7 Days in Alsace (& Lorrraine?)

I just returned from the Alsace and spent one night in Strasbourg to see the sights that I missed on a previous trip.We picked up a car the next morning and drive to our base for five nights in Colmar.We visited the Castle at Haut Koinisbourg,great place and views of the Valley,from there we went to Equsheim,Ribeauville,Riquewihr,Kayserberg and time in Colmar.This is a beautiful area with all of the wineries and brightly painted half timbered buildings and interesting food.
Mike

How fun for you! For Alsace, I feel you really need a car. I think two nights in Strasbourg is good and then you can work your way south. We stayed just one night in Colmar (at a working winery no less!). Colmar has lots to do and is very pretty, but its bigger and not as quaint as the smaller wine villages. After Colmar we stayed 3 nights in a wonderful B & B in Eguisheim. I highly recommend actually staying IN one of the half timbered villages. Eguisheim is wonderful, and I thought the cutest, but it is not as central as some of the others Riquewehr, is lovely tho it tends to be quite busy. Ribeauville is a wonderful stop, too. Several of the towns had small castles overlooking them with walking trails. Do try some of the wines, if you haven't had Alsatian wines before. They tend to be sweeter and people that are less into wine seem to enjoy them. The style of reisling and gewurz and others is more dry in than in other regions that produce the same wine, but still they are on the sweeter end of the wine spectrum. I also think that you do not necessarily need to be a wine lover to enjoy this beautiful area.

I dislike wine, but that's a lovely area; I made my second visit two years ago and would gladly return. Colmar is well-positioned for visiting a lot of the little villages and is beautiful, though you'll encounter a lot of other tourists in the center. The Unterlinden Museum is very good, and its Isenheim Altarpiece is wonderful.

With a car it would be easy to stay in one of the small villages.

There is some public transportation, but your visits to little villages would be somewhat limited without a car, even if you stayed in Colmar.

If you want to see an attractive town where you may be the only tourists, check out Selestat.

I am very fond of Art Nouveau and Art Deco architecture, so I really liked Nancy, but I believe Alsace will keep you fully occupied.

Thanks to all for the very helpful comments. I had a feeling we would really need a car to explore. Did anyone have difficulty using American credit cards at the petrol stations around Alsace? I know this sounds bizarre, but when we were in Provence last August, we had great difficulty finding a gas station where there was an attendant who could take cash and the pumps refused to accept the American-issued credit cards, even though they have a chip. Jules, I'd love to know the name of the B&B you stayed at in Eguisheim. Any other "must-see" spots or favorite villages? We welcome suggestions. We will probably save Nancy and Metz for another vacation. We have the Michelin guide, so there are many driving routes suggested that we can choose from.

We didn't buy gas in Alsace. We didn't need to until between Burgundy and Loire and we did have similar issues with credit cards. We now have 3 credit cards and usually one will work. I can't even recall seeing a gas station in Alsace. Obviously they are there. Just a guess on my part, but I think it would be easier to get gas at a smaller in town station than off a highway.

In Colmar we stayed at Domaine Marten Jund. We ate at Koifhus Winstub. In Eguisheim we stayed at Le Hameau de'Eguisheim and ate at Caveau de Heuhaus and ville de Nancy. Loved All. Both B & Bs, had nice breakfasts. Le Hameau is right on the main street. It was lovely to be in Eguisheim in the quiet of the earlier morning and later in the day.

We liked all the wine villages we encountered--Ribeauville, Kayersburg and Riquewihr (get here early in the day!). This was our first trip to France, if I had to do over, I'd seek out a couple smaller ones, like the one acraven mentioned, though I think we may have driven thru it. We also went to Haut Koenigsbourg, enjoyed it and the views were nice.

Other than wandering around, tasting wine and taking photos, we didn't do much in the little wine towns. At least a couple had a little map at the TI which was helpful. The maps had walking suggestions. Colmar has museums and more to actually do (though again, its less quaint, and I think quaint is what you go to Alsace for) so we found it worthwhile to spend a night in Colmar.

We did Strasbourg on a separate trip. I know there are more small villages near Strasbourg. On our Alsace visit we didn't go that far north.

when we were in Provence last August, we had great difficulty finding a gas station where there was an attendant who could take cash and the pumps refused to accept the American-issued credit cards, even though they have a chip.

That's pretty much the case throughout France; it's why I got a card several years ago with a chip and a PIN. It always works. During the weekdays, there will be service stations whose gas pumps are staffed, although the price is higher than at supermarket gas pumps. Off-hours it's almost only unattended gas pumps at supermarkets.

As for Alsace, I've stayed there several times, once for a week in Riquewihr w/o a car. We walked a lot from village to village, and took a few buses. We did see a lot, but would have seen more with a car. But we had a car on a prior visit, and on a later one.

Oh, watch for the storks! They are on a lot of the buildings. We didn't go, but there is a stork sanctuary, I think maybe by Ribeauville. They may have some walking trails and since storks are only an old world bird we weren't that familiar with them

Mo'pak thanks so much for the information about Barr. It sounds lovely, and cool (literally), since the heat in much of France last August was quite extreme, which is one reason we chose Alsace for this year: to be near some mountains and forests! Jules M., thanks for your specific information. We're very much looking forward to seeing the storks. We were in Turkey a few years ago and had the chance to watch storks nesting at our small hotel. They are truly amazing animals and I'm so glad that they are being protected. Every little Alsatian town I read about and look at is very sweet, so I think our task is to "make a decision or two" and then just explore. Not a bad situation to be in.