walk through the centre.

Les Halles du Scilt, 15b rue Principale, play the part of covered market. There you find the Halles Gourmandes bringing together fresh produce, traders present all year and a café restaurant. The place also hosts events and exhibitions, and serves as a gathering point for the district. As for public facilities, the town has its swimming centre, the Nelson Mandela sports centre and an arts school that carries part of the cultural programme.

The Beer Festival takes place on the first weekend of August, on that same Place de l’Hôtel de Ville. It is organised by the OSCAL and carries the town’s brewing identity straight forward: local partner breweries, folk entertainment, catering run by Schilick associations. The scale of the event shows in its figures: the 2023 edition mobilised 600 volunteers and served 16,860 litres of beer.

The UCAS street market, known locally as the Johrmärik, follows on the Monday. It spreads along Route de Bischwiller and the rues de la Mairie, Principale and des Pompiers, with antique dealers and car boot stalls. In spring, the Cavalcade du Bouc Bleu unrolls a Rhineland carnival procession, in March, from Hoenheim to Schiltigheim by way of Bischheim, along Route de Bischwiller. It is run by the Bouc Bleu carnival club and preceded by an evening show.

From Schiltigheim the Strasbourg museums are reached by tram. The City of Strasbourg runs about a dozen, mostly on the Grande Île and around it: the fine arts museum, the Œuvre Notre-Dame museum, the archaeological museum, the museum of decorative arts, the historical museum, the zoological museum, the Tomi Ungerer museum and the museum of modern and contemporary art. The print and drawing cabinet completes the set.

One point is worth noting before you set off: the Alsatian museum is closed for works, with reopening announced for 2028. There is no point building a day around it. The Aubette 1928 is presented separately from the other municipal collections. For the rest the logic is simple: the tram runs down into the centre, the museums are within walking distance of one another, and the return to Schiltigheim is on the same line at the end of the day, with no parking to worry about.