Connie

Hello,<BR>My husband and 10 year daughter and I will be traveling to the Alsace region of France next June, 2003. We will have 2 weeks in Alsace after one week in Paris. We are looking for two charming self-catering accomodations; possibly one in northern Alsace and one in the south. We have been considering one week in the Strasbourg area (for the north) and one week in the Colmar area (for the south). Are these towns too close together? We don't want long day trips and car time. Any other suggestions for good home base towns and accomodations. We love small villages, good food and hiking. <BR>Any help would be most appreciated. <BR>Connie

Pat

I can suggest a nice hotel in Strasbourg called the Hotel de l'Europe. We will be staying there in October. However, I find the reservation staff to be very nice and helpful. I have emailed them many times over these past months to get info. on the hotel and about train travel would you believe. And each time I would get a reply within an hour at the earliest but no later than 24 hours. One of the receptionists even looked up the train schedules for me.<BR><BR>The rate they charge is very reasonable with breakfast included. <BR><BR>As to your question about how far Colmar is in relation to Strasbourg, it is very close. I believe the train trip between the two towns takes less than 2 hours. Hope this helps you.

Connie

Pat,<BR>Thanks for your reply, I will have to try the hotel you suggested sometime. I'm hoping to hear from others too as we are specifically looking for self-catering accomodations-equiped with a kitchen so we can do some of our own cooking on this trip. I've looked at the Gites website-but am also looking for responses from fodorites. <BR><BR>My reference to Strasbourg and Colmar was intended to find out if there is enough of interest in a radius around each city to make them both good home bases during two different weeks. Or is the Alsace region small enough that it can be covered in one week. We don't like to spend our trips driving all the time. Rather, we will spend a good part of every day exploring villages and hiking. Thanks in advance for your thoughtful responses. <BR>

Barbara

A few years ago we stayed a week at a Gites in a VERY small town in Alsace. We took the train into Strasburg. It was very convenient. Two bedrooms. Full kitchen. It was on a working farm. We enjoyed it so much that the following year we rented a flat on the Luxemburg border for one month. Did a lot of sight seeing.

StCirq

Connie: Strasbourg and Colmar are, IMO, way too close together (67 km, to be precise)to be considered separate bases for seeing the area.<BR><BR>You might consider hopping the border and spending a week somewhere around Freiburg, which is a lovely place. Or pick another nearby region of France.<BR><BR>

connie

To everyone who responded, I appreciate your comments. We were also thinking we should hop to a second region for the another home base, since Strasbourg and Colmar and surrounding areas seem doable in a week. On the other hand we could stay in one place in central Alsace for two weeks and relax a bit more. Any thoughts or opinions about two weeks in the Alsace at one home base. We will be in Paris for the first week. <BR><BR>Barbara, would you be willing to share the name of the gite you stayed in (and the town) so we could explore that option. Thanks again, everyone is so generous with their time and information on the fodors site.

StCirq

Connie, this is just my own personal opinion, but I don't think I could stomach two full weeks of that super-cutesy Alsatian kitch. One week has always been more than enough for me. It's a beautiful area, don't get me wrong, but after about three days I start to think I'm in Busch Gardens.<BR><BR>I'd split the stay up into two different areas. Others may disagree.

Jan

Hi Connie<BR><BR>I have just been surfing the net and came across your message. My husband and I are also planning to visit Alsace in June 2003, name 1-7 June. Would be interested to hear from you re any accommodation you find. Currently I have found a couple of self catering gites which look quite promising. The web site is www.itea2.com For example Gite ref no. 451 situated at Innenheim in the Le Bas-Rhin is priced at 245 Euros for the low season which is the time we are travelling. The other one is at Obschaeffolsheim also in the Bas-Rhin area for 230 Euros. In some cases with self-catering gites you have to pay an extra charge for the hire of linen. Hope this is of some use to you. Jan

Billyb

Hi Connie. We spent a week in the Alsace in June and loved it. But with only 3 weeks total, I would much prefer my second week in another region such as Provence, Dordogne, or Normandy. The cultural diversity of France is one it's many charms and I think you will have a more rewarding experience...bb

francesca

We spent a week in this area traveling with our baby. We found 2 b&bs, one relatively close to Strasbourg and the other closer to Colmar, so that is a good strategy. We loved Alsace. One week was enough for us, but there certainly is plenty to see (and eat!) for two weeks.

