Best village/town to stay in Alsace's Route du vin?
 

I am trying to decide between Colmar or the village of Eugusheim or Riquewihr. I generally do not prefer cities (too big and busy) but I'm looking for a charming "village like" location but with plenty of good restaurants to walk to and avoid drinking & driving after dinner.

Thanks in advance!

Colmar is a city - Riquewihr fills what you are looking for to a T - don't remember Eugusheim when i biked the road long ago but Riquewihr is a charmer, right in the vineyard areas

We spent a week in Riquewihr in Oct. and loved it. It does get very touristy during the day but that is when we did our day trips to other villages, towns, etc. I liked staying in Riquewihr b/c we, too, like being able to walk to restaurants, stores, etc.

We stayed at www.i-love-riquewihr.com, Le Colombier apt., which was built right into the ramparts that surround the medieval village. Highly recommend it. It is a two bedroom, two bath apt., and that was great for our two couple group, but there is also a one bedroom and a studio for rent.

The owner recommended Le Sarment d'Or for dinner, and we had a delicious meal there. It is also a hotel.

We visited Kaysersberg one day, and I liked it very much, also; could imagine using it as a base. Lovely hotel/restaurant there, too. Le Chambard

When are you going?

We loved Colmar as a base but you must have a car to visit the not to be missed wonderful Route du Vin villages.

Grandmere,

I think I read one of your trip reports and took alot of notes including your Le Sarment d'Or recommendation. I also looked at your www.i-love-riquewihr.com site and even for the darling studio (most inexpensive) it is 22E more per night than Hotel de la Corounne :(. We are in France Sept 4-14 and will visit the Alsace & Burgundy region.

We do have a car Micheline!

But, LeeRitchie, keep in mind that if you stay in an apartment you can save money by eating some meals in, especially breakfast. And we find it so nice to have the luxury of spreading out a bit in an apartment; after five nights in the small Paris hotel room, it was good to have more space.

But I need to keep my values to myself; to each his/her own. You will have a wonderful time in Alsace, that's for sure, no matter how you do it!

We loved staying in Kaysersberg last year for 4 days. There are a couple of dozen restaurants, several coffee/pastry shops...Enough to keep you satisfied for a while.

Kaysersberg was my favorite of the villages we visited -- it was just beautiful and felt authentic -- locals out walking dogs, buying bread, etc. Some of the other places felt like pure tourist towns. We were glad we stayed where we did.

I wouldn't stay in either Colmar or Riquewihr. I prefer Obernai.

St Cirq,

Would you be so kind to expand on your comments as to why you prefer Obernai and do you have a favorite place to stay or dine?

Thanks!

I can't speak for St. Cirq, but I too enjoy Obernai. If you wanted to stay more to the North in the direction towards Strasbourg this is a nice base. It is big enough to have lots to see and do but still have some semblance of a small town. They have a very nice pedestrian zone with horse carriage tours through the town that I really enjoyed. There are lots of pottery stores selling th local wares and tons of restauants to choose from. Wonderful fountains and architecture. It is in close proximity to the other wine routes so makes a good base to travel from. Mont St. Odile is close by as well.

We stayed at the Hotel Sainte Odile, 9 ru du Marché in the Pedestrian Zone. It is a Logis de France affiliate and our room was very spacious. Their restaurant, the Santa Maria was excellent, specializing in Alsation food and unbelievable fruit tartes.fax:03 88 49 91 54
tel. 03 88 95 48 88

If on the other hand, you wanted something more southerly, closer to Colmar (you could take a day trip in very easily via train if you didn't have a car) we found Turckheim just heavenly. It is a walled city, much like Ricquewihr, with vinyards sloping steeply on the surrounding hillsides. What is didn't have was the throngs of people (unless you're there during their wine festival) There are Cave négociant after Cave négociant and you can just move from one to the next tasting their wines and buying what you lile/ve numerous restaurants of very good quality. Smaller town, you can easily walk and not use a car at all. I also liked it because it definitely feels like a "real, lived-in" town with ordinary residents...something I don't always feel in Ricquewihr.

Turckheim, we can personally vouch for L'Homme Sauvage at 19 Grande Rue. Tel 03 89 27 56 15. Built in1609, it has the huge wine barrel shaped door that leads into the interior courtyard where they have outside dining. The occasional chicken struts by and off a ways are rabbit hutches, but it was very country in a "country-chic" way. Food merits 2 forks in the Red Michelin. Really enjoyed our evening there.

