Stay in Strasbourg and Colmar?

We visited Strasbourg for several nights and really enjoyed this charming city. Then we moved to stay in one of the wine villages, Riquewehr, which we also enjoyed very much. The only day we did not enjoy was when we visited Colmar. We were glad we weren’t staying there as it lacked the charm of the wine villages.

I really liked Strasbourg and loved the Alsace wine villages. Colmar was fine for a couple nights. Its a pretty little city with a few museums and lovely canal. IMO, the real beauty of the area is the smaller wine villages. We stayed in Eguisheim in a B & B within a winery. I think staying in a wine villages is the most fun, but without a car, I think your best to stay in Colmar. We visited Château Du Haut-Koenigsbourg and many of the little wine towns we visited by car are lovely, especially, Eguisheim, Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé. You can take tours or a bus from Colmar to get to some of these towns. A six day stay would allow you to leisurely visit a few of these towns, maybe one or two a day.

I wouldn't want to stay in Colmar or Strasbourg more than 5/6 nights. I think after staying for multiple days in Strasbourg, you will be happy to move on to a different town, in your case Colmar. I think your current plan is best for you.

We stayed in this quirky, moderately priced B & B in Colmar. At the time we visited, they served a nice, included breakfast.

https://www.vin-bio-jund.com/

When I looked up how to spell one of the towns, I came across this link which may be helpful.

https://fullsuitcase.com/alsace-wine-route-best-towns/

Hi arcticsoch. We spent 5 nights in Strasbourg in early June 2024. You might want to look at the first part of my trip report below for information, although it sounds like you might want a slower pace:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-alsace-wengen-murren-lucerne

I think splitting your bases makes sense for the length of your trip. If you only had 5 or 6 nights, I'd say just stay put. You might want to consider staying in a wine village for the second part if you will have a car. Otherwise i think Colmar probably makes the most sense. As you will see in our report, one of the wine villages was terribly crowded in the late morning on a weekday in early June, but I understand they calm down in the evenings.

There was quite a lot we didn't get to see with 5 nights, so I don't think you will run out of things to do. You might consider some of the bus tours, such as those run by Ophorus Tours (used by several. on the forum) and/or the Kutzig hop-on-hop-off bus to visit the wine villages if you won't have a car.

Good luck with your planning. Is this part of a longer trip, or your whole trip?

Thank you very much for the replies. Yes, this is a portion of a longer trip. I arrive in Paris June 30th and leave Paris on July 16. I will be in Paris July 11 - 16th, so the previous time was for the Alsace region. Today, I have been thinking about maybe going to Dijon before Alsace and spending 4-5 nights there, then continue on to Strasbourg or Colmar, then train back to Paris on the 11th. The other idea would be to go into Germany for 4-5 nights, but I haven't looked much at that except for Gengenbach which I had wanted to visit as a day trip. I am open to renting a car in the Alsace, so I will take a look at staying a couple nights in one the smaller villages as an option to enjoy that experience as well.

There are always too many good choices, aren’t there? But they all sound great and I hope you have a wonderful time whatever you decide.

I think more than 5 days in Strasbourg, unless you really plan to get out of town a lot, would be more than enough. And (to me) Colmar is to small and to touristy, to spend that long there. Strasbourg is also the better transportation hub.

If you wanted to see the Lorraine, use Nancy. For the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region use Lyon. Or cross over and explore Germany, Austria, and Switzerland from Konstanz.

How are you planning to get around? Will you have a car or rely on public transportation?

In October 2022, I spent a full week in Colmar without a car. I was able to visit many wine villages, wineries and the castle by local bus, Kutzig tourist bus and, on 1 day, a small, full day group tour. I was so busy I ran out of time for a day trip to Strasbourg.

Munster, Mulhouse, the fortified town of Neuf-Brisach, and Basel are all less than an hour from Colmar by train or bus.

Colmar is a delight in the mornings and evenings when the daytrippers are not around.

If you will have a car, that would open up staying in one if the wine villages.

Enjoy your time in Alsace!

I think I will look at adjusting my visit to be Strasbourg for 4 nights and then one of the villages for 4 nights. Previously, I have stayed at larger cities in Europe which is why I tend to stay at least 5 nights. This is a much smaller region so I can see that staying less makes sense. Do you prefer to stay in one village over another if you have a rental car? Also, would it be better to stay in the villages during the week instead of including a weekend in early July? Thank you very much.

