Hi everyone,
We are planning a trip. We are going to be in Zurich for 3 days we can’t cut this part shorter, and then the Interlaken area for 4 days, and then Lucerne for 2. Then we are going to Colmar and then Paris. We are trying to decide if we should go to Colmar for 1 day or 2. I have heard that there are surrounding towns like Riquewihr. Based on our schedule, if we go to Colmar for 2 days, we have to remove a day from Lucerne and go to Lucerne for only 1 day. What do you recommend, 1 or 2 days in Colmar?

If you are driving, then it's easy enough to pass through several small beautiful villages before heading to Paris. They are such small places so close to each other, that you could hit several. Of course, if you don't want to do that, by all means stay the extra night. Some folks might spend weeks in this area, so it's not like there is a dearth of sites to visit.

How many days do you have in Paris? Can you take a day from there to add to Colmar?

Instead of a day in Riquewehr, stay there in that charming town on the wine route . Do a day trip to Colmar.
If you do stay inColmar, visit the wine route and Strasbourg.
Lucerne gives you many possibilities around the lake, in the mountains. Beautiful.

My father in law's stroke in July 2019, and 2 years of Covid have required that we cancel & reschedule 3 trips to the Colmar/Alsace area. Our 4th try is this September. We'll be there for 2 weeks and this is our second multi-week trip to Alsace. The last one was in southern Alsace and this upcoming one is in Northern Alsace. So I kinda "lurch" at someone who asks about 1 or 2 days there. We have a full schedule for about 10 days.

The "pg" refers to the page number for the site in the Michelin Green Guide. The stars represent the Michelin Green Guide ratingAlsace

Gite in Kertzfeld near Benfeld

Wine towns & sites close to Gite

Andlau* Pg 267

Obernai** pg 280

Selestat* 2 hr visit pg 286 Birds of prey show

Haute Koenigsbourg** pg 274 1 hr 9:15-6

Mittelhergheim pg 275

Barr pg 319

Ottrott pg 276

Rosheim* pg 283



Trip 1 Sunday

North Hohwald** Pg 275

Champ du Feu** pg 277

Le Struthof** WWII memorial pg 285 9-5, Memorial d'Alsace* 10-6 Cl M

Mont Ste Odile** pg 284



Trip 2 Monday

Molsheim* pg 278

Market day

Musee de la Chartreuse 10-12 2-6 Cl Tu



Trip 3 Tuesday

Visit some nearby route du vins villages



Trip 4 Wednesday

Strasbourg*** pg 252 Not M or Tu

pick up train in Benfeld - 2 mins away. Trains leave hourly for 22 min trip

Musee des Arts Decoratifs* pg 261 12-6, weekends 10-6, Cl Tu

Musee Alsacien* pg 262 10-6 Cl M
Trip 5

Colmar** pg 292 32 mins from Gite



Trip 6 yellow highlighted route on Michelin map

Val d'Orbey** pg 212 4 hrs



Trip 7 orange Route

Val de Munster** abbreviated pg 209 3 hrs

Route des Cretes*** pg 201

La Bresse - Hohneck Col de la Schlucht*** pg 206 2 ½ hrs



Trip 8

Basel***

Many train departures every hour from Selestat. 1 hr trip



Trip 9

Mulhouse** pg 325 55 mins by car. Not M or Tu

National Museum of Old Automobiles*** 10-5

Museum of trains ***

Museum of printed fabric* 10-12 206 Cl M

Museum of wallpaper* 10-12 2-6

History Museum** pg 330 10-12 2-6 Cl Tu

Walking tour pg 329



Ecomusee d'Alsace** pg 333 10-6. Just a bit north of Mulhouse.



If you plan on visiting most of the Mulhouse museums & Ecomusee - this is probably 2 trips



Trip 10 (do last)

Metz***

Depart Strasbourg 12:29 arrive 1:24

Return 5:00 arrive 5:53



Trip 11

Frieburg** in Germany 1 hr 6 mins by car from Gite



Markets

Benfeld M, & Sat regional market

Andlau W

Barr Sa

Obernai Th

Molsheim Mo

Selestat Sat, Tu

End of this upcoming itinerary

Attached is a write up from our first trip to Alsace.

