Alsace is the France of fairy tales. Located in the northeast corner of France, near the border with Germany, Alsace is home to several of the most beautiful villages in France and one of France’s loveliest wine regions, which produces elegant white wines like riesling, gewurztraminer and pinot blanc. In this post I’ve shared our itinerary for 2 days in Alsace, including our favourite Alsatian villages, wineries and restaurants. We stayed in Eguisheim, and visited some of the most beautiful villages in Alsace including Colmar, Ribeauville, Riquewihr and Kayserberg.

We spent two days in Alsace for our first visit, and we were completely spellbound by this enchanting corner of France!

You could spend so much longer exploring the region, but 48 hours in Alsace is a great place to start for first time visitors. Visiting Alsace is less about ticking off major “sights” and instead best enjoyed by exploring quaint medieval villages and sampling the region’s distinctive wine and traditional cuisine.

We visited Alsace during our one month trip in Europe & the UK. We’d just come from 2 days in Burgundy, and after our trip to Alsace we left France, for three days in Zurich. This was my fifth trip to France, but my first time in Alsace. I loved exploring a new-to-me region of France!

Where is Alsace?

Alsace is in eastern France, near the border between France and Switzerland. Alsace is a historical region of France, so while it is still recognised as a distinct region for tourism & cultural purposes, today it is part of the Grand Est administrative region. The Grand Est combines Alsace, Lorraine and Champagne-Ardenne.

Alsace borders Germany, and has actually been part of Germany for much of its history! You can see this German influence in Alsace’s architecture, food & wine, and even hear it in the Alsatian dialect.

Where to stay in Alsace

There are lots of beautiful towns and villages in Alsace to visit, but for this trip we stayed in Eguisheim, one of Alsace’s fairytale villages on the Route des Vins. 

Many visitors to Alsace stay in Colmar, which is the largest town near the Route des Vins. Colmar is very beautiful, and is famous for its picturesque “Little Venice” historic area. We visited Colmar, which I really enjoyed, but I personally loved staying in one of Alsace’s smaller traditional villages. 

Other beautiful villages to stay in Alsace include Kayserberg, Ribeauville and Riquewihr to name just a few.

James Vignoble Hotel Eguisheim

We stayed at the James Vignoble Hotel in Eguisheim, which was one of the best hotels of our trip! The highlight for me was the infinity pool overlooking the vineyards – I felt like I was in heaven.

How to get to Alsace from Paris

You can catch the TGV InOui high speed train from Paris to Strasbourg, which is the capital of Alsace. From Strasbourg, it is a 1 hour train to Colmar. 

We arrived in Alsace after spending a few days in Burgundy, so we took the train from Dijon to Colmar.

Alsace Day 1: Colmar & Eguisheim

Hiring a car in Alsace

We hired a car with Avis in Colmar, and we had a much smoother experience than what we had in Beaune with Hertz! The Avis office is at the Colmar train station, so it was a quick transition from the train into our hire car, and then into Colmar’s historic centre for lunch.

Colmar

Colmar is one of the most popular towns in Alsace, famous for its beautiful La Petite Venise precinct. Cobblestoned streets, brightly coloured half-timbered houses and the pretty canal make this area the most beautiful part of Colmar. Of course, it was also very busy with tourists, which is to be expected, especially in June when we were there.

We spent a while exploring the picturesque streets around La Petit Venise, before stopping for lunch at La Krutenau, a winstub by the canal. A winstub is a traditional Alsatian tavern, which often serves traditional Alsatian food. La Krutenau serves flammekeuche (tarte flambees), which is a traditional Alsatian specialty. They were simple, but delicious!

Eguisheim

We stayed in Eguisheim, a fairytale village in Alsace that has been recognised as one of the most beautiful villages in France (“Les Plus Beaux Villages des France”). It was like something straight out of Beauty & The Beast!

Eguisheim is a village with a population of only 1700, with a small and walkable town centre that is arranged in concentric circles, around the 13th-century Chateau Saint-Leon. The Saint-Leon Square is the lively centre of Eguisheim, with a picturesque view of the castle and the Chapelle Saint-Leon. When we were there, you could see the silhouettes of several storks and their enormous nests perched precariously on the peaks of the castle and the chapel, as well as on many other buildings in the centre of town.

