Castles, Vines & Forests of Alsace

Particular highlights were woodland paths strewn with sweet chestnuts, the sun shining through the trees onto the forest floor, great views across to the Black Forest, and seeing the beginnings of the grape harvest. We enjoyed mixing up the walking with a castle visit, being eyeballed by a stork at the Nature Park and watching the vultures and kites flying at the Volerie des Aigles. On this holiday there are many beautiful villages to explore, the people are friendly, and the buildings and museums in Colmar a delight. The walks were well marked with the descriptions easy to follow. The hearty food washed down with local wine ensured we had the energy to climb the hills the following day. Thank you Inntravel for another memorable trip.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers extended their Castles, Vines and Forests self-guided walking holiday with a stay at the Grand Hotel Bristol in Colmar.

This was our first trip with Inntravel, and I can happily recommend the company. They were consistently responsive to my inquiries and helpful in choosing a route. We planned rather last minute, but all of the paperwork still arrived quickly which shows what a well-run company this is. My husband and I both enjoyed Castles, Vines and Forests of the Alsace, and found it aptly named. Each day you leave a picture-perfect Alsatian village, climb through gentle vineyards, in our case lush with fruit and the activity of the harvest, then climb more steeply to a castle perch with views down over the valleys and villages. We felt truly sorry for the bus tour folk who swarmed some of the towns for their 30 minutes, as we had quiet mornings and slow evenings to explore town walls, local churches and take endless pictures of window-boxes overflowing with geraniums. The weather was cool and comfortable for hiking, never hot. We had mostly cloudy days with rain in the forecast, but it never materialized to spoil a hike. Autumn is a great time for this region with the wine festivals. If one waited another week or so to an end of September start the vines would turn red and gold.

Our favourite meal was in Bergheim at Vitis, the gourmet restaurant associated with the Hotel La Cour Du Bailli. I believe we were lucky because the in-house restaurant was closed our first night so we were accommodated at Vitis instead. I can't say enough about the meal, you simply must go there. Our other nights in Bergheim we ate at La Lavandiere and Le Dom Ange. In Kaysersberg we particularly enjoyed La Petite Auberge. Truly, we enjoyed our meals in every town, every night, the French food, dry local wines and aromatic cheese were a real treat.

I was not sure whether I was ready for a grade 3 hike, so this one, 2-3, was a good choice for me. While each day there may be a steep passage, overall the hiking was very manageable and I found the distances at 13-16km well suited for my level of fitness. Based on this success I look forward to booking a grade 3 hike for 2020!

Eguisheim was a lovely town - we would have been happy to stay longer. Tip for the options around Bergheim - the Volerie des Aigles and the bus from there are available for very limited hours (if at all) in late September.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: On this itinerary, we include a number of options to choose from while in Bergheim.

The Black Forest is picture postcard perfect and the people are charming and helpful. Walking is well signposted and not too demanding. Be prepared to meet quite a few like minded people, this is a major area for recreation with ample, varied provision. The food is generous and tasty and the wines excellent value. All of the hotels are recommended. This is a land of efficiency, quality and beauty.

Alsace is a delightful region of woods and vineyards with many excellent trails in hilly, wooded countryside. But if you have a penchant for wine, you will also enjoy the profusion of vineyards on the lower, southern slopes ... and the wine is very good. The small towns and villages are a delight - half timbered houses on cobbled streets reminding one of the area's rich history. This walker took the opportunity to get reacquainted with the first class white wines, but the pull of pinot noir was always there. Needless to say the food was also very good - hearty food in the German tradition.

For anyone interested, you may wish to note that I combined the Black Forest with Alsace. If you have the time I would recommend this combination, adding on days to ensure you can 'luxuriate' in the experience. The two areas are complementary and it quickly becomes apparent why Alsace was once so hotly contested.

Excellent walking, comfortable hotels and great food & wine in a beautiful part of France. Particularly enjoyed the walk to Taennchel whilst in Bergheim. Walks were just the right level of challenge.

We enjoyed being in this region, and the variety of this walk, with walking in the forests and vines and visits to the castles and other historical places. The Alsace villages are beautiful and it was a delight to be able to explore them and have the time to experience this region in a ‘slow’ way by walking between and through the little towns. The hotels were well chosen and comfortable and we enjoyed the cuisine and wine of this region.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: Mrs Winstanley combined our Castles, Vines and Forests of Alsace walk with our Meander of the Moselle Valley holiday.

