Alsace Region - 5 Days in Oct End - Suggetions Please

If you’re relying on public transportation, I would recommend staying in Riquewihr or Ribeauville. Both are iconic, storybook towns with 3 castles above Ribeauville and medieval walls, towers and gates in Riquewihr. They both have bus service between them and the other towns of the Alsace-Lorraine. Kaysersberg is only 4.5 miles south of Ribeauville with Riquewihr being 2.5 miles south of Ribeauville. The walled, medieval town of Bergheim is just 2.5 miles north of Ribeauville. To really experience the Alsace-Lorraine, I think you need to get out of the larger cities like Strasbourg and Colmar, and stay in one of the smaller medieval towns surrounded by the valley’s vineyards— especially because you will be there toward the end of the harvest of the wine grapes. There are paths through the vineyards linking the towns which are open to the public at no charge— you are welcome to walk or bike on these pathways and you can see how the vineyards are tended to by the vintners . You can visit multiple towns by bicycling or walking or you can take the bus to get between towns. Ribeauville also has a wine cooperative where wine samples from dozens of local wineries are poured. If you like what you’re tasting you can buy a bottle or two as well. The trains from Strasbourg go to Selestat and Colmar. Selestat is the jumping off point to go the final 8 miles to Ribeauville by bus or taxi.
Having five days in the Alsace-Lorraine would make for an unforgettable holiday.
Have a great trip!

We visited Alsace just more than a month ago, in July, although we had a rental car. Late October would be nice, with the wine harvest finished and fall foliage showing lots of colors.

We split our time, staying in two places, Bergheim and then Strasbourg. Rick Steves’ guidebook described Bergheim as being the best “non touristy” town along the Route du Vin wine towns. As mentioned by Kenko above, Bergheim still has some of its old walls with several old towers and its Medieval gate. The town is full of historical half-timbered buildings, a nice square, and lots of storks, an important bird in Alsace. There were just two of us, no 4 year old, but we found a great Airbnb in Bergheim. It had a complete kitchen, but we had dinner at a good Alsatian restaurant a five minute walk from our apartment, and ate twice at a fantastic Italian pizzeria that was a two minute walk. The closest grocery for food for our kitchen was 2 kilometers outside of Ribeauvillé, which was a quick drive for us, but would take longer by public bus.

Just south of Bergheim are four towns very close by, and easy with a car, but would take more planning and time via public transportation. As I mentioned, Ribeauvillé is the first town, and after going to the grocery, we headed into the town for a look. It was jammed with other tourists, and we headed straight to Bergheim, which was not.

Next is Hunawihr, which has a wonderful butterfly sanctuary. Several children were there when I went in (it’s free for kids under 5), and all seemed to enjoy seeing colorful butterflies flitting about, landing on the lush vegetation inside, and also watching butterflies emerging from Chrysalises. There’s an amazing ant farm in there, too. There’s also a Nature Park in the small town, which I didn’t visit.

Next is Zellenberg, undoubtedly a nice town, but we didn’t go there, and Rick Steves doesn’t mention it, either.

Last is Riquewihr, which Rick’s guidebook describes as an adorable and picturesque little village, but with midday crowds that can trample its ample charms. We did a quick visit in our car on the way to check in in Bergheim, and I’m glad we stayed where we did.

Farther south, Colmar is Rick’s favorite town in Alsace, and it’s sounds like it would be a good transportation hub for daytrips (a bus goes right to Bergheim from Colmar), but we did t go to Colbar on our Alsace visit.

Strasbourg is a fantastic city, with lots of history. We got a refurbished Airbnb apartment on the very top floor of an ancient half-timbered building right in the middle of the old town, with a great view over rooftops of the amazing cathedral, which puts on light shows every night. We also took a boat tour on one of the rivers and canals that encircle the old town. There’s so much to do and see that you could spend your whole time in Strasbourg, if you didn’t make daytrips. Rick Steves calls Strasbourg a big Colmar.

From what we saw, I loved Bergheim, and would fully recommend it, if you had a car. It could still work without one, but either Colmar or Strasbourg might be more practical. It’s only a half hour train ride between Colmar and Strasbourg.