ALSACE (FRANCE): 6 FAIRY TALE VILLAGES YOU WON'T BELIEVE THEY ARE REAL

Once upon a time... Do you believe in fairy tales? Well, I didn't. Until last December when I visited Alsace (France) and I roamed through the 6 villages that seem to belong to another world. 

It's a storybook village come to life!

On top, winter cast its magic spell on these old Alsatian hamlets: surrounded by beautiful vineyards, colourful timber-framed houses and medieval towers with storks' nests on top, I felt like the winter princess in a winter wonderland.

Storks' nests are all over Alsace: just look up on any rooftop

Alsace is a popular destination in spring and summer because of the world-famous wine route. However, Paolo - my husband- and I totally enjoyed the unique nature landscapes at Christmas, which made the alluring atmosphere of the local markets even more special. 

Alsace at Christmas is fit for fairy tales 

Believe it or not, whilst we were enjoying the flashing sun (with occasional drizzle) and relatively good weather in Alsace, heavy snowstorms and frost were lashing out Italy. Didn't I mention magic spells and fairy tales?

Inspired by an almost unreal beauty of this vine-covered region, we spent a week driving tour through this French region, bordering with Germany. 

Winter landscape in Alsace: villages are surrounded by vines

One week is by no means enough to get to know this rich area; however, like us, you can enjoy quality time to explore an important part of its cultural heritage, and the hedonistic food and wine pleasures.

Excuse me, for Alsace's route du vins? This way!

Oh, yes, pleasures. Because the smallest French region is definitely one of the richest, not only in fois gras or Pinot Gris. 

Sipping the Alsatian wine is one of the best pleasures

Being on the border with Germany, it mixes the French savoir-faire with the German pragmatisch Ansatz (pragmatic approach)! 

Wonder why? Because Alsace was the bone of contention between France and Germany for centuries. However, all's well that ends well, and the past deep war wounds and dark times have made way for its glorious present. 

Historically Alsace has flip-flopped between France and Germany

We explored the region from south to north (see our car roadtrip itinerary at the bottom of the post): the starting point was the pictoresque village of Eguisheim followed by 5 jaw-dropping villages (Turckheim, Colmar, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Oberbai). 

We ended our tour and went out on a high note with the city of Strasbourg, the UNESCO-awarded capital of Alsace.

If your imagination is already running riot, follow me on this magical tour of 6 storybook villages of Alsace!

EGUISHEIM

This village of Eguisheim located 40 minutes from the Swiss border is one of the most enchanting places in Alsace; in fact, Disney's film "The Beauty and the Beast" got inspired by its quintessential beauty! 

Disney's Beauty and the Beast setting was inspired by Eguisheim

Click here to get a stunning bird's eye view of Eguisheim with the Beauty and the Beast's soundtrack.

The 13-century village is built around a gushing fountain and a tiny square full of shops, bars and decorated hotels facades and windows...

Tour of Eguisheim's ramparts 

Pictoresque bow-windows

Cute window decorations

If you take a tour of the ramparts, your camera will be clicking like crazy to capture all the breathtaking multihued half-timbered houses, lined up on the circular Rue du Rempart. And did you know that Eguisheim is the birthplace of Pope Leo IX? He was nicknamed "the travelling pope"!

Eguisheim's main square with fountain (on top, Pope Leo IX)

I just loved the adorable iron wrought shop signs, the wooden miniature-like doors and windows with Alsatian dialect inscriptions, and the ridiculously beautiful Christmas decorations hanging everywhere. 

Shop signs: making it amazing with cake moulds!

Carved inscriptions on the houses lintel

Wouldn't you grab this quaint bretzel?

Beautiful stork shop sign

Old grape barrels on the facades

Christmas stall in Eguisheim

And you will be amazed to see on the Grand Rue the copy of the New York Flatiron building... on a mini-scale!

New York Flatiron in miniature!

We stayed and ate at La Ferme du Pape Hostellerie: you can't miss it as the pink facade is painted with flower doodles. There we also enjoyed the traditional Alsatian food (go for the Alsatian Flammkuchen, a typical crispy pizza dough topped with onions, cheese and bacon... super yummy).

Delicious Alsatian Flammkuchen or Tarte Flambée 

As one of our trip purposes was to stock up on Alsatian wines (and for Paolo to refresh his first wine course tasting technique!), the place turned out to be heaven. 

Streets in Alsace bear wine names

Old wine press: wineries carry on a long tradition here

If you are a wine lovers and connoiseur, make sure you visit Eguisheim. 

