Rent a car or use public transport to explore Alsace?

Trains run frequently between Colmar and Strasbourg and only take half an hour. There is adequate bus service as well as local guide services to get you to most popular sites on the wine road. See more advice in Rick's France guidebook and a similar discussion on this recent Travel Forum thread: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/colmar-for-3-nights-after-paris-how-to-best-see-the-area.

Of course, for complete freedom, I would not dissuade you from renting a car. When booking ahead, you get better rates for 3 days or more, and 3 might be the right number. If you're willing to leave the plan open, then you may find one-day rental specials advertised when you walk past agencies in Colmar.

Thank you, Laura! And I would never travel to Europe without your latest book! :)

Since you will be there for a week, you will want to travel to the Rhine (take a day cruise for a few hours -- it is just such a beautiful trip in that part of the Rhine) and you will want to be able to visit small towns in the region. A car will be money very well spent. So much time and energy is lost to logistics if you are trying to do areas of rural France without a car. The buses are not designed with tourists in mind but school kids and workers.

You can find bus information for Alsace at http://www.vialsace.eu/en, although some of the pages as you drill down deeper into the site are not available in English. Note that the network maps are hidden under the "practical info" section on the main page. As other people have pointed out, country bus services in France are often of limited frequency and aimed primarily at schoolchildren or shoppers travelling from villages to the nearest large town for the day, instead of tourists going in the opposite direction. When you look at timetables, remember that journeys may not run every day - learning the names of days of the week in France and their common (obvious) abbreviations is a good precaution.

I rented a car after we saw Colmar.. Our hotel was ibis budget Hotel (then called ETap hotel) they had a convenient and reasonable garage under hotel. We easily took driving excursions daily. It was one of the easiest driving trips I have done ineurope. And it was summer time.The roads were quiet and we visited many villages at leisure. I would not hesitate, I am a female in my 60's and highly recommend it. Bussing or train from Frankfurt is a gd idea and certainly more relaxing. Btw we returned our rental car in Strasbourg.

Rent a car. You will not regret the freedom it gives you. Towns in Alsace invariably have good parking within easy walking distance of the historic centre.

By all means, rent a car. The Route de Vin is scattered with the prettiest little villages and one is prettier than the next. Driving in that area is not difficult. We trained to Strasbourg and rented a car from the train station. The city is a big bustling city and somehow we managed to find our way out and onto the auto-route highway until we found the exit we needed. The pretty villages are on a road we would consider "a country road" here in the States. Do get a Michelin map of the Alsace region; you will find it indispensible. Any Barnes & Noble would have it.

You should rent a car for your exploring days (i.e. you can easily train to Strasbourg outside the days of your rental). But the bus service is very much set up for school children and commuters, and will not get you around to the villages on a schedule that suits you. (I looked at all this when planning a trip for myself and my parents a couple of years ago). Have a great time, it's a wonderful wonderful place.

I'm now hitchhiking on this thread. I plan to visit Alsace (retired single woman), arriving around June 20 with a rental car and am very flexible with my time. How many days do you recommend spending in the area. I'll return the car there and take the TGV to Paris. I'm leaning toward 5 days based somewhere on/near the wine route, then a day in Strasbourg.

I have ancestors from La Petite Pierre and have now been there twice. May I recommend a stop for food or an overnight at Hotel des Vosges http://hotel-des-vosges.pagesperso-orange.fr/. The owner and family provided a family reunion for me two years ago while on a Viking River Cruise. The Stoeckel family met for lunch there and the owner was so gracious and planned a special dessert. The town is lovely as well. A special stop to be sure.