Really enjoyed the walking particularly as we were both carrying injuries and needed to vary the routes and distances accordingly. The good variety of walking routes and quality of signposting and waymarking allowed us to do this easily. Very nice walking country. We enjoyed meals at L‘Auberge des Lavandieres and at the restaurant on site at Chez Norbert in Bergheim. We also found a nice quiet bar that has recently opened in the village Au Petit Bariga on the outskirts overlooking a garden full of rabbits and chickens. We also found that many bars in Kaysersberg were focussed only on daytime tourists so closed at 18:00. However, the Irish bar (which was actually very French) was friendly and served local beers and wine and some food.

During the second week (in the Moselle) we ate at Die Graifen in Traben-Trarbach-Trabach which was super and thought that the meals at the hotels in Urzig and Beilstein were also good (Altes Zollhaus).

This walk was lovely, very picturesque and very hot (we struck a heat wave in Europe). I feel you need to upgrade your accommodation, especially in Bergheim, a king single bed for 2 is not acceptable in 37-42 deg of heat and at the top of an old building with no air con and a bath / shower that you could not stand up in. All other places were fine and very acceptable (if not a little dated). Notes were average going into Bergheim, very misleading, we got the impression that the notes were rewritten from French to English and were transcribed incorrectly. Apart from these 2 issues we had a lovely time, but I do recommend you re visit the accommodation.

This holiday was a last minute decision on my part and a rapid response from your staff was really extraordinary. Never experienced such professional and competent service before and will become a regular traveller.

The walking through the forests in spring was wonderful - although it was slightly surprising to find ourselves in snow one day up on Tannenkirch! We loved the opportunity to walk through all those pretty villages and thought that the walks were very well planned with plenty of variety. The two days in Colmar worked out very well, enabling us to see all that Colmar had to offer plus giving us the chance to visit Strasbourg for the day. The evening meal in Eguisheim was of very high quality - one of the best we had - and the Winstub du Chateau in Kayserberg was good value. It was a good idea to offer all the options from Bergheim but the closure of the supermarket might make that difficult in terms of buying picnic provisions. We did detour into Les Trois Epis on the walk from Turckheim and it was worth it - it's a fascinating place. It was certainly one of the best walking holidays we have done.

Excellent holiday, interesting and varied walks, good food and wine and friendly and engaging locals. Probably the best Inntravel holiday we have been on. Made even better by meeting another two couples who were on the same itinerary with whom we had a couple of nice meals and lively conversation.     

We truly enjoyed our hiking adventure in Alsace! The hikes were epic, villages were beautiful and the scenery was spectacular. The hikes presented just enough challenge and the guidance material provided was very helpful. Thanks for a great holiday!

We loved the Alsace region; so pretty and rich in local culture and history, especially Eguisheim where we had two days to explore the area. The walking was brilliant and we enjoyed the routes from Eguisheim to Turkheim and from Turkheim to Kaysersberg. After the two forest trails we were glad to have a vineyard walk for the next two days, to be able to see more scenery and enjoy the sunshine. 

I wish there were ratings higher than '4' [Excellent] for Hotel & Restaurant Peterle and Waldhotel Fehrenbach in the Black Forest.  The rooms and the meals were exceptional, the service was far beyond expectations.  Our luggage was delayed by more than 36 hours at the beginning of the holiday.  First, Tobias [at Hotel Peterle] offered to lend me his hiking clothes for the optional day; I declined and it worked out fine for the 8 miles around the Schluchtsee.  Then he volunteered to stay up until 11:30 pm with my wife and me to make sure the luggage arrived safely.  At Fehrenbach, Joseph was as gracious in service and as imaginative as a chef as other reviewers have said.  We discovered new wines - particularly excellent Spatburgunders (German pinot noirs) - which were also good value, through the efforts of Tobias and Joseph.  Our room, an upgrade, at Hotel & Restaurant Sonne was superb, and the location is great.  Unfortunately, the restaurant is very popular and we were there on a weekend.  So one of our meals took 3.25 hours to serve.  The other was much faster, and the food was good (not up to Tobias' and Joseph's standards), but still ... .  I should add that we enjoyed the Dattler Schlossbergrestaurant in Freiburg - great view and good food, but not so much SKAJO, where we ate outside on the roof and were 'assaulted' by continuous secondhand smoke (inside was not available because it was warm).

