Colmar-Getting there and getting around

I spent a week in Colmar without a car in October 2022. It was very easy to get around.

There are several tour companies that offer full and half day tours to the wineries and villages. I booked a full day tour with l'Alsaciette. The company has several tours to choose from and uses minibus rather than a large tour bus. The winery visits were very intimate, lunch was delicious and Arnaud was an excellent guide. I highly recommend l'Alsaciette.

During tourist season there is also a hop on/hop off bus, Kutzig, that makes a continuous circuit of 6 wine villages. But, you really only have time to explore 2, maybe 3 villages in a day. I used Kutzig to explore a village my day tour did not visit with a leisurely lunch in another village.

You can also visit nearby Turckheim by local bus.

I can't answer your questions on Strasbourg as I wasn't able to fit it in during my week in Colmar.

From Paris Gare de l'Est there are several fast trains daily direct to Colmar. Book early for best fares.

Enjoy Colmar. It's a lovely town.

We spent a few days in the area (Strasbourg, Colmar and Eguisheim, with Colmar as our base) in late September. More details and my subjective impressions in this recent thread.

Strasbourg is a beautiful city, absolutely worth some time (we just spent an afternoon there and left wanting more). We actually flew in to Strasbourg (from Corsica), took a shuttle bus from the airport to the town center, dropped our bags, spent the afternoon in the old historic center (which is charming, beautiful and authentic), then reclaimed our bags and took the train to Colmar.

There is a "left luggage" office in the Strasbourg train station. They have lockers, which I'm guessing are cheap, but when we got there I was told they were all full. After some grousing I was then told they could store our "large bags" for us but it cost something like €20, which I took to be a complete scam, but we only had the afternoon there and didn't want to lug them with us, so I paid without much protest. The cost of doing business.

The short train to Colmar runs frequently, no need to book in advance. Getting from the Colmar station to the old town was confusing; there's a free electric bus, but finding it was tricky (we saw no signage at all about this, but plenty of other local/regional buses all around the station). When you exit the train station, go RIGHT to the end of the plaza out front, and look for a few people milling around under a large tree - that's where we (eventually) found the small electric shuttle bus to the old town.

See the thread linked above for my impressions of Colmar (short version: yes, it's oh-so-cute, but way too crowded, too touristy, and way too full of selfie-waving instragrammers for my taste; we greatly preferred nearby Eguisheim, one of the surrounding "wine towns"). Here's a few teaser photos of Eguisheim.

Note: Unfortunately, we weren't able to use the convenient Kutzig wine-town bus from Colmar (because we picked the one day of the year when they cancelled it due to a marathon running event that day) but it's a convenient wine bus you can take - look here: Kutzig Open-top Bus on Alsatian Wine Route. Looks perfect to me, we had to hire a driver.

Hope that helps. Have one for me.

I stayed 3 nights in Colmar a few years ago (since Covid). I loved it and enjoyed wandering the town. I was there in April and did not find it too crowded but others have different views. I stayed at Hotel Saint Martin in the old town area.

The TI has a nice DIY walking tour. YOu can either print the map off from their website or go by there (right across from the museum). Most of the sights had a board with a QR code so it's worth it to be able to access data so you can use them effectively. I did not do a wine tour, not of interest to me but the TI does have information on them.

https://www.tourisme-colmar.com/en/

The train is VERY easy from Paris. it's a high speed TGV and takes just a bit over 2 hours with a stop in Strasbourg. I had planned on one of my full days in Colmar to visit Strasbourg but I was enjoying Colmar so much I just stayed there. Book the train ahead as the fares are set like airline pricing and will go up as you near your travel date.

jores,
With three nights, I would take an early train to Strasbourg, do as David did and store my bags at the train station. Have a nice lunch in town. Spend about 4 hours visiting the cathedral and the old town, etc. Then proceed to Colmar. You will only have time after check-in probably to find your way to the charming town center and have an Alsatian dinner. You still have two full days, one to take the tour, perhaps, that jeanm mentioned, another to see the Unterlinden Museum and the (small) Bartholdi Museum. You could still do a half day tour of other villages. Two whole days there is short, but doable. Bon Voyage!

When we stayed in Colmar we stayed at a hotel by the train station since it had free parking and it was a couple minutes walk to the station for the day trip to Strasbourg. Also, the town’s free shuttle bus starts and ends its loop at the train station.

Different question for the same area: Is there sufficient parking in Colmar, Strasbourg and/or Metz so that a couple with a car can reasonably visit without immense headaches? We'd like to travel by auto from Bordeaux to Alsace so we can see some picturesque countryside and make unplanned stops along the way.

I used the Kutzig shuttle that jeanm mentioned earlier on this thread. (We were staying in Colmar.)
Very easy to use and a great way to visit the little wine towns. I would use it again if I were back in Alsace.
Have a great trip !

We have been to Strasbourg many times and love it. We have also stayed in Colmar several times. It is an easy train ride between the two. We felt there was more to do in Strasbourg. Strasbourg offers easy day trips over to Gengenbach, Germany which is about a 30 min train ride, and very charming. Easy train rides to Baden Baden and other areas. We loved La Petite (think Harry Potter Villages) and there are lots of wonderful restaurants. We rented a car for the day from Strasbourg and drove to Riquewihr and Ribeauville and other small villages in the area. It was an easy drive and a fun day. You can get a car at the train station, we got ours about a block from our hotel. Colmar is very charming, and one night was plenty for us. We have stayed at the Hotel Bristol which is directly across from the train station, and an easy walk to the old town. Either way, Alsace is always a great visit.