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.