The famous panorama
Ponts Couverts, Petite France and cathedral in one frame.
Claude TRUONG-NGOC — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Flocci Nivis — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Flocci Nivis — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pedro J Pacheco — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Barrage Vauban is a stone bridge-dam built by Louis XIV's famous military engineer Vauban at the seventeenth century's end — a water weapon, not a crossing: under siege its arches shut, flooding everything south until no army could pass. Happily the idea was rarely tested. Today it is Strasbourg's best balcony: its grassed roof, free to all, looks straight onto the Ponts Couverts with their three medieval towers, the Petite France houses behind, the cathedral spire deep in frame — the city's famous panorama is taken from exactly here. Its covered inner gallery crosses the river past old stone statues stored in the half-dark — an oddly charming passage — and the site sits five minutes from the Petite France's heart, closing that walk naturally.
Ponts Couverts, Petite France and cathedral in one frame.
A covered crossing past old carvings stored in the dark.
A dam built to flood the city's south under siege — Vauban's cunning.
Place du Quartier Blanc, 67000 Strasbourg
Ponts CouvertsThe Ponts Couverts are three bridges crossing the Ill's four arms at the entranc2 minutes walk4.8
Museum of Modern and Contemporary ArtA large museum of modern and contemporary art in a glass building on the bank of2 minutes walk4.5
La Petite France'Little France' is the quarter Strasbourg gets photographed from: sixteenth- and3 minutes walk4.7
Place Benjamin-ZixA small square in the heart of the Petite France, ringed by Alsatian houses with5 minutes walk4.6
Hôtel de RathsamhausenA historic town mansion near the Petite France, built for the noble Alsatian fam5 minutes walk4.4The Ponts Couverts are four centuries older — medieval bridges with watchtowers that lost their roofs long ago but kept the name. The dam was built behind to replace them defensively. Today: walk the bridges, photograph them from the dam — that is the right division of labour.
Every time you pass — the climb is two minutes and the view permanent. For the ideal shot: afternoon with sun behind you, or the first blue after sunset when the towers light up.
The modern art museum directly across the water, or a return through Petite France in evening light — both minutes away.