Wine tasting in Eguisheim

Plenty of wine producers' shop are scattered around Eguisheim, but we opted for Le Domaine Leon Beyer Vins d'Alsace as the guy at the tasting shop desk was happy to guide us through the best of their range (Comte d'Eguisheim; Pinot Gris and Riesling can't be missed!). In addition, he provided us with some excellent tips for the later stages of our trip.

Main square as seen from Leon Beyer's wine shop

You won't find much nightlife around the cobblestone streets of Eguisheim if you stay overnight: actually, at night the place looked empty like Hamelin in The Pied Piper after he played his pipe and everybody followed him out of town.

Eguisheim like Hamelin in The Pied Piper at night?

Nice little house in a quiet alley at night

However, we didn't mind that because as bedtime approached in Eguisheim's cold winter night, the mysterious aurea added to the timeless medieval charm of the spot.

Charming night lights

Eguisheim by night

TURCKHEIM

If I had to suggest a town which appeared truly authentic and not a tourist trap, I would say Turckheim, a stone's throw from Eguisheim. 

Turckheim's vineyards clinging onto the steep hills

We actually got there at lunch time, and all the shops were closed for the break. However, I found that when a place is empty, I have a keen eye for details, such as spotting as huge stork nests on top of one of Turckheim's towers along the ramparts.

Turckheim's gate with stork nest on top

Actually, Turckheim's towers are three, and they are part of the well-preserved town defensive walls. If you cross Port de France or Port de Brand, nothing happens. 

However, if you want your daily dose of scary fairy tale stuff, cross Porte de Munster and you may be sucked into a wormhole. People sentenced to death in the Middle Ages had to go through this door before brutal execution.

Hunted Turckheim: Porte de Munster in the background

That's why possibly Father Christmas left the village in a frightful hurry, leaving on Turckheim's cobblestone streets his jacket and trousers behind...

Where's Father Christmas?

On the main square where Turckheim's Hotel de la Ville stands out, I loved peeping into the local bakery's shop windows. 

Much more than a baguette bakery

You are spoilt for choice at Christmas: heaps of biscuits from the Alsatian Manneles, the boy-shaped sweet with sugar decorations, to the bredeles, the typical Christmas butter biscuits. 

As the bakery was closed, we opted for the cosy Brasserie Gourmandizes & Co., just opposite the bakery where you can treat yourself to appetizing cakes and biscuits.

Bistrot "home made cake" kinda of feel 

Turckheim is worth a couple of hours visit or more, if you have time. Strolling around the town, we loved the steeply sloped vineyards, the cute half-timbered houses with the traditional oriel windows...

Beautiful courtyard 

Colourful half-timbered houses and bay windows

Hear-shaped windows are everywhere

Before leaving, I cast a glance at the beautiful 15-century house, now Hotel Deux Clefs, on the Grand Rue. 

The two-crossed key hotel sign reminded me that we needed to call our B&B landlady in Colmar, our next destination, to get the keys to the front door.

Can you spot the crossed keys signage at Hotel Deux Clefs?

COLMAR

We reached Colmar in 15 minutes, and we spent there 2 nights in a festive atmosphere (you absolutely need a couple of days: the little town is packed with charming corners and things to see!). 

Pictoresque neighbourhood of Colmar

Though there were no flower-decked houses, the place was decorated with sparkling Christmas festoons. People were strolling or enjoying glühwein (mulled wine) and bretzel (traditional baked bread twisted into a knot) at the Christmas stalls on the main square.

Christmas stalls

Christmas market vibes in Colmar

The place is famous for the Petite Venise (Little Venice) quarter, an area crossed by canals that resembles Venice. However, going against all passionate travel reviews, as a Venetian, I wasn't so impressed for obvious reasons: would you love a copy, no matter how beautiful? 

Don't get me wrong: the short canals and the Venice-style electric barges give you a feeling of what the original is like. However, generally speaking, I don't like replicas. 

Glide through the local canals with an electric boat

The one thing Venice and Colmar share is the selfie point, close to the covered market: in Venice people stand on the Paglia Bridge, opposite the Bridge of Sights; and in Colmar they stand on the market bridge!

Greetings from one of the selfie points in La Petite Venise

Instead, what I really liked was walking across Colmar's old streets with no destinations: wherever you go, there is something to wow. 

Not to mention Colmar's Christmas decorations, in all shapes and colours: natural pine cones, boxes with shining wrapping papers, red velvet bows, teddy bears, fluffy stars, candy canes, wreaths made of any material you can think of... a real feast for the eyes! 

