3 full days in Alsace Region

So lucky to be staying in Ribeauville! We stayed in Colmar (no car) and enjoyed it, but walking through Ribeauville one day we said “next time!”

Just outside of Ribeauville in Hunawihr, is the Centre de Reintroduction, a nature and anilmal Park That was quite unexpected. We walked from Riquewihr to Hunawihr and then to Ribeauville, FYI. Walking past the vineyards on the wine route was lovely!

Be sure to spend some time in Colmar.

I have not been to Haut Koenigsbourg Castle, but others have highly recommended a stop there.

Colmar is gorgeous. There will be lots of other visitors about, so don't expect to be alone. But one can spend hours just wandering around the pretty streets. The Unterlinden Museum is very good; its Isenheim Altarpiece is a knockout.

I liked Haut-Koenigsbourg (limited parking so you may have a long walk uphill (you'll park below or above so one way will be uphill). Visit nearby Monkey Mountain where you can interact with a colony of friendly Barbary macaques. All the villages I went to had charm, you can easily visit 2 or 3 in a single day and driving is pretty easy, do obey the speed limits (know them in advance, they aren't always posted), and the better part of a day for Colmar.

In Strasbourg, the cathedral is the top sight. I very much enjoyed the Alsatian Folklore Museum. Petite Venice is a pretty area to wander through.

Eguisheim is a very cute storybook town! We ate at a restaurant near the parking lot (it was in a hotel, I think, but can't remember the name now) and the food was delicious!

In Ribeauville you can follow the Grand Rue up to the three chateaux ruins above the village. Even climbing just a little ways up the hill side will give you a great view down the Rhine valley toward Switzerland. Not sure how much rigorous walking you both can do, but you can stop even just above the city and get a nice view.

Every little town in Alsace is prettier than the last. Pick a few, don't try to visit every town. I thought the best were closer to Colmar. Maybe because I saw those first? If you're a wine enthusiast, the Gewurztraminer is the one to try.

I really liked the Chateau du Haut Koenigsbourg, it's one of the best castles I've visited (at least fits my idea of what a castle should be). I skipped the Monkey Mountain (Singe is monkey in French) because I'd already seen Barbary apes in Gibraltar.

Strassbourg is a nice town, the train station is a fairly good walk from the church in the center and it's a little disorienting (like most medieval layouts) but worth the walk.

I also really liked the center in Colmar. I started in Colmar and finished in Strasbourg. I had a couple extra days to kill so also visited Freiburg and Heidelberg.

Everything mentioned above plus Riquewihr and Kaysersberg. Bergheim is an especially attractive, non-touristy village.

A great place for hiking of all levels.

https://www.ribeauville-riquewihr.com/en/

https://www.visit.alsace/en/activities-and-recreation/hikes-and-walks/hiking-routes/

Another vote for the ruins of the châteaux above Ribeauvillé. I only visited one (maybe Château de Saint-Ulrich?), and it was a wonderful memory to walk in the woods, up the hill and into the ruined castle. When I was there in 1996, no one else was there.

If any of you are car or rail buffs the French national motor and railway museums in Mulhouse are world class (otherwise the city has little to recommend it).