Alsace
 

We took our first trip to Alsace recently and used this website for guidance. Here are some observations from 7 days in Alsace in June 2007.
Hotels:
Strasbourg, Regent Petit Venice-quite modern in old area of town. Air conditioned. Good service. A bit hard to drive to.
Obernai, A la couer D'Alsace - very nice, great location in pretty town. Excellent food (very good breakfast included in rate), had excellent meal at Le Rampart restaurant at hotel. Beatiful gardens. No airconditioning.
Riqwhir, La Couronne - avoid, simply old.
Colmar, La Maison des Tetes - very good, good old city location with its own parking. Excellent restaurant. Air conditioned.
Touring, while it sounds nice there is no real reason to stay in villages along the Route de Vins. You can use Strasbourg and Colmar as bases and explore different sections of the Route de Vins which is not far. If you only have a few days skip the upper and lower sections of the route de vins and concentrate on the center portion. That is where the nicest villages and the most pleasant drives are. While several of the villages are "touristy" they still have great charm and history so don't skip them (just don't stay in them)
Dinners:
La Maison des Tetes in Colmar was excellent, modern alsace food in an upscale setting.
Au Tire Bouchon in Riquwhir - awful.
Chez Yvonne in Strasbourg was a very good traditional Winstube with local food.
Les Ramparts in a la couer D'alsace hotel was excellent.
Chez Hansi in Colmar old city was good, traditional food in traditional setting.
L'Agneau D'or in Obernai was a great surprise. Small but excellent food, try the Perch.
Helmstetter Bakery in Colmar had the best croissants.

Thanks for your report. We will be travelling to Alsace in two weeks time.
We are booked to stay just outside Ribeauville for three nights. Sounds as if you would suggest Strasbourg instead??
Is it because the villages are too small?

rosalita92

Thanks for sharing your experience. I too am currently researching the area for a pending visit some time in 2008.

Could you advise if your 7-day itinerary was sufficient or would you have wanted to spend more time in the region? If so, how much more time.

Tentatively I have earmarked 7 nights around Colmar and perhaps another 4 further north near Obernai.

Thank you again.

s

Thanks for sharing, R.

Hi K,

We've just returned from Alsace. Stayed in a small village outside Colmar.

Liked it very much. Choosing between towns and cities is more a matter of whether you are a city person.

Hi S,

11 nights in Alsace might be a little bit much. Depends on how slowly you travel.

You might want to use some of your days for a visit to Lorraine and Nancy.

For our next visit, I'm thinking of 1 day for Strasbourg, 1 for Colmar, 1 for Mulhouse, 2 for the Route des Vins, 1 for The Black Forest.

Enjoy your visits.

((I))

2 years ago DH and I spent 2 nights in Strasbourg and 2 nights in Ribeauville. different vibes. Liked Strasbourg alot and was able to go into Freiburg Germany from there. From Ribeauville, we explored the wine villages.

Thanks to all. Sounds as if we will enjoy our three days in the Alsace region.
I'll report on my return.

First time on line asking questions. Hope I do this right.

Will visit Colmar in Sept/07 and planning on staying three nights at Maison des tetes.
I would like to have an afternoon visit and see the Route du Vin. Is it easily accessible by public transport or would you suggest taking an organized tour.

aren't the flowers beautiful in Alsace? We stayed in Colnmr at the Hotel Romantic Marachel and drove the wine route. The Wines are excellent but prefer the food of Provence.

Kate12 - just outside may be preferential than in one of the enclosed villages like Riquwhir. We did stay in one village, Obernai and it was pleasant though after 1/2 day there was not much left to see in that village.

swagman, unless you need substantial time for museums than 7 days is plenty. If you are going to travel the Route des vins from Colmar keep in the back of your mind that you will jump on and off the local highway to get to many of the lower villages. 7 days would seem to be alot for that area though you can get almost anywhere in the area in an hour. In the Obernai area the route des vins winds from village to village through vineyards, it was a bit more pleasant. But we did find more winemakers to taste at in the lower half.

Lucy - You will like the Maison des Tetes, very convenient with their own little parking lot behind the hotel. You will need a car to get to the Route du vin, not that public transport oriented. Their are some groups who run 1/2 day tours to several villages. Try www.regioscope.com.

Thanks ira and rosalita92. You have now convinced me to reduce my time in the area to one week only.

We will be travelling with a toddler, so will probably based in one place for the entire 7 days. Colmar is the thinking now, perhaps at La Maison des Tetes (I haven't been able to find a suitable gite in the area).

s

Hi Lucy,

>I would like to have an afternoon visit and see the Route du Vin.<

That's hardly enough time to see one town. :)

www.bahn.de lists buses from Colmar to Ribeauville and Turckheim.

However, I am not familiar with where to get the bus.

IIRC there is bus service between the towns of the Route des Vins.

I think that your hotel will be able to give you the info you need.

((I))