9 Alsace Hotels Along the Wine Route

Alsace changed nationality four times between 1871 and 1945. German after the Franco-Prussian war, French again in 1918, German again in 1940, French since 1945. Two of those transfers were annexations and the last one conscripted around 130,000 Alsatian men into the German army, a subject the region still discusses carefully.

What that history produced is a place that is not quite either country. The food is choucroute, flammekueche and foie gras. The wine comes in tall green German-shaped bottles, uses riesling, gewurztraminer and pinot gris, and is labelled by grape rather than by place, which no other French region does. The villages are half-timbered in a way that looks German and the administration is entirely French.

The wine route and the towns

Strasbourg, in the north, is the capital and a European one — the Parliament sits here. Its cathedral was the tallest building in the world from 1647 to 1874, and the Petite France quarter is a knot of canals and timbered houses that was the tanners' district.

Colmar, seventy kilometres south, is smaller, denser and better preserved, with the Unterlinden museum holding the Isenheim Altarpiece.

The Route des Vins runs about 170 kilometres between and beyond them, through Obernai, Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Eguisheim — walled villages on the foothills with vineyards above and the Vosges behind.

The Vosges mountains rise west of the route, with the Hohkönigsburg castle restored under Wilhelm II and the ballon summits above the treeline.

Christmas is the other thing to know. Strasbourg has run a Christmas market since 1570, one of the oldest in Europe, and from late November the whole region fills. Rates double and rooms are gone by September.

The nine below run north to south.

Strasbourg

The capital, the cathedral and Petite France.

Régent Petite France occupies a building beside the cathedral with a spa, a restaurant under vaults and rooms facing the spire.

Sofitel Strasbourg Grande Île sits on the Ill in Petite France in a converted ice factory, with a canal terrace and contemporary rooms inside an industrial shell.

Les Haras occupies the former national stud in Strasbourg, with rooms in the stable buildings and a restaurant in the riding hall.

Hôtel Cour du Corbeau sits in a sixteenth-century building beside the cathedral square with a small room count and considerable character.

Maison Rouge Strasbourg occupies a position in the centre with a spa, a pool and reliable comfort at a fair rate.

The wine route

The walled villages between the two cities.

Villa René Lalique occupies a property at Wingen-sur-Moder beside the Lalique glass museum, with a two-star restaurant, a spa and a wine cellar of considerable depth. It is the finest hotel in the region.

Le Chambard sits in Kaysersberg with a spa, a starred restaurant and a village of half-timbered houses outside the door.

Hôtel A la Cour d'Alsace occupies a position at Obernai with a pool, a garden and the vineyards above the town.

Colmar

The southern city.

La Maison des Têtes occupies a 1609 Renaissance mansion in Colmar with a carved stone facade, a courtyard and a starred restaurant.

What we have left off

The winstubs with rooms above them across the wine villages are excluded, and they are the traditional and inexpensive way to stay on the route. They are guest houses rather than hotels.

What to do

Drive the wine route slowly, stopping at Riquewihr and Eguisheim, both of which are walled and circular and take an hour each.

Taste the grand crus. Alsace has fifty-one of them and the growers almost all receive visitors without appointment, which is unusual in French wine.

See the Isenheim Altarpiece at Colmar, a sixