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By carRadek Kucharski — CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Alsace · the Wine Route

Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin, France · France

A hundred and seventy kilometres of road through vineyards, with a village of half-timbered houses every ten minutes. Alsace has been French and German four times since 1870, and it shows in everything: in the surnames, in the dialect, in the fact that people here eat sauerkraut and drink riesling. The Wine Route runs along the foot of the Vosges from north to south, and many villages survive as they were, although some, such as Ammerschwihr, were almost destroyed in the winter of 1944.

4 days3 nights105 km9 stopsBest season: May to October, with the vines green and the Turckheim watchman doing his rounds. And December, if what you want are the Christmas markets: it is when Alsace is at its most beautiful and also at its most crowded.

Day 1Arrival by way of the cathedral Day 2The heart of the Wine Route Day 3A Nobel laureate and a round village Day 4Colmar and the Turckheim watchman

Day 1 · Arrival by way of the cathedral

Strasbourg and Obernai · 52 km

Radek Kucharski — CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Strasbourg

history

The pink sandstone cathedral was for two centuries the tallest building in the Christian world, and inside it holds an astronomical clock with a 16th-century case and a 19th-century mechanism that still works. Around it, the Petite France, the tanners' and millers' quarter with half-timbered houses leaning over the canals.

Tip

Strasbourg has been French and German four times in seventy years. That explains the cooking, the dialect, and why the cathedral has only one tower: the second was never built.

30 min to the next stop · 31 km

OTCOM — Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Obernai

heritage

One of the first stops on the Wine Route coming from the north. Market square with the Six Buckets well, the 13th-century Chapel tower and long stretches of town wall.

Tip

From here the Wine Route follows minor roads through the vineyards. From now on, stay off the motorway: the road is the trip.

Day 2 · The heart of the Wine Route

Ribeauvillé, Hunawihr and Riquewihr · 7 km

Ribeauvillé

gastronomy

Three ruined castles watch over the village from the hillside. Below, a long main street with wine cellars on both sides and the Pfifferhüs, the house of the travelling musicians who had their guild here.

Tip

It is one of the villages with the most cellars open to the public on the route, and many let you taste without buying. If you only stop at one, make it this one.

5 min to the next stop · 2 km

Gzen92 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Hunawihr

heritage

A 14th-century fortified church ringed by a hexagonal defensive wall, standing alone among the vines. It is one of the few in Alsace shared by Catholics and Protestants for centuries, each with their own hours.

Tip

Walk up from the village through the vines: ten minutes, and the sight of the church cut out against the vineyards is the picture of Alsace.

10 min to the next stop · 4 km

Jean-Pol GRANDMONT — CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Riquewihr

heritage

One of the most visited villages in Alsace, and with reason: it came through both world wars untouched and keeps its 16th-century houses with not one modern building inside the walls. It is said to have inspired the village in Beauty and the Beast.

Tip

Sleep here or in Ribeauvillé: after six in the evening the coaches empty out and the village is yours. By day it is a scrum.

Day 3 · A Nobel laureate and a round village

Kaysersberg and Eguisheim · 26 km

– Wladyslaw [Disk.]. Taxiarchos228 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Kaysersberg

history

Birthplace of Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize winner. The ruined imperial castle dominates the village and a 16th-century fortified bridge crosses the river in the centre. In December its Christmas market is among the oldest in Alsace.

Tip

The village became famous in France after winning the vote for the French people's favourite village. Go early: from mid-morning there is no room.

20 min to the next stop · 13 km

Véronique PAGNIER — CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Eguisheim

heritage

A village built in concentric circles around the castle, something no other on the route has. You walk it by going round, and the half-timbered houses are painted a different colour one by one.

Tip

Walk the whole Rue du Rempart, the outer ring: it is the most photographed street in Alsace and takes fifteen minutes.

Day 4 · Colmar and the Turckheim watchman

The wine capital and a village without tourists · 20 km

--sinava-- from Berlin — CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Colmar

culture

The wine capital of Alsace and the largest town on the route. La Petite Venise is a set of canals with half-timbered houses leaning over the water, and the Unterlinden museum holds the Isenheim Altarpiece, one of the most striking works of German Gothic.

Tip

If you come in December, Colmar has six different Christmas markets spread across the town. It is the reason half the world comes to Alsace in winter.

15 min to the next stop · 7 km

Turckheim

heritage

Three medieval gates close off a village almost nobody visits, ten minutes from Colmar. And it keeps something that has all but disappeared in France: the night watchman still does his rounds singing, every night from May to October.

Tip

Stay until ten at night to see the watchman. He leaves the town hall with his lantern, cloak and horn and walks the village. It is a tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages, when the watchman kept an eye out for fires.

This getaway is in the app, day by day, with every stop on the map, the drives between them and where to sleep, and the option to save it for when there is no signal.

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