Strasbourg Travel Forum

hello,
i'd like to ask you how many days will be enough for an ALsace trip.
By car. We are particularly interested in wine roads. Which places would you recommend for nights stay? thank you!

Allow yourself at least 5 days.
In Strasbourg there's plenty to see, also, Colmar,there are many wine places in the Colmar area so maybe a good place to stay.
Kayserberg, which has some good wines,is also the home of Albert Schweitzer and is a must.

There is one particular wine road (Route des Vin), with the most spectacular part between Ribeauvillé and Colmar, and the villages sourrounding Colmar. This is where I would also stay.

The most touristy place is Riquewihr, so to find accommodation is easier in the other villages. I also like Kaysersberg because it is in a lovely valley. Next to Riquewihr is Zellenberg, sitting on a hill overlooking the Rhine Valley, super tiny but a great location. A winery named Becker used to produce my favourite Pinot Noir...

Fantastic places to stay, eat and drink are Turckheim, Eguisheim (the wine coop = Cave Cooperative is excellent, especially the Riesling), Ribeauvillé and St. Hippolyte.

Even if you are most interested in wine you should not miss to travel into the side valleys and up to the summit road (Route des Crêtes), go to a Ferme Auberge (= farm where you can have rusitc food and wine), walk around one of the dark lakes, and visit the castle of Haut Koenigsbourg which is next to St. Hippolyte.

It is good that you have a car, otherwise you would not get around very well.

I forgot to add a great link:

http://www.alsace-route-des-vins.com/NewVersion/index.cfm/fuseaction/Region.Region2/Language/En.cfm

Hi. We usually stay in Barr, one of the wine villages.

Ribeauville is a really cute village in a lovely setting surrounded by vineyards and has several nice hotels. We've stayed there at Hotel des Vosges but not for many years.

We found the Hotel du Chateau D’Andlau just above Barr years ago and have continued to go there. It's near town but in the country and has a fabulous restaurant, lovely rooms, a stream running through the grounds and it's reasonably centrally located. It's a Logis de France and can be accessed via their web site or the hotel web site.
http://www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/
http://www.hotelduchateau-andlau.fr/

You will want to visit Strasbourg and Colmar for sure. The castle at Haut-Koenigsbourg is interesting but it is worth the trip just for the views from the castle.

The wine route is well marked and goes through myriad small quaint villages. We also enjoyed Obernai, the quintessential Alsatian village and while in the area visit Mont Ste. Odile just above it. There is an abbey, church and two smaller chapels but for contemplation (or tourism) there are viewing platforms with views for 40 miles (at least), gift shop, restaurant and wonderful walking trails.

Oh yes, there is a Spice Bread Museum in Gertwiller on the N422. Off season it is only open on Sunday but if you like gingerbread, Gertwiller is heaven on earth. There is a store containing hundreds of different kinds of spice bread!

We often take a day and drive over to Freiburg in Germany for a different experience. You could easily spend a month there so check the VT Travel Pages for the area and plan carefully . . . or plan to return several times.

Enjoy your trip.

Hello

When driving the "route des crêtes", be sure to take a break at the "Grand Ballon". It is part of the regional national park "Ballon des Vosges". With it's 1424 meters it is the highest point in the Vosges mountains. It offers a spectacular 5-star-view over the Elzas and the Schwarzwald. When the weather is good, you can even see as far as Liechtenstein and the Mont Blanc.
www.parc-ballons-vosges.fr
http://www.tourisme-alsace.com/en/outstanding-sites/alsace-grand-ballon.html

Enjoy your trip !