With a car you can spend all your time based in one of the wine villages, visiting all of the places mentioned above, and hit a few other good spots close by in the Black Forest (Freiburg, Staufen, Endingen, Breisach).

If you fancy a leisurely boat ride for a day, Basel to Rheinfelden and back.

We stayed in a Riquewihr apartment for 3 weeks. For a pretty, quieter village, take a look at Bergheim.

Without a car, I'd do as jeanm suggests.

Weekends in the wine villages will be much busier with the daytrippers than weekdays.

I would take a look at accommodation availability and restaurants choices when selecting your village.

I particularly enjoyed Eguisheim, Kaysersberg and Turckheim during my daytime visits.

Maybe a lengthy reply if you're up for it: S, F, 70+, solo traveler, 99% of the time I rent apartments and public transportation only.

I was just in Europe for five weeks returning May 4,2025 and spent about 10 days in the Metz/Strasburg/Colmar area.

Maybe a lengthy reply if you're up for it: S, F, 70+, solo traveler, 99% of the time I rent apartments and public transportation only.

I was just in Europe for five weeks returning May 4,2025 and spent about 10 days in the Metz/Strasburg/Colmar area.

I knew I wanted to stay in Mets particularly because I wanted to go to Luxembourg. Since I generally like to stay in one place for 4+days did I want to stay in Colmar or Strasburg. So I ended up in Colmar. I had a great apartment, very convenient I thought the town was delightful and in visiting Strasburg and staying in Colmar I thought for me I had made the right choice. That said both places are delightful and Strasburg is just a bigger city. I don't think you could go wrong either way

Thanks jules m for your great post! Really enjoyed it as it was very informative!

We just got back from a 3 night stay in Colmar and that was about right. We did a day tour that included spots in Riquewihr and Eguishheim and if I was to go again I'd consider a two night stay in one of those towns. Quite honestly, I think 6 nights in Colmar would be too long. We only spent one day in Strasbourg while on a river cruise on the same trip and loved it, probably the highlight of the trip. If you're intent on spending 11 days in the region I know I'd probably spend the majority of it in Strasbourg with day trips to the others plus an overnight or two in a smaller village.

*take a look at https://www.haut-koenigsbourg.fr/en/, it's a beautiful rebuilt castle and worth a few hours.

OP, interested in what you decided to do.

Strasbourg, while quite lovely, is not really a wine village nor is it on the Alsace wine route. It also is at the very north of the wine villages. If it is necessary to do tours to get to the wine villages, you could start from Colmar or Strasbourg. I'll say for us, wine tours would have been incredibly frustrating. We had so much fun with a car driving the wine route and stopping for scenic views of the villages, vineyards, a picnic etc. We liked that we could get to the busier tourist villages before the tours arrived in mass. With a car, it would be easier, and more central to stay in Colmar, or a wine villages, or some nights in each. Colmar has lovely canals, some museums and is quite pretty.

Here is another fun link for Alsace, and it includes a map.

https://fullsuitcase.com/alsace-wine-route-best-towns/

Hello and thank you for the information and great ideas. I decided to stay 2 nights in Strasbourg (instead of 5) then will train to Gengenbach, Germany and spend three nights there to explore the Black Forest area. Following that I kept the 6 nights in Colmar however I did arrange a rental car for a few days to allow more freedom and exploration. I am thinking about taking the train to Basel for one day as well. I leave in a few weeks and am very excited for the adventure!

I really liked Basel. It is so colorful and vibrant. The Rathaus on the Marktplatz is very special. When we were there, there was a morning market which just added to the color. Make sure to see the Munster, and the view of the Rhine behind it. We walked on the other side of the river for fabulous views. We crossed the river by the art museum and then crossed back over at the next bridge (Johannieterbrucke) Basel has a wonderful TI, the actually sent me maps and walking tour suggestions in advance of our arrival.

We spent several nights in Strasbourg in fall of 23 and found that a very nice base. the city itself is very interesting and its a good hub for the various attractions in the region. Additionally, being foodies, there are some very good places to eat. We haven't vitied Colmar yet. I was planning to include it in an upcoming swing through the region... though now rethinking.