My wife and loved the choice of routes in the Black Forest.  The scenery was gorgeous, there was history to learn on many walks, and there were virtually no 'out and back' routes.  Also, on most routes, there were places to stop for lunch that served fine German food.  Our only problem was that occasionally there had been logging since the printing of the directions in the area where we were walking, which made the choice of roads in the forest difficult to discern.  But we always figured it out eventually, and the challenge is part of the adventure, in our view.  I would add that the new "On the Map" section is valuable and helped us prepare for each day's walk.

The hotels in Alsace are in the villages, which adds to their enjoyment.  While the meals in the hotels may not be quite up to the standards of Tobias and Joseph in the Black Forest, the villages put the 'Q' in quaint and are delightful to explore.  In fact, we organized a taxi from Turckheim to Kaysersberg to have the opportunity to wander in Turckheim (and because it was going to rain that afternoon).  Kaysersberg was a particular joy because, as the birthplace of Albert Schweitzer, the village has established signposts with ethically challenging topics; plus, the meals at La Vielle Forge and le Moreote were exquisite.  The only let down were the meals at Hotel la Cour du Bailli in Bergheim.  We would recommend Wistub du Sommelier, just down the street - the food is excellent and the wine list (and the server's knowledge of the wines) is superb.  The walks in Alsace are a delightful combination of villages, vineyards and forest, with a few castles thrown in for spice.  My wife and I especially enjoyed the optional walk to St. Hippolyte.  (We recommend lunch at the Hotel a la Vignette in the heart of the village.) We skipped the Haut-Koeningsberg castle; it is exceptional, but we toured it on an earlier visit to the area, and that made the walk much more relaxing at the end of 2 weeks of walking.

Colmar is wonderful and should not be missed.  Of course the Isenheim alterpiece at the Unterlinden Museum should not be missed - try to get there early - but there is much else in the museum and the city that is worthwhile.  We enjoyed wandering through La Petite Venise, exploring the Bartholdi Museum and the Hansi Museum (mainly a store, but still an important insight into a courageous Alsatian who challenged the Nazis and is revered throughout Alsace), and spending time with "The Madonna of the Rose Garden".  Excellent restaurants worth the price are Aux Trois Poissons, L'Epicurien, and JY's, all in the La Petite Venise area.

Last, but not least, we want to commend Sandrine and her husband of AB Taxi.  She knows more English, but both of them are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about Alsace and its history.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our 'A Walk in the Black Forest with Freiburg' and 'Castles, Vines & Forests of Alsace' walks, along with our recommended extension at the Grand Hotel Bristol in Colmar.

Having gone with very few preconceptions about Alsace, we really loved the area and the wine. A shame there is a limit as to how many bottles of Gewurtztraminer we could bring back. Walking through the forests every day sounds boring, but the forest is very varied and the paths were delightful. Haut Koenigsberg castle is a must for all with an interest in modern European history, but I think the knockabout version of 'Robin des Bois' we watched at Chateau du Hohlandsbourg helps make it our No.1 castle of the week. Despite the 'achigly beautiful' villages such as Eguisheim, we fell for Bergheim in the end - a wonderfully relaxing place to spend the end of our walking holiday. In a week where the shade temperatures reached 36 degrees, the vineyard sections of some walks were quite challenging: could we cross Death Valley before the sun finished us off? It was so hot on Day 6 that we got the taxi to drop us off at the forest edge near Ribeauville and constructed our own looping walk through the woods and castles. It was nice to have that flexibility. Visiting the German Military Cemetry near Bergheim in the late evening was a profoundly moving experience. Colmar was nice, but taking a day trip to Strasbourg was worth every minute - a fascinating city. Tip one: only take half the clothes you have put out to bring. Tip two: Alsace is near Germany, so be prepared to face a lot of pork, ham and sausage on the menu. Tip three: don't forget your swimming cozzie for the pool at the Hotel La Cour du Bailli. Postscript: it might be worth emphasising the risk of ticks (I came back to find I had Lyme Disease from ticks in the forest). There is, apparently, a big campaign in the area to warn people of the dangers of ticks in Alsace woodlands, but none of the display boards seem to have been placed on the routes we tackled.

