The Route des Vins d'Alsace runs along the foot of the Vosges for about 170 km, from Marlenheim near Strasbourg to Thann in the south, through a strip of vineyards and wine villages between the mountains and the Rhine plain. Alsace is the only French wine region that bottles mostly single-variety wines, and nearly all of them are white: riesling, gewurztraminer, pinot gris and the sparkling crémant d'Alsace. The densest stretch, with the best-known villages, lies around Colmar, between Ribeauvillé to the north and Eguisheim to the south.
must30 covers Riquewihr and the drive itself on the France page. This page builds the rest of a trip around Colmar: its old town and the Isenheim Altarpiece, the villages of Eguisheim, Kaysersberg and Ribeauvillé, the rebuilt castle of Haut-Kœnigsbourg, the storks of NaturOparC and, at the northern end, Mont Sainte-Odile.
Walk past painted and half-timbered houses to the canals of Little Venice, where reds, yellows and blues reflect in the water.
What it is
Colmar came through the Revolution and the wars of 1870, 1914 and 1939 to 1945 largely intact, so its old town has kept a rare unity of half-timbered and Renaissance houses. Little Venice, the former quarter of butchers, tanners and fishmongers, follows the canals of the Lauch, with houses in reds, yellows and blues reflected in the water. Colmar was also the birthplace of Auguste Bartholdi, sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, and his fountains stand around the town.
How to do it
Start at the Koïfhus, the old customs house, then walk along the Rue des Marchands to the Maison Pfister of 1537, with its painted walls and wooden gallery, and to the Maison des Têtes of 1609, whose façade is studded with carved heads. In Little Venice, the bridge on the Rue de Turenne gives the classic view.
Good to know
The streets are free to wander and busiest at midday.
Time needed
Half a day
Best time
Early morning or early evening, outside the day-trip hours
Stand before a Crucifixion painted for a monastery that cared for the sick, Christ's body pitted with sores so patients saw their suffering shared.
What it is
The Unterlinden Museum occupies a 13th-century Dominican convent and a public baths building of 1906 in Colmar, and with about 200,000 visitors a year it is the most visited museum in Alsace. Most come for one work: the Isenheim Altarpiece, painted by Matthias Grünewald and carved by Nikolaus Hagenauer between 1512 and 1516 for the monastery of Saint Anthony at Issenheim, whose monks cared for the sick, especially those with plague and skin diseases. Its Crucifixion shows Christ's body pitted with sores, so that patients could see their suffering shared. The panels, once opened in turn through the church year, are shown in the convent chapel.
How to do it
The museum opens Wednesday to Monday, 09:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:30; a ticket costs €14, or €17 with the audio guide.
A full-size picture of a fortified medieval castle on a sandstone spur at 755 metres, looking over the Rhine plain.
What it is
The Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg stands at 755 metres on a sandstone spur in the Vosges just west of Sélestat, looking over the Rhine plain. A castle held this spur through the Middle Ages and was abandoned after the Thirty Years' War, and from 1900 to 1908 it was rebuilt at the wish of the German emperor Wilhelm II, when Alsace belonged to Germany. The result is a full-size picture of a fortified medieval castle, with towers, ramparts, furnished rooms and a collection of arms.
How to do it
An adult ticket costs €12, ages 6 to 17 pay €8 and under-6s go free; entry is free on the first Sunday of each month from November to March. From March to December, shuttle line 500 runs from Sélestat station for €3 a trip.
Good to know
Hours change through the year, shorter from November.
Circle the ring-shaped lanes of a village voted France's favourite, where half-timbered houses lean together and storks nest on the roofs.
What it is
Eguisheim, 7 km from Colmar, grew up around a castle of the Dukes of Alsace built in the 11th century, and its lanes still run in rings around the centre. It ranks among Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, and in 2013 it was voted the French people's favourite village. On the central square, the Saint-Léon fountain stands before the castle of the Counts of Eguisheim; it honours Bruno of Eguisheim, born here in 1002, who was pope as Leo IX from 1049 to 1054. Eguisheim is also a stork village: the birds nest on its roofs. On the hills above, the three ruined towers known as the Drei Exen look down over the vineyards.
How to do it
Walk the lanes that circle the old core, where half-timbered houses lean together under flower boxes, then come back to the central square.
Climb to Kaysersberg's castle and cross its fortified bridge
Kaysersberg, Kaysersberg Vignoble
Half a dayFree
Climb to a ruined emperor's castle for the view over roofs and vines, then cross a fortified bridge with a chapel in the middle.
What it is
Kaysersberg lies about 12 km north-west of Colmar, where the Weiss valley opens onto the vineyards, and its name means the emperor's mountain: in 1227 the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II bought the castle above the town to control the valley road over the Vosges to Lorraine. The town prospered as a member of the Décapole, the league of free imperial towns of Alsace, and its streets are lined with half-timbered and Renaissance houses. Albert Schweitzer, the doctor, organist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was born here in 1875.
How to do it
Climb the path to the ruined castle for the view over the roofs and the vines, then come down to the fortified bridge, built in 1514 with a small chapel in the middle sheltering an 18th-century statue of the Virgin.
Good to know
In 2017 Kaysersberg was voted the French people's favourite village, so arrive early in summer.
Hike up through the forest to three ruined castles crowning the hill above Ribeauvillé, then come down for a glass of riesling.