Candy-coloured house and Christmas decorations

You can't get more in the holiday spirit than this!

All you need for Christmas is Colmar!

Christmas decorations are everywhere

At night Christmas decorations stands out even more...

Dazzling Christmas night lights

Top illumination highlights the beauty of Colmar

Paolo and I were awestruck by the majesty of the rich decorations on the facades in Rue du Tanneurs or Rue des Marchands which can boast 45 stunning facades from XVII century! 

The Colors of Colmar

The medieval merchants were so rich that they could afford showing off by having bow windows, frescoes, and allegoric statues placed on their houses!

Richly facade of a medieval merchant in Colmar

If you stroll around the Tanners' district, don't forget to look up. The area has very tall and narrow houses because the tanners needed high ceilings to hang and dry the skins before processing them into leather! 

During medieval times Colmar's merchants used to take decisions from the green-roofed custom house to create free trade leagues and avoid the nightmares of different local duties and taxes, well before the EU was founded!

Green tiled roof of the Colmar's medieval custom house  

To cap it all, you shouldn't miss the trio: 1) Saint Martin's Church; 2) the so-called Colmar's Louvre, the Unterlinden Museum and, last but not least, 3) the Bartholdi Museum (who is Bartholdi? He was the sculptor behind New York's Statue of Liberty!).

Unterlinden Museum's masterpieces are hosted in a previous convent

Bartholdi's gift to the US on its 100 birthday: the Statue of Liberty

And what about Colmar's covered food market hall? Built in 1865, you can still shop for local bread, fruits and vegetables as well as meat, fish and cheese. 

You write Bretzels but you read delicious bread

Buzzing atmosphere of the unmissable covered food market

Oh, my God! Did I say cheese? Now I'm dying to eat it! So another options is to have a bite at Colmar's covered market at reasonable prices: you can sit at one of the many bars and choose from a variety of dishes. 

Little salami and cheese temptations in Colmar

We particularly loved the flavourful Alsatian vegetable soups, Tarte à l'Oignon and the delicious salads. However, if you fancy raw fish, at the fishmongers' stalls, people were feasting on oysters and Alsatian wine...the pile of shells on the tables were impressive!

Speaking about Colmar's accomodation, if you can afford it, stay in the old town. 

Lovely corner of the old town

There are stunning hotels located in old houses with wooden-beam decor! Nevertheless, prices are high, so we opted for a middle of the range room within walking distance from the centre. We booked via Airbnb.

In general, Colmar and Alsace are expensive, and I would say that a normal room rate for a double b&B accomodation is around 100 euro or more a night. 

Tip 1: if you visit at peak times (Christmas), book early! The town is tiny and booking an accomodation at reasonable prices can be a daunting task...

As for eating in Colmar, eateries come in all shapes and sizes: from eat-on-the-street sausage sandwitches stalls, to the top Michelin-starred restaurants by the super romantic canals. 

We dined in traditional cosy La Petite Venise and Le Comptoir de Georges winstubs, local taverns serving meals at decent prices (average of 20 to 35 euro per person). 

Le Comptoir de Georges winstub's lovely terrace in La Petite Venise 

As for food, the signature dishes were traditional fois gras, Choucroute garnie (sauerkraut and other meats), and Baeckeoffe (stewed potatoes with mutton, pork and beef) as well as salmon. To drink, for a change, local beer!

Tip nr. 2: in Colmar we bumped into one of the best fromagerie in the whole Alsace (though expensive), Fromagerie Saint Nicholas. Can you sense that we are cheese gourmand?

KAYSERSBERG

Did you know that Kaysersberg was voted the most beautiful French village in 2017? If it ranked first, I can understand why. 

Adorable Kaysersberg with the red stoned Church of the Holy Crucifix 

About 20 minutes by car from Colmar, we reached this gem medieval town early in the morning, ready to tuck in brioches on display in the town boulangeries and patisseries.

I've lost count of the local pastry shops

You can't say no to delicious bakeries in Kaysersberg

Kaysersberg: voted France's best village in 2017

However, beyond the showy sweet displays, Kaysersberg should be visited for two important reasons: one, it is the hometown of Nobel Peace Prize, Albert Schweitzer; and two, you can test your trekking skills by climbing up on the hill (half an hour) to reach the ruins of a huge fortress and enjoy from the top the panoramic views of the vineyards.

The view of the castle ruins on the hill overlooking Kaysersberg

Along the edges of the local river

We didn't feel the place was overrun by tourists, and slammed by heavy tourism in comparison to Colmar: it looked quite genuine and livable. 