For us Kayserberg was a definite highlight as was the frequent sighting of a stork’s nest in each village we entered. Each village seemed more beautiful than the previous one but with their own unique characteristics too.

We think some information about storks would be of interest to many of your customers.

The delightful villages of Alsace were a revelation. The houses, many painted in ice cream colours, were festooned with flowers. It was wonderful to see the storks in Eguisheim and Bergheim. In Bergheim ‘Au Petit Bariga’ has an excellent range of beers. 

When the vulture stood on my legs as I lay on the grass under the blazing sun, memories of all my previous Inntravel trips flashed past my eyes. I had seen vultures circle overhead on a previous trip but this close was a totally unexpected experience and the most memorable.
The walking on this holiday was as good as expected. Most of the walking was in a pleasant deciduous forest which was shady but not dark.  The walks were longish but not arduous.  In this landscape you cannot get too lost though a compass is useful.
The medieval villages, ruined castles and forests were romantic and the rebuilt Haut Koenigsburg was impressive.  There were also stork nests with chicks in various village roofs. A trip to La Volerie des Aigles fitted the medieval theme of this holiday. The afternoon I was there they had an Andean condor walk on people’s legs including mine.  The birds of prey in flight were impressive but moved too fast for my mobile phone camera.
On this holiday some basic French phrases are useful although there are English speakers. Some locals can speak German as there are many German tourists.
It is still important to know the meaning of French phrases like "eau non potable" to avoid medieval diseases. 
I extended the holiday with two nights in Colmar. The Issenheim altarpiece in the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar is excellent. The museum also has interesting modern art works and some interesting ancient roman flooring (allow 3 hours). The Bartholdi Museum in Colmar about the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty is also worth a visit (allow 1 -2 hours).  The area known  as little Venice in Colmar is similar to villages visited earlier on this trip but still very pretty (allow 2 hours).
The food everywhere except for supermarket sandwiches was good.  The Bergheim hotel restaurant  was the one place I needed to book.
Some of the hotels were busy at breakfast and I found it best to eat early. The service in the hotels was very helpful and good.  
Inntravel were helpful in working around the rail strike.
If I was to sum up this trip in two words it would be ‘very civilised’.

We thought this was another splendid Inntravel walking holiday in all respects. The reminders of the war were poignant, e.g. the Colmar Pocket Museum at Turkheim and the German cemetery above Bergheim, with the lime trees in flower. The people we met were friendly and helpful. The countryside is a delight and the variety of types of woodland is exceptional, and somehow added to a deep sense of tranquility, indeed peace.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our walk Castles, Vines & Forests of Alsace with our Colmar add-on

We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, The walking was fantastic, mainly in woods with dappled sunlight and then a place of interest or a wonderful view. The food was great and the wine was just superb. Every town we stayed in was so picturesque wth immaculately kept timber houses. Lots to see and plenty to enjoy.

My personal highlights were the amazing thunderstorm in Colmar (our taxi driver waited for a long time for the rain to ease, almost driving into the front door of the Hotel Bristol, so we didn’t get too wet).  Also, seeing a stork fly over Eguisheim then spotting several occupied nests up on the high buildings (and wondering how they coped with the downpour and lightening). Excellent vine & woodland walking to Les Trois Chateaux de Ribeauville. 

Tips:

If you climb the tower of Kaysersberg Castle in a thunderstorm then be ready to bet back down quickly - a great view.

Carry plenty of water  (unusually hot this June, according to the locals)

The museum at Turkheim was very good.  We also liked the stork sanctuary and the falconry display. The walks were well chosen, varied and interesting and the notes and background were excellent. We enjoyed Haut-Koenigsbourg castle. 

An excellent combination of walks through vineyards and forests, with stunning views from the tops.  We thoroughly recommend both the extended walks at the end from Bergheim - the Thannenkirch one has a long steep section at the start, but the delightful walk along the ridge at the top was our favourite of the whole trip.  Also very pretty villages for the overnight stops, with some good restaurants.  If you really fancy pushing the boat out, we would recommend the Michelin starred 'L'Alchemille' in Kaysersberg.  We opted to drive on this occasion and we left our car safely in the car park of the last hotel in Bergheim and got a taxi from there to the first hotel, which worked well for us.