Colmar/Alsace Wine Festival

Stay in Strasbourg or one of the charming wine villages like Riquewehr. I have no idea about the Wine Festival but Colmar was the only place in Alsace we didn't like.

Suki, would love more thoughts on Colmar. You always have such great insight.

Suki why did you not like Colmar, the one place I have wanted to go in France forever

Every place in Europe has its admirers and its detractors. One person's 'loved it' is another person's 'hated it'.

Personally I loved staying in Colmar and visiting Strasbourg as a day trip. Colmar was lovely and charming (at least where I stayed and where I roamed) and I fell in love with it.

I wasn't there during any festival and while there were lots of tourists, like myself, it was not terribly crowded. From what I have read, even during the wine festival it's not totally overrun - it's not like Oktoberfest in Munich or anything like that. With that being said, if you'll have a car I'd probably suggest basing in one of the small villages in the area and exploring from there. Read some about Riquewhir, Kayserberg, or Eguisheim - they may have more of the honeymoon vibe you're looking for.

I agree with Nancy regarding Colmar.

PJC, you might consider staying in one the villages close by if you want your honeymoon evenings to be quiet (not too quiet, I hope). Riquewihr has bus service to Colmar, the return bus leaves around 19:00, though the service may have extended hours during the festival.

Been to Alsace 4 times, like all cities and villages, but without question Colmar is our preferred base. It combines the charm of the wine villages with the amenities of Strasbourg. It's a good location relative to popular surrounding day trip locales too.

Thanks to all for your helpful feedback! I think we will lean towards staying in Colmar or Strasbourg, depending on what kind of hotels we can find. While the smaller villages look beautiful, we will be car-less, so we'd like to stay close to the train stations. We aren't particularly concerned with the usual hustle and bustle of a large town or small city, more just wanted to confirm that the festival wasn't a crazy, transformational event for the region -- as one person put it, on the scale of Munich's Oktoberfest. It sounds as if that is not the case, or else I'm sure more folks would know it as a red flag.

Would love any further tips that people have on the region or the festival, but I am fairly reassured in our game plan. Thanks, all!

Best,
Pat

Pat, first of all forget about Lorraine, it's a different region. From what you write you only have two nights based in Strasbourg or Colmar: one full day and two half days at best. If you stay in Strasbourg, visit the cathedral, churches, museums, and wander about – this will take up all your time. In Colmar take in the wine festival, visit the Unterlinden Museum - when we were there it was closed, but there was a temporary exhibit at one of the churches and it was fabulous. There are other museums. If you want to see some of the pretty wine villages, take an early bus to Riquewihr, spend some time there then take a pleasant walk to Ribeauvillé, which has three castle ruins up the hill at the top end of the village. On the way you'll see a pen of massive spotted pigs, if they are still there. Both villages are well worth a visit, and you can take a bus back from Ribeauvillé to Colmar (line 106)