Planing a trip to the Alsace
 

Planning a trip in June '99. Suggestions and recommendations appreciated.

Sue we were in Alsace in September and spent a week driving to wineries between Strasbourg and Colmar. See the web site for winespectator.com and search for articles on Alsace. We followed this magazines review of hotels and restaurants to the letter and we had a fantastic time. <BR>Highly recommend Kanzel suite at Beblenheim which is central in the region, expensive, stunning views, set in vineyards, free wine cellar, sorry if I am ranting but this place is superb 5 star accommodation and well worth melting the visa card for. Please if you have any questions contact us as we could talk for days on this magic part of France

Colmar is a splendid place just to stroll and poke around. Canals, half-timbered houses, cobble-stoned streets. Just north of Colmar is the village of Turckheim. Hotel Des Deux Clefs (Hotel of the two keys). Lots of atmosphere. Good dining room. Get a room in the old part, up high, so you can look out over the rooftops and see the storks nesting on the chimney pots.

<BR>Two villages we really enjoyed in the Alsace region were Kayserberg (birthplace of Albert Schweitzer). Very nice view of the vineyards and the valley from the ruins of an ancient castle on a hill above the town. And Riquewihr is an extremely well preserved walled city. To really appreciate it stay on after the tour buses have left and stay overnight. It's very nice and quiet then. <BR>Colmar has interesting timbered houses in the old center (but the rest of the town is modern and bland). Strasbourg has a nice older section called La Petite France. The cathedral is very nice. Be sure you go up into the tower and get photos of the square below.

I won't repeat all the suggestions already made, because they are excellent. I have used Strasbourg as a base and driven to all the places mentioned and it is very easy (unless you are tasting wine at various wineries!). It's also easy to cross the border and visit towns in the Black Forest. North of Strasbourg, you can also visit the Maginot Line, though I have managed to hit it on days when it wasn't open. It's a WONDERFUL area with much to see and do. Strasbourg has lots to offer, but it doesn't tend to have as many tourists as several other areas in France.