Stu Dudley

Stu Dudley

If you are going to southern Alsace then I would recommend staying in village along the Route du Vin. Of course you may have no interest in wine when just walk around the various interesting towns, but Eguisheim remains my go to place as it has retained its original structure and while, like many such places, makes money from tourism, it comes alive after 4pm and before 10am when the locals use the place. Colmar has a small old centre and then a lot of 'burbs. I'd visit it for the old centre but i'd not stay there.

Visit Lucerne and Central Switzerland in day trips from Zurich. It's just 30 to 60 min one way.

Honestly, we did not care for Colmar and were so glad we stayed on the Wine Route. Everyone is not a fan.

What did you not like about Colmar? we just booked a place there yesterday for some trips to the smaller villages. Now I'm questioning!

we hope to do our first trip since covid to europe next April. we want to pick up our rental car in Paris and drive to the Somme area for a few nights then to the Reims area then to Alsace to end the trip, staying near Colmar. big question is can we get to an airport to fly back to north america on an afternoon flight without staying overnight at an airport. there are trains to CDG from Strasbourg but they leave around six am. we would need to drive to the train, drop off rental car etc. i see Lufthansa has an airport bus from Strasbourg to Frankfurt airport but that would probably not be an airline we would use. also how many nights in alsace? we love wine, hikes, historic sites.

First, re Colmar, I too find it not that interesting, it is not really in the wine trade, it is in the tourist trade and all fine for that.

Of the others mentioned some are a bit wine-industrial and some are heavy on the walled town, half timbered place and I've stayed in a few over the years and I've found my balance, others find others. Eguisheim is great when the tourists leave town which is about 4pm, but it is hopeless during the busy day unless you have specific tasting bookings already made. Riquewehr is alsace a la Disney. Most of the rest are serious wine towns with a real focus on making wine.

If you don't know how to make your own bookings and equally don't speak french then I'd stick with Colmar as a base, having all that organised for you plus transport is a great way to go. Do try and have an evening walking in the vinyards or up in the hills as that can be fun too. The bright people get dropped at the top and walk down (just saying) or walk one village to another with an easy pick up at the second one.

How many nights, in the spring or autumn, I'd want one day in the hills, two days tasting and one day visiting fortifications down by the Rhine. But I've been here many times over 35 years. In winter I'd ski, taste wine and go to conferences (up in the old mine area they have great shows). In the summer, it gets too hot.

why so many tastings, well you have 7 varieties (well actually 8 as Pinot Blanc has a sub-variety called Auxerois), then you also have edelzwicker (what ever they want to mix together) and they come in fizz, dry and sweet including vendage tardive etc etc. Then you have some 50 pieces of terroir each with their own microclimates and as my Alsace friends say you have Protestants and Catholics. Catholics make more voluptious wines ;-) . So for example Roly Gassman (the sainted Pierre) offers roughly 50 different wines in his small shop, Materne Haegelin, another of my favorites, offer around 12. Doing a tasting is not something to be taken lightly.

Amy0221,
Why stay in Colmar to visit the wine villages when you can stay in a wine village or in lovely Strasburg?

The OP never came back since march 13th

We stayed in Ribeauville and daytripped to Colmar. I liked Colmar ok, but was very happy we stayed in a smaller town. I just found Colmar to be bigger, busier and just not as charming as the nearby villages or Strasbourg. There are a number of charming small villages in the area. I'd be happy to stay in any of them. Ribeauville was perfect for us. Large enough to have a nice selection of restaurants, shops and things going on, but small enough to easily get around.

Since you're in the Interlaken area for four days I'd spend only one day in Lucerne. Take the extra day for Alsace. I also found Colmar "ordinary" and recommend staying somewhere else on the Route du Vin. By ordinary I mean a collection of modern suburbs surrounding an average old town. Nothing wrong with it, just cuter places elsewhere.