Colmar or Annecy

It's not "necessary" to visit anywhere. It's your vacation. Go where you want.

That said, no they are not the same. Colmar is in Alsace, a region that was culturally German for most of it's history. The architecture, cuisine, and culture reflect that. I have not been to Annency, and while it looks lovely, it does not appear to have the same half-timbered architecture that Colmar does. Plus, Colmar is at the heart of one of France's main wine regions.

Which one you should do, or whether you should do both, depends largely on how much time you have, where you're traveling from and to, and what your priorities are.

Sarah has given you excellent advice :-)

Which one you should do, or whether you should do both, depends largely on how much time you have, where you're traveling from and to, and what your priorities are.

I've not visited Colmar, but considered it on our recent trip, however, since it didn't work out with out itinerary, we chose to visit Annecy (& Chamonix) instead.

We enjoyed our visit to Annecy very much. It's a lovely town known as" the Venice of France". It's crystal clear lake surrounded by mountains, and the canals running through the town, lined with beautiful flowers, give it a
romantic & peaceful atmosphere.

We also enjoyed the street markets, the food, the amazing ice cream & the shops :-)

Annecy became our favorite town!

Having said this, Colmar is on our bucket list!

Have a wonderful trip!

I second Sarahs comment above. Both are different and offer different experiences. The only thing they have in common is perhaps canals and flower decorations.

I visited both last summer and here are my two cents:
I found both places to be very nice and scenic, but also overly packed wth tourists.
Apart from the obvious draws of the scenic canals Annecy has the nice lake with views of the mountains.
Colmar has the surrounding Alsatian wine area with tons of uber cute villages with half timber buildings and flowers everywhere. Some of them were very touristy and others very quite. After visiting all these small towns on the way to Colmar I was actually a bit dissapointed wiht Colmar itself. However I wont recommend one over the other.

I've been to both, and spent a lot of time in Annecy. And yes, they are both beautiful and very different. If I had to choose one, I'd say: Whichever fits into the rest of the trip better.

I've also stayed in both and loved both. A lot depends on when you're going, what your interests are, how much time you have, etc.
I will say that Annecy is my favorite small city in Europe. I absolutely loved my time there and wish I could have spent more. But I was impressed with Colmar also, especially the Unterlinden museum. If you have the time to see both then I would definitely do it. Two nights and one full day is fine for Colmar, even 1 night with 2 half days would be okay, if you just want to see the town itself. If you're interested in the wine region and the small villages in the area around there, then you need more time. If nature and beautiful scenery, relaxing on a boat ride around the lake, hiking or biking or a side trip to Chamonix are what you want then Annecy would be better.