Kaysersberg: a city with heart

Cobbled stones in the centre 

We  spent half a day meandering through the alleys to take in all the beautiful views of the river Weiss. 

16th century stone bridge

Lots of cute little shops and stunning half-framed houses with paintings and big windows...

Shops selling Alsatian products 

16th century Loecken House facade

And of course we visited a wine cave and shop, in particular we picked Bestheim. For wine lovers only: we went for the excellent Pinot Gris Strangenberg!

Decked out in fairy lights for Christmas, the town looked a dream place. At night while walking in the village, I'm sure you might bump into Father Christmas loading his bag or paking his sledge. 

Don't park in Father Christmas' spot in Kaysersberg!

Make sure you offer some good hay to these lovely reindeers

Sadly we never found out as we had to leave Kaysersberg for Riquewihr.

RIQUEWIHR

I must admit: I am madly in love with tiny 1300-people Riquewihr. It is just 10 minutes drive from Kaisersberg, and when you get there, the XIII century Dolder tower welcomes you. 

Riquewihr's main gate and tower

Hey girls, once you go through the gate (you have two layers of walls!), Prince Charming comes mounted on a fast horse to give you a tour of the attractive little town.

Imposing outer walls 

Well, not really...however, you need neither a horse, nor Prince Charming: the town is best enjoyed on foot in a couple of hours to admire the old maisons dating from XVII.

Old painted facades in Riquewihr

And as for Prince Charming, don't worry: you will be in good company anyway, as the town will be probably overflowing with tourists!

Dolder gate dating 1291

Did I break the spell? It'll come back, I'm sure when you look at Riquewihr's window shutters  and sills decorated with snowmen and hearts. Cheesy you might think! Well,look at the piles of macarons on the local patisserie!

Quaint window display with macarons

Magical decorations

Unforgettable unique winter decor

The spell will came back when you walk down the basement cheese cave, off the main street, where you can sample and buy cheeses from this area or from Savoy, such as the heavenly Munster, Tomme or Beaufort. 

Did I mention that we are crazy about cheese?

Fromage anyone? Alsatian cheese aging cellar

Tip: if you love history and art, in Riquewihr you will enjoy La Maison de l'Oncle Hansi (the Hansi's museum). Who was Hansi? He was a famous Alsatian illustrator who lived across the II World War period. 

His satirical cartoons poked gently to make fun of the German occupation in Alsace and kept folk traditions alive.

Alsatian cartoonist Hansi satirised the German occupation 

Guess what? To shop we dropped by Hugel & Fils winery to taste some of their wines. According to the wine guide they have been a wine-making company since 1639! 

Wines making has stood the test of time in Alsace

After reflecting upon the guided tour that the wine guys gave us, we went for Pinot Blanc which we can keep for a while to age.

 Refreshing finale after great wine talks

OBERNAI

The only night when it snowed and rained heavily in our Alsace tour was the night when we got to Obernai, 46 km north of Riquewihr. 

Obernai by night and Hotel de la Ville

We stayed overnight in Hotel De La Cloche overlooking the market square, Place du Marche, which would have been full of open Christmas stalls if it hadn't poured down.

Christmas stalls in Obernai

Luckily we managed to cope well in disappointing weather with a dinner in an old charming building where the covered market used to be hosted, La Halle aux Bles. Maybe not the best meal of our tour, but overall, good value for money.

The morning after luckily the bad weather spared us, so we wandered around this 11,000 people town, starting from the XIII century beautiful houses of Place du Marche. 

Cobblestone streets around Place du Marche

Don't miss the beautiful facade of the Hotel de Ville, the town hall from 14th century and the tower belfry!

Golden hues of the town hall and the spiky belfry tower

However, what captured our foodie's attention was the art of Obernai's excellent food choice! 

The lovely cheese shop such as La Cloche a Fromage is a mouth-watering heaven! 

Say cheese!

And what about the tenths of bakeries scattered around the town? 

We couldn't resist the urge to try the Alsatian bread out, if only for the delicious smell that came out of the shops.

There is a whole range of bread types in Alsace

We couldn't resist buying a couple of baguettes for lunch, together with the épi bread: so cute! It is shaped like a wheat ear! 

Can't beat the variety of Alsatian bread

And what about the couronne bread? It is a bread crown made of six small bread loaves! 

Would you believe that the bread list is not over? Mais non. Rye, sesame, grape, lard, olives bread types are just a few more of the endless bread type list!  

