Thanks to eveyone one who responed to my post earilier this summer. My husband and I fell in love with the towns along the Alsace Wine Road
and plan to return next year when the crowds are smaller, the weather cooler, flowers still in bloom and grape vines still present. September might be too busy due to the harvesting of grapes but I may be wrong. Appreciate your opinions on the pros and cons of going in September or October.

P.S. Some of you may remember me asking about tasting wine and driving in France with their strict drinking laws. Didn't matter because my husband forgot his drivers license and I had to drive,
which meant no sampling. Oh, well another reason to go back so I can sample all their great wines.

Well, if you want the grapes actually still to be on the vines, as opposed to just the vines still being present, you'd best go before the third week in September. If you want to see the harvest, which is always a treat, you'd better contact some vineyards and see if they can give you a decent prediction of when the harvest will be next year (it should be WAY too early to know that now).

Seeing the lush green grape vines on gently sloping hills in Alsace is what I find so beautiful. Are most of the leaves still present afer the grapes have been picked?

Also is the area as crowded during the harvest as in July and August?

My last trip to Alsace Wine Road was a few years back during October. It was a bit chilly, but we were lucky to have sunny days. Harvest was long over, but the grape vines still had their leaves -- green, yellow, purple, brown. I think its a great time to be in the vineyards. The towns were not at all crowded.

Sept and Oct are both good choices.

Both months are excellent. If forced to choose, it would be October for me, though.

Would the second half of Oct. still be a good time to go; ie, would restaurants, stores,etc., still be open? The place we're interested in renting is available at that time.

Thanks for any advice about this time of year.

Seeing as how the German and Swiss neighbors flood into Alsace every weekend of the year, you don't really need to worry about many places being closed.

Thank you, Kerouac; I see above that you prefer Oct. to Sept; would that hold true for late in Oct., too, weather-wise?

Majority of leaves taken off before the harvest (to get the grapes to the sun and to make it easier for the pickers) those left will be going golden.

Going in harvest time not so good, wine maker busy (so tstings harder to find), pickers take the cheap hotel rooms.

Late October can still be lovely if it is sunny; no way to predict that ahead of time! (But basically most of France doesn't really start entering into the cold gray of winter before mid-November.)

The big advantage of October are the autumn colours which are beautiful there. The whole Vosges hills will be golden. And it's the time of new wine and chestnuts...

Thank you, everyone; it's good to get this input to help us make the decision. Golden hills, new wine, and chestnuts sound wonderful.

grandmere,

You now have all the info from Jean-Paul.He was born and raised there and knows it all..plus their absolutely beautiful places now. I spent time in the area with them and saw things in the beginning. Lovely in every way.
Joan

And thank you, Joan, for putting me in touch with him.

Sue

Sue,

Glad to see you have made reservations! Their places are soooo nice, in every way. You will love it! Jean-Paul and Martine are good friends. I hope to see them on this trip..we do usually get together.

Joan