Harzer

Hallo Connie!<BR><BR>I was in a small village called Andlau in Alsace back in May/June.<BR><BR>We had picked up our hire car in Strassburg one afternoon and just drove off to find a self-service apartment, which we did with very little trouble. There were signs at the front gate of many homes advertising 'chambres' or 'gites', the latter being the French term for the sort of apartment you are looking for. <BR><BR>This village proved a very attractive and friendly one and was within striking distance of all the major sites like St Odile** (a very nice place to eat in the evenings by the way), Colmar**, Haut Konigsbourg castle**, Riquewehr*, Ribeauville*, Kaysersberg, le Hohwald etc. We took a very nice drive one day over the mountains to the west to lake Gerardmer. <BR><BR>We also did some nice walks from our front door into the hills behind the town - one to Chateau Andlau and another to Spesbourg, also a ruined castle.<BR> <BR>Our accommodation was rather basic, but cost only $38 a day for B & B for two.<BR><BR>The car we hired was a brand new Peugeot 206 manual, which was only $20 a day and which we kept for the best part of 6 weeks.<BR><BR>Alsace is a very big wine producer, if that interests you. Some of the very best French wines come from here, although one doesn't hear of them as much as you do Burgundies and Beaujolais and so on.<BR><BR>You should have a very enjoyable time.<BR><BR>Harzer

connie

Thanks everyone. Jan, I will definitely look up the info on the gite. I also found an interesting self-catering house in Eguisheim. Website is http://www.holiday-house-france.mcmail.com/index.htm. Anyone, would Eguisheim make a good home base? Sounds promising.<BR><BR>We are convinced that one week in Alsace is a better option for us. Now the question. Where would you go for the last week? We don't want to travel far (we will have a car though). Should we just drop south to the Franche-Comte area or Lyonnais. Which area would provide the most interest and contrast with Alsace. We have already visited Provence on a previous trip. <BR><BR>Harzer, which company did you rent the Peugeot from? Sounds like a good deal.<BR><BR>Keep the good ideas coming.

peggi

Alsace is very "German" so I agree with the poster that after a week there, you should head someplace else with a different regional French experience? Since you've been to Provence, what about Loire or Normandy???

Mike

We did just about the same things that Harzer did but we stayed in Ottrott this past June. Obernai was a nearby village where we enjoyed a great dinner at a Thai restaurant. I wouldn't stay in Strasbourg or Colmar -- nice places to visit for a day trip only in my opinion. The wine route was great, the wine excellent, and the little villages quaint. The drive over the mountains to the west to lake Gerardmer is a must. Near the top of the mountain on the way to the lake there is a scenic stop called Hohneck where you have great views in all directions.

Harzer

Hi Connie!<BR><BR>Sorry for the late reply.<BR><BR>The company is called SODEXA-Peugeot. Your travel agent may be the best one to contact to get in touch with them.<BR><BR>The deal is not the usual car-rental, but one where you actually contract to buy the car and are the registered owner while it is in your care. However the calculation of the cost to you is confirmed beforehand in terms of a price for the period of ownership. For us, who took the vehicle for 38 days, it came to around 20 Euros a day with full insurance cover. We picked the car up in Strasbourg at Meinau Motors and returned it to a depot near Frankfurt airport, from where we were ferried to the airport for no extra charge.<BR><BR>I have rented cars in Europe many times over the years, but this was the best deal ever. An additional benefit is that there is almost no restriction on which countries you can drive to - CZ and Poland are OK for example. <BR><BR>You do of course have the choice of all Peugeot models under this scheme, the rates varying according to your choice.<BR><BR>Hope this helps.<BR><BR>Harzer<BR>

ptmy

Connie,<BR><BR>We also leased a car through Sodexa-peugeot and highly recommend them. You can get all the info and they will send you a package through www.autofrance.net.

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