nycmary

I will be going to Alsace in early September. My interests are small interesting villages/towns, good food, hiking. So far I'm planning:
2 days in Strasbourg
Then driving south and either - driving to Gerardmer and do a couple of days of hiking and then driving to Colmar for 3 days. Or driving south and visiting Mt Saint Odile (a little hike), the Pagan Wall (hike) and stay in Obernai for one night.
Then if I stay in Obernai I would continue south and visit some of the towns and end up staying along the way (where exactly I don't know - Kayersburg, Mittlebergheim).
Then I have planned 3 days in Colmar and will visit Munster, and some of the towns I didn't see on the way down from Obernai.
I did have an interest in visiting Freiburg but getting the environmental sticker for a rental car from France and driving it into Germany seems daunting. Any thoughts on that?
Your help would be greatly appreciated.

kerouac

Many rental cars in Alsace have German environmental stickers and also the Swiss vignette. You might be lucky.

bilboburgler

Strasbourg is a good visit

The little villages up north (Bas) are good too.

Colmar, well I've visited Alsace many times but as a base for hiking.... nah

Hiking is a big hobby in Alsace. Every place either ever stayed in has a book of local hikes. I'd look between Eguisheim and Turkheim for a village with a few restaurants and hike village to village. Even call up a taxi to get back or, if you look at individual village websites you can see if there are hiking groups, local buses etc etc

Booking your car, just tell the rental company where you are going to go and they will sort it. Going to Germany is pretty normal in Alsace.

nycmary

Thank you kerouac. I will reach out to the car rental company. I appreciate the heads up.

nycmary

bilboburgler - does that mean you don't recommend staying in Colmar? Which villages up north do you recommend staying in? I could do one or two nights up north and the same for the south. Maybe visit Colmar or reduce the stay there to one night. I appreciate your input. Thank you.

bilboburgler

yes, don't stay in Colmar

Ah, I thought you'd chosen Gerardmer and Obernai already.

To the west of Colmar is an arc of commuter villages starting from Eguisheim and going up to Turckheim all of which are good bases to walk from, good accom and eating. If you want to start up the Vosges a bit then they all seem to have little satellite hamlets up the slope above the vines, but bars and restaurants are more sparse. Walking village to village is actually great fun, as you can follow footpaths in or close to the vines and so avoid cars/tractors etc.

Since I go there for the wine, I'd hate to advise you on hiking. I've cycled through Colmar and it is flat and has just a small ancient centre which is not really the reason anyone who knows the area goes to Alsace. I've been to Munster and up that sub valley for conferences etc and find the town less attractive (ancient mining history) so I'm less interested.

I have skiied at the Ballon d'alsace and skiied/walked part of the Route de(s?) Crete(s?) which is national walking trail.