Wine Tasting at Domaine Emile Beyer

It was late afternoon by the time we arrived in Eguisheim, but we decided to try our luck at a wine tasting room before they closed for the day. We didn’t have a booking, but received a warm welcome at the tasting room of Domaine Emile Beyer, which is located in the centre of Alsace. Domaine Emile Beyer dates back to 1380, and today is managed by 14th-generation winemakers, which is an incredible family legacy.

Caveau d’Eguisheim

We stayed in town for dinner, dining at a cosy Alsatian restaurant, Caveau D’Eguisheim. This is a gorgeous restaurant, with a traditional interior and traditional Alsatian cuisine – although the German gentleman sitting at the table beside us, couldn’t help informing us that  the Black Forest Cake is really a German dish. Alsace has been part of Germany for much of its history, so it can feel very German, and Alsatian cuisine often seems more German than French!

Fete de la Musique

Fete de la Musique is a traditional festival held on summer solstice throughout europe, which is on June 21st. We were visiting on the 20th June, but Eguisheim was celebrating Fete de la Musique a night early – lucky us! The town square, Saint Leon Square, was filled with people, and a few pop up stands serving hot food, beer and wine. Locals (or at least, French people) far outweighed tourists (who tended to be European), and it had a lovely community atmosphere. My favourite part was the men’s choir, who performed with so much gusto!

It was an absolutely magical evening.

Alsace Day 2: Alsatian Villages & Route des Vins

On our second day in Alsace, we spent the day exploring some other Alsatian villages on the Route des Vins, and visiting some Alsatian wineries. Once again, we did not book any wineries in advance, and were lucky to have no trouble getting a tasting wherever we visited.

Ribeauville

Our first stop of the day was Ribeauville, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful villages in Alsace. 

We started with a wine tasting at Maison Trimbach, an Alsatian winery that has been making wines in Ribeauville since 1626. Like many Alsatian wineries, Maison Trimbach produces mostly riesling and gewurztraminer, but also has lovely pinot gris, pinot blanc, sylvaner and muscat.

Afterwards, we explored the town centre, which is full of beautifully preserved half-timbered houses from the 15th to 18th centuries. We stopped in at Hubert Siefel, a gourmet food store & deli serving traditional Alsatian food & wines. 

Kayserberg

Our second stop was Kayserberg, which turned out to be my favourite village in Alsace. Every village we visited was so beautiful, but Kayserberg is somehow even more enchanting than all of the rest!

We had a hearty Alsatian lunch at Caveau du Schlossberg. I had fleischnacka de boeuf, a traditional Alsatian dish made of beef wrapped into snail shapes with an egg-based pastry, dressed in pinot noir sauce and served with potatoes and salad. Dave had a tarte flambee, which is hard to go past in Alsace.

Riquewihr

Our third and final village stop for the day was Riquewihr, another very well known and beautiful Alsatian village. Riquewirh was the busiest of the villages we visited that day, and I’m not sure whether because it was late afternoon by this point, or because Riquewihr has one main street, or because it is particularly famous.

We did a wine tasting at Hugel et Fils, a winery with a tasting room in the centre of Riquewihr. There are several wine tasting rooms in Riquewihr to choose from.

Once we got back to the hotel, we spent the rest of the afternoon lazing by the pool, which has an idyllic setting overlooking surrounding vineyards.

Dinner in Eguisheim

We returned to Eguisheim for dinner, mostly because we wanted to spend more time in this beautiful village before we left for Switzerland the following day.

We actually had quite a bit of trouble finding somewhere to eat for dinner, without a reservation! Perhaps because it was the 21st, the summer solstice and the official date of Fete de la Musique, despite there not being any events in Eguisheim for it on that evening.

We eventually found a table at Caveau Heuhaus, a rustic and traditional restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. I was tempted to sit inside, because the interiors were so charming, but it was such a beautiful evening that we joined the majority of other diners, sitting under the trees on the patio outside the restaurant.

David had a traditional choucroute garnie, a very hearty traditional Alsatian dish of pork sausages, beef, bacon and a mountain of sauerkraut. I had a flammekueche (tarte flambee), both were very good! I loved the adorable, stubby wine glasses here with green glass stems.

We weren’t quite ready to leave Alsace the next morning, but we were very excited to be on our way to Zurich in Switzerland, to see our friends who live there. I would love to return to Alsace, to spend more time exploring some of the other villages and to visit Strasbourg, the capital. 

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