We also had a most pleasant Sunday noon meal at Auberge du Veilleur 12 place de Turenne. Tel. 03 89 27 32 22 Rates a 1 fork & "good value for money" mention. Food was generous, artfully prepared and very taty. (I noticed this was the restaurant where the "officials" of the wine festival held their banquet...always a good sign, I figure!)

We stayed at Hotellerie des Deux Clefs http:// www.hotellerie-deuxclefs.fr/uk/index.php in one of their rooms on the backside of their courtyard, which had its own private table w/chairs on the deck. It was great to sit out and sip wine in the evening and relax. The have a couple of parking spaces, but reserve when you reserve the room. I would go again just to eat their expansive buffet breakfast with home baked breads, tarts and pastries as well as eggs, meats, cheeses, red fruit compote, and homemade jellies, served in a 16th century breakfast room. Stained glass windows, carved-back chairs in the shapes of hearts, star of David, diamonds. Carpet and furnishing are a bit dated but go real well with a place that was built in the 16th c.



That would

sorry about all the typos--gotta cold...I guess I'll go to bed. Good luck!

klondike...sorry to hear that you are sick. Perhaps thinking of La belle France will make you feel better :)

Thank you for all of your recommendations! I've got alot of research to do.

BTW: your thoughts on Euguisheim or Riquewihr as a home base?

Our first trip to Alsace was last summer and we stayed in Colmar but only b/c we couldn't find an apartment in Obernai, which had sounded better from my research.

Of the 3 places you mention, I would choose either Colmar or Eguisheim. Riquewihr is very nice as well---just a little touristy though I imagine it calms down when the day trippers leave.

Eguisheim is a delightful little village and seems to have everything you want. It seemed to be a little less touristed than some of the other villages and is just minutes from Colmar.

Colmar is larger, but still a nice manageable size. We happened to be there in July during the International music festival and the tour de france. Dumb luck.

I really like Colmar. We stayed in an apartment in the old town pedestrian zone, so it was quiet. Everything was within walking distance, including an excellent grocery store, a great number and variety of restaurants, shopping, etc.

There was a free municipal parking lot about a 5 minute walk where we were able to leave the car.

You really couldn't go wrong with any of these places though.

The places mentioned above--Turckheim, Obernai, Kayserberg---are all very charming and would be excellent choices as well.

LR, I agree with everything klondike said about Obernai. It's a nice size; has plenty of cafés, shops, restaurants, and affordable hotels; is nicely situated for touring; and is devoid of the kitschy atmosphere that prevails in many other towns. It just has a more "normal" feel to it.

Another vote for Obernai, Eguisheim, or Riquewehr. Colmar is more of a city. I wouldn't go back to Colmar but I would love to return to the other 3 villages.

We chose to stay in Obernai for the exact same reasons expressed by StCirq & klondike. Here, we stayed at the Hotel Le Colombier for 7 nights. It has a private garage, if parking is a concern.

www.hotel-colombier.com

Have fun planning your trip!

Although I am quite sure based upon these recommendations that Obernai is fantastic...I have ruled it out because it is too far north for our itinerary. We will visit it after leaving Strasbourg and on the way south on the Route du vin though for sure!!

Afer reading many posts...I have also eliminated Colmar and will take the advice of so many Fodorites to stay in a small village.

I'm leaning toward Riquewihr and Kayersberg because I want to spend the day hiking the bikepath through the vineyards between the two villages and exploring them at leisure.

Thanks everyone for all of your great info :)

Just in case you are considering going further south, here are some pictures of Turckheim during their annual Wine Festival:

http://s918.photobucket.com/albums/a...20Wine%20Fest/

Stayed at: www.hotellerie-deuxclefs.fr/

Enjoyed meals at:
www.restauranthommesauvage.com/
http://www.auturenne.com/

nanbug,

Where do you stay in Kayersberg?

Klondike,

Thank you for the photos and recommendations. The hotel deux clef looks sooooo gorgeous....but it's a bit too pricey. I'm trying to stay under 100E per night!

Fodorites....why am I having such a hard time deciding??? This is the one place in the world that it seems a bit difficult (for me). Too many good choices? Too hard to discerne differentiating factors between the villages?