This teddy bear seems to have had a foodie vacation in Alsace

We did not have much time left, so we had to cross it out, but we would have loved to get to know more about the Alsantian bread rich tradition by visiting the Maison du Pan (the Bread Museum) in Selestadt, 25 km north of Obernai, on the way to Strasburg.

We ended our fairy tale trip through the 6 Alsatian villages with a 2-night stay in Strasbourg in the happy atmosphere of the city's criss-crossing canals. 

Strasbourg: the best place to end our trip of Alsace's fairy tale villages

We set off from Strasbourg at the crack of dawn of the new year, definitely too early to raise a glass (clearly Alsacian wine!) to Alsace's beauty. 


Want more fairy tales? I'll be posting our travel tips for Strasbourg soon! Keep following!

IN BRIEF

ALSACE ROAD TRIP PLAN

DAY 1: arrival in Eguisheim

DAY 2: Eguisheim→Turckheim→Colmar (16 km)

DAY 3: Colmar

DAY 4: Colmar→Kaysersbeg→Riquewihr→Obernai (68 km)

DAY 5: Obernai→Strasbourg (29 km)

DAY 6: Strabourg

DAY 7: departure from Strasbourg

GETTING THERE

BY PLANE: the closest airports to Alsace are Strasbourg airport (France) and Basel airport (Switzerland). 

From there you need to either catch a train to your main destinations, or rent a car at the airport to reach the small villages. 

GETTING AROUND

BY CAR: to reach quickly all the villages, we drove along A35 motorway (nicknamed the storks' motorway) from South to North which is toll free. The junctions and exits are sign posted well. 

For example, Eguisheim to Strasbourg is about 80 km, and depending on the traffic, it takes about 1 hour and a half. 

CAR WINE ROUTE ITINERARY: we also drove through part of the 170-km "Route des Vins" (which is the oldest in Europe as it was founded more than 60 years ago!). For more information and a detailed map on the wine route, click here.

CAR PARKING: we found it wasn't a problem in small villages (just have coins at hand for the parking metres!). However, in bigger cities such as Colmar, it is, especially around Christmas because of the Christmas markets. For example, in Colmar we left the car (upon our host's suggestion!) in a supermarket car park, just outside the city belt (a 10-minute walk and no charge).  

BY TRAIN: Alsace has a very well-connected railway network managed by the French railway company, SNCF. You can plan your train route here. For example, Strasbourg-Colmar takes roughly 50 minutes (direct train), or 1 hour and a half (with changes) to cover 80 km.


The best website which shows the train timetable is... lo and behold... the DB Deutsche Bahn website (German railway website): it shows all the train timetables, even though you are not travelling in Germany!

BY BUS: if you want to use the public bus, either use Vialsace, which helps you to organise the trip. Another option is to use Rome2Rio which also provides a journey planner options for public transport.

BY BIKE: we haven't tried ciclying in Alsace, but it is a common activity to do. If you are a bike enthusiast, you may well consider touring Alsace by bike. To plan your cycling route, click here.

SHOPPING

WINE LOVERS AND EXPERTS: if you want to extend your knowledge on Alsatian wines, their tasting notes, the local terroir, the Alsatian food and wine pairings, you may find comprehensive info here (the Vins d'Alsace wine-growing association). 

Tip: if you are shopping for wine, we found that checking shop opening times was a key thing to do. They tend to close at weird times and, of course, at lunch time!

CHEESE FREAKS: if you are into cheese and you love the typical strong smell of the famous Alsatian Munster cheese, you may want to click here to get to know more about it.

To find out more about Alsace's unique gastronomy, click here.

ALSACE TOUR PLANNING

To plan our tour of Alsace, we used the following websites.

EGUISHEIM: click here to find out more about Eguisheim.

TURCKHEIM: click here to discover more about Turckheim.

COLMAR: click here to find out more about Colmar.

KAYSERSBERG: click here to get more info on Kaysersberg.

RIQUEWIHR: click here to discover more about  Riquewihr.

OBERNAI: click here to find out more about Obernai.

ALSACE TOURISM: click here.

CHRISTMAS IN ALSACE: click here to see the Christmas events and markets. Every market has a focus: cured meats, decorations, toys, etc.; check the calendar as Alsatian Christmas markets tend to end before Christmas (apart from the one in Strasbourg).

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES OF FRANCE: Eguisheim and Riquewihr are members of the Plus Beaux Villages de France association. If you want to know more, click here.

And you? Have you ever been to Alsace? What's your favourite village?

For any further information, contact me by mail.

Thanks for reading!