What it is
Ribeauvillé, about 16 km north of Colmar at the foot of the Vosges, was the seat of the lords of Ribeaupierre, known in German as Rappoltstein, and the ruins of their three castles still crown the wooded hill above the town: Saint-Ulrich, Girsberg and Haut-Ribeaupierre. Saint-Ulrich, the largest, stands at 528 metres and has been a listed monument since 1841. The lords of Ribeaupierre were also protectors of the wandering minstrels of Alsace, which is why the town still holds the Pfifferdaj, its pipers' festival, on the first weekend of September.
How to do it
Marked footpaths climb from the town through the forest to Saint-Ulrich and on to Haut-Ribeaupierre near the top, with Girsberg on its own rock close by. Back in town, finish with a glass of local riesling.
Watch storks feed their chicks in nests on the trees and roofs of a park that has protected Alsace's threatened species for 50 years.
What it is
NaturOparC, among the vineyards of Hunawihr between Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr, has spent 50 years working to protect threatened local species, among them the white stork, the symbol of Alsace, the European otter and the great hamster of Alsace. You walk round a green park where storks nest in the trees and on the roofs and wander among visitors. The otters are a favourite with children.
How to do it
An adult ticket costs €12.50 in 2026. Opening hours change through the season, so check the calendar before you go: on most days the park opens at 10:00 or 10:30 and closes between 17:00 and 18:30, with last entry an hour before closing. Pair it with a morning in Riquewihr, a few kilometres away.
Good to know
In spring and early summer you can watch the parents feeding their chicks in the nests.
Follow the Pagan Wall through pine forest around a summit that has drawn pilgrims for well over a thousand years.
What it is
Mont Sainte-Odile is a 764-metre summit in the Vosges just west of Barr, at the northern end of the wine route, and it has drawn pilgrims for well over a thousand years. At the top stands Hohenburg Abbey, said to have been founded at the end of the 7th century by Adalrich, Duke of Alsace, in honour of his daughter Odile, who was long venerated as the patron saint of Alsace, a role Pope Pius VII made official in 1807. Around the summit runs the Pagan Wall, a drystone enclosure whose name suggests it predates Christianity.
How to do it
From the convent terraces the view sweeps over the Rhine plain. Footpaths follow the wall through the pine forest past moss-covered blocks. It is a short drive from Obernai, the base for this end of the route.
Follow the wine road to walled Riquewihr and taste in a winegrower's own cellar, under the grand cru slopes above the village.
What it is
The Route des Vins d'Alsace is a signposted road of about 170 km from Marlenheim, west of Strasbourg, to Thann in the south, opened in 1953. Riquewihr is the centrepiece, a walled village on the Plus Beaux Villages de France list, its main street running from the town hall gate to the 13th-century Dolder tower, now a small history museum with a view over the roofs. The slopes above the village are two grand cru vineyards, Schoenenbourg and Sporen.
How to do it
Do not try to drive all of it in a day: the cluster of villages around Colmar, which makes a good base, is the stretch to choose. From April to October a small tourist train leaves from the town hall for a loop through the vines.
Good to know
Taste in a winegrower's own cellar rather than a shop on the main street.
Colmar is the hub: direct TGVs from Paris Est reach it in under two and a half hours, and regional trains from Strasbourg take about half an hour. EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, about an hour south by road, and Strasbourg airport are the nearest airports. By car, the A35 runs along the plain just below the wine route.
Getting around
The wine route is a signposted road through the villages, so a car or a bike is the easiest way to link them. Regional buses connect Colmar with several villages of the central stretch, but a car gives you far more freedom. From March to December a shuttle runs from Sélestat station to the Haut-Kœnigsbourg. Cyclists can follow the Véloroute du Vignoble, a signposted cycle route along the vineyards.
How many days
In must30's view, two or three days from a base in Colmar: one for Colmar and the Unterlinden, one for Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Eguisheim, and one for the Haut-Kœnigsbourg, Ribeauvillé's castles and NaturOparC. Add a day at the northern end for Obernai and Mont Sainte-Odile, which are closer to Strasbourg.
When to go
May to October is the season, with terraces open and the vines in leaf; the harvest falls in September and October, when the vineyards turn gold. From late November, Colmar and several villages, Ribeauvillé and Kaysersberg among them, hold Christmas markets, and the crowds come with them. Winter outside the markets is quiet and cold.
Where to base yourself
Colmar has the most hotels, the trains and buses, and an old town that is worth your evenings. For quieter nights among the vines, stay in a village such as Eguisheim, Kaysersberg or Ribeauvillé, where some winegrowers also rent rooms, but plan on a car. For the northern stretch and Mont Sainte-Odile, Obernai is the better base.
Questions travellers ask
What is the best base for the Alsace Wine Route?
Colmar, for its trains, hotels and old town, with Eguisheim 7 km away and Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé within about 20 km. Stay in a village instead if you want quiet evenings and have a car.
Can you do the Alsace Wine Route without a car?
Partly. Trains reach Colmar, Sélestat and Obernai, regional buses serve some villages, a shuttle runs from Sélestat to the Haut-Kœnigsbourg from March to December, and the Véloroute du Vignoble links the villages by bike. For several villages in one day, a car or a guided tour from Colmar is simpler.
Which wine villages should you not miss?
Riquewihr, covered on the France page, Eguisheim with its lanes in rings around the castle, Kaysersberg with its fortified bridge and castle ruin, and Ribeauvillé below its three castles. Colmar's Little Venice is the town to pair them with.
How long is the Alsace Wine Route?
About 170 km, from Marlenheim west of Strasbourg to Thann in the south. Do not try to drive it all in a day: pick the stretch around Colmar, between Ribeauvillé and Eguisheim, where the best-known villages are close together.
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