Alsace Route du Vin - Preferred travel mode

Have you looked into the small group tours through L’Alsaciette?

If you contact the tourist board they should be able to send you the pamphlet "Wine Routes of the Alsace", this will give you a lot of detail and maps. The Alsace is not like Napa Valley; there are few wineries in the country, and even fewer of those have tasting rooms. Most have tastings in town, either in their own place, or as part of a community location. If you just go town to town you'll hit the majority of the tasting places.

But to see the area, pack a picnic and plan to use one of the turnouts along the roads. they have tables for this purpose. Many are also located where the bike routes parallel the highway.

I drive myself around this area, and I rarely plan to hit a winery. I go to the town I want to visit and find plenty of opportunity to taste the local wines in that manner. If I'm just shopping for wine I head for the major markets and buy then, or to a specific place if i know exactly what i want. It's harder when you don't know, but look for the local "cave" and they will have wines, liquors, ciders, and tastings.

A good place to start, in Colmar, is the indoor market. They have multiple booths with local wines and offer tastings. Buy a bottle and some munchies and go the the park and enjoy. Also in Colmar the Carrefour Houssen and the LeClerc are the big markets. They are outside the city center but they have really good prices on French, German, and Italian wines. Those are places I shop.

For a really good historical place to visit, try this: https://www.mmpark.fr/

Hi KD,
Thanks for recommending L'Alsaciette, it looks like a terrific website and company. Have you been on their tours (Which do you recommend)? And, were the tours in English, French, or both?

Hello KGC,
Thank you for your response; much appreciated.

I took the Vineyards and Castle tour with L' Alsaciette in October 2022. Arnaud provided us with a wonderful day.

Depending on your dates, you may also be able to use the Kutzig bus to visit a village or 2.

Another option is the short train or bus from Colmar to nearby Turckheim, a lovely walled village.

In Eguisheim I enjoyed lunch at Caveau Heuhaus.

Edited to add that my tour was in English, although Arnaud speaks several languages including French and German.

Just curious - for a comparison of another possible driver/guide, have you asked your Hotel Saint Martin if they have any recommendations? We stayed along the Route du Vin (in Bergheim) in July 2024, after chasing after the Tour de France in the southern parts of the country. We happened to have a rental car (Europcar unexpectedly upgraded us to a convertible VW for free), and we also did some hiking, but depending on what time of year you’re going, one mode of transportation I would definitely NOT recommend would be bicycles.

We did see a couple of women out on bikes one day, and they seemed to be struggling. I think even Rick Steves suggests that bicycling along the Route could be a nice way for visiting a wine town or two (or more), but when we were there, it was exceedingly hot, with some fairly windy days, and not a lot of shoulder on the road for bikes to share with cars, some of which may have had tourists doing the driving - particularly in a convertible VW ;-) I insisted that we keep the top up most of the time, with the AC on full, as it was just too hot to enjoy having the top down on the car.

We’re bicycling advocates, and have done multi-day bike tours in France, Belgium, and Ireland, but I was glad we didn’t try to pedal any of the wine route that July. Your point about not having any concerns about wine tasting if you’re not doing the driving is a good one.

We didn’t actually stay in Colmar, and didn’t visit Eguisheim, either, as we were oriented farther north. We didn’t do any winery visits, either, but did bring home a special bottle of Crémant d’Alsace that we’re still saving for a special occasion.

Hi jeanm,
Thank you for the L'Alsaciette recommendation. I have heard from Arnaud and we are seriously considering this option. Looks like everything we want in a short amount of time in Alsace. Cheers.

Hello Cyn,
Thanks for the response. Indeed, the hotel provided several references for a private car. I've reached out to one who has responded with a quote of 300 euros for 5 hours, or 600 eruos for 10 hours (which is just too long). We are also considering the 5 hour quote, perhaps a little steep to just be chauffeured around, but can turn out to be quite convenient. Cheers.

We did a full day semi-private tour in a historic VW combi van from Strasbourg a couple of years ago.

We struck lucky and were the only ones on the tour, so it became private at around €100 each, but we regularly pay between €300-€500 for a private driver on our trips to Europe and it has always been worth it.

Have a look at a small group tour though if money is an issue. We learned so much more about the small villages with a driver guide, and he took us to wineries that we probably wouldn't have chosen if we had planned it ourselves.

This is the company that we used.

https://www.vino-varlot.fr/

Hi DebH,
Thanks for the response; it provides helpful perspective. Cheers.

As I recall, the bus service to Eguisheim is not too frequent, but it's a very quick taxi ride. Caveau Heuhaus has good food.

There's an hourly (?) bus from Colmar to Riquewihr and Ribeauville (pleasant walk between the two, if you choose). Both have many wineries offering tastings, in and within a 15 minute walk of town.

La Grappe d'Or in Riquewihr is a very good restaurant.

Thank you, Gundersen.