We are staying in Colmar and visited these towns today by car. We arrived in the first town, Eguisheim, around 10:15. Parking was readily available and cost 4€/day flat fee. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was wonderful. The early bird gets the great photos with no people! Shops were open and offering lots of samples: sausage, cheese, gingerbread. Yum! We bought some cheese and had some of it vacuum sealed to bring home. We spent about 90 minutes exploring and shopping. By the time we left it was definitely getting more crowded. The town is really tiny. Very, very cute. But we couldn’t picture staying there.
Then we continued to Kaysersberg, which was about 15 minutes away. Again, parking was easy. We’re driving a full size 8-seater can, so parking is definitely a consideration. We had lunch at Au Lion d’Or, in the courtyard. It was so lovely. The same family gas run the place since 1724, and they gave earned a Michelin star in the past. With 6 people, we ordered 5 entrees (16.50-30€ each, including a steak), a soup, 3 sodas, a water, 3 glasses of wine (2.80€ each!) and 2 desserts. Total was 151.40€. Everyone loved their meals.
Kaysersberg is more spread out, has more shops and restaurants, has the river running through it and the ruins above it. It’s also super cute. This felt like a place we could easily stay and not feel like it was too small.
Next was Requiwihr. Maybe it was just because it was later in the day, but this one felt less charming, more crowded and more commercial to me. We did find a wonderful shop on the Main Street about half way up the hill, down a little flight of stairs. It sells wonderful locally made pottery/cookware/ornaments and antiques. https://witt-claude-poteries-cadeaux-brocante.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral
If you don’t like walking uphill, I would skip Requiwihr. It’s not steep, just a gradual uphill walk. Kaysersberg is a better option.
We stopped at a Lidl grocery store on the way home to pick up some crusty bread, ham and butter. We returned to Colmar around 4:00. For dinner we made the most wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches in our apartment. Supplemented with wonderful local grapes, and some of the treats (macaroons, chocolate pretzels) we’d purchased along the way, it was a delicious, relaxing meal. Good food doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive when you start with amazing ingredients.
The weather was perfect: mid 70’s and sunny with a nice breeze. Quite a lovely day.