Dec 26,27 in Alsace - Colmar, Strasbourg

If this were my trip, I would visit Strasbourg and the charming wine villages such as Eguisheim and Riquewehr. We went to Colmar on a day trip but did not care for it. We stayed in Strasbourg and Riquewehr. I know Rick Steve’s suggests visiting Colmar but among our friends, Strasbourg and the wine villages win out. We rented a car for the wine villages. Six hours for $300 to be driven to three villages does seem high.
Traveling over the holidays does present a lot of problems like you are having. It took so much extra planning for our trips to Europe during both Christmas and New Years but we did work it all out.

Hmm, it seems like you need a car on day 1. It's unfortunate it's that much (180E) but may be your best bet. Unless you want to save the money and just spend whole day in Strasbourg.
When we visited a few years back, we only did Colmar and Strasbourg. One reason was that we didn't want to rent a car which seems very helpful (not essential) in the winter, around holidays and with kids. You still have 2 of those challenges so the cost may just be greater to see Eguisheim/Riquewhir.
Also don't beat yourself up about the problem, travel is complicated and we've all made mistakes!

Hello Suki,

Thanks for your response, we did pick Colmar after much consideration. I do want to visit Eguisheim and Riquewehr and hence this post. We will spend half a day on Strasbourg and rest in Colmar cause we are really looking for something very laid back and relaxed.

Thanks for your kind response @AmandaR .. I sometimes forget how hard travel planning can get :D

Yeah I am thinking renting the car might be the way to go for us if nothing else works out. I am still holding out hope for decent weather to see if can bike - atleast to Eguisheim.

Enjoy your visit to Alsace.

Have thought about taking a taxi from Colmar Train Station to the towns? Possibly arrange for a pick up with the taxi driver for your return trip.

This is a time I would throw €300 at the problem and be done with it. You have a local who is willing, for holiday pay (it is a holiday, after all), to make your problem go away. I would hire them and then your worrying / planning is done.

I don't think biking around the villages in late December is advisable nor safe.

@brushtim I am unsure if taxi's are operating on that day.. but thats a good suggestion!

@Kim "This is a time I would throw €300 at the problem and be done with it" ... :D yeah I am so close to taking the 300e thing.. but hopefully won't throw it at it ;)

I mean really -- if you are going to already have to pay €180 just to rent the car, then add in a little bit of gas (which remember costs four times more in Europe than at home) and some parking, you are already above 200€. Then you are only talking about 100€ to have someone else do all the navigating and parking - you won't have to figure out how to get anywhere, or how to get around the narrow streets to find your destination or parking ... plus the time that you won't have to spend getting to the car rental place, dealing with the rental, then turning it in at the end of the day and getting back to your hotel after. It's a bargain at the price.

@Kim, thanks for that extra nudge I needed.

I spoke the with the Taxi person, and he is willing to drive us around for 52 euros/hour... so based on how long it takes us and what we do, we can pay him. We are hoping 4 hours will be enough for both Eguisheim and Riquewihr, especially considering stores will mostly be closed during that day. Alteast we get to experience the places and architecture and country side.

Throwing this out there in case you hadn't considered it, but you may be able to find a private guide with a vehicle for a bit more. I did a very rudimentary search and the first one that I clicked started at 350 euro for two people.

We had a similar transportation dilemma in Provence and decided to hire a guide. For the fee + tip and a meal we had a full day customized experience with the insider knowledge of a local. Would absolutely do it again.

Hey,.thanks @PNW Patrick. Can you share where you are seeing this? I looked on Viator and Airbnb and couldn't find anything for the date of Dec 26th.

Yes, I think I am ok to mention, but I can't say that I have first-hand experience with this service.

I just typed Alsace private tours into Google and the first result was a site named get Alsaced. It wasn't 100% clear if transportation was included, but it looked easy enough to ask a question. No calendar, just a contact form.

Ther are also a few listed in my 2020 version of the RS France guidebook, but I suspect a current copy would be better.

The guide with vehicle idea is excellent. It can be costly but a fuller experience.

Also, with the rental, you would have to rent your car on the 24th and return it on the 27th. Nothing will be open in between. And during holiday periods agencies do run out of cars.

I agree with Kim. Hire the taxi if you don't find the right guide.. You have a local driving you who knows the region and may know a place or two that's open. I think you were very lucky to have found a taxi willing to do this on a holiday. Good luck.

So for anyone else planning this and in the same dilemma as I was this is how it all worked out for us.

I used the Colmar cities offical website to get taxi companies phone numbers. We got a taxi deal for first-day, we decided to do Riquewihr and Kayserberg which took us around 4.5 hours and it was a flat rate. We tipped generously considering it was a public holiday in Alsace. Both Riquewihr and Kayserberg has a LOT of crowd and a lot of tourism centeric businesses were open. We spent the late afternoon and evening in Strasbourg and had dinner there.

Next day we took and uber to Eguisheim in the morning, spent about 1.5-2 hours there and took an uber back to Colmar. I was worried we might not get an uber so I requested the uber drivers contact who dropped us from colmar just to be safe.. but we had no issues getting an uber from Eguisheim to Colmar. I do not know if this is always true though. Spent the rest of the time in Colmar.

So glad you were able to get where you wanted for these dates ! It's very thoughtful of you to come back and report on how you dealt with this challenge - thank you .

Was in Riquewhir and Colmar the same days you were!