In a previous article, I talked about what you can see in 10 days in Normandy, Brittany and the Loire Valley. This was only part of our three-week trip to France. The next region on the route was Alsace. Alsace is one of the most beautiful regions of France, famous for its vineyards, wine and half-timbered houses. Most often, acquaintance with this region begins with Strasbourg and sometimes ends on it, but in vain: all the most beautiful, as usual, is located outside the capital. Of course, it is most convenient to travel around Alsace by car, but if you are without a car, then public transport comes to the rescue. We had very little time to get to know this region – incomplete four days. As a starting point, we chose Colmar – a charming town, located forty minutes by train from Strasbourg.
Road to colmar From Paris to the cities of Alsace there are buses, high-speed and regular trains. If you take care in advance, then you can grab tickets at good prices. For example, we took tickets for the high-speed direct train Paris-Colmar for 36 euros per person and were looking forward to how to get there in a couple of hours. But on the day the car was delivered, it didn’t go according to plan: at first we spent a lot of time at gas stations, then we got stuck in traffic jams at the entrance to Paris, and like a cherry on the cake we couldn’t turn in the car for more than an hour (thanks, travelcar!). As a result, we were late for the train. The situation is not very pleasant. Two options emerged: buy tickets for a FlixBus night flight at a more or less reasonable price, or take expensive train tickets, but be in place by night. I really did not want to spend a sleepless night on the bus, so we still bought train tickets. Moreover, tickets for all direct routes have already been bought up, I had to take a transfer in Strasbourg. Spent 120 euros and lost 5 hours on the road. As a result, only 3 full days remained. It’s a shame, but oh well, the main thing is that we arrived. Colmar “Little Venice” – the most famous view of Colmar Colmar is a postcard city. It is amazingly beautiful: there are a lot of half-timbered houses of all rainbow colors with multi-colored shutters and entourage signs, several Gothic cathedrals and small streams.
Unfortunately, there are disadvantages in the city. For example, streets lined with cars. I understand that this is not an open-air museum, but a residential city, but still they usually try to make parking lots outside the historical center. In Alsace, a strong cultural influence of Germany is felt. This influence is reflected in the local cuisine. For example, in many institutions you can find an interesting dish – tarte flambe. Tarte flambe – a flat open cake, partly reminiscent of pizza Allocate at least half a day to Colmar – it’s worth it! Just keep in mind that the city is a tourist, and it is most pleasant to walk along it closer to the sunset, when most people leave.
By the way, at the exit of Colmar is a smaller copy of the Statue of Liberty. I don’t know why she is here, but here the yellow vests for the first time during our trip made themselves felt. The only reminder of the existence of yellow vests Villages near Colmar There are a lot of beautiful villages in Alsace. Initially, we wanted to call in four of them: Eguisheim (Eguisheim); Riquewihr; Riboville (Ribeauvillé); Bergheim (Bergheim). But because of the delay with the train and poor planning, I visited only two: Riquewihr and Riboville, so I will only talk about them. But first, briefly on what you can get to. Public transport To start exploring the surroundings of Colmar by public transport, you need to find the bus station, which is located next to the train station. In fact, the bus station is just a few bus stops. You can see the schedule for all buses coming from Colmar on the site . Prices start from a couple of euros. Tickets can be bought directly from the driver. You can also cycle between villages. For example, to Egisheim go only 5 kilometers.
We ourselves could not use this option due to the fact that the time was incorrectly calculated. A half day rental costs 7 euros, a day – 9 euros. You can rent a bike there, near the train station. Riboville One of the streets of Riboville Riboville is one of the oldest Alsatian villages. It is relatively large: it takes a couple of hours to get around it. As in other cities and villages of this region, there are a huge number of bright half-timbered houses and endless crowds of tourists. Only in the late afternoon it becomes freer, and you can enjoy the local narrow streets without scurrying around. Riboville is surrounded by vineyards, several varieties of wine are produced from the grown grapes here. You can try them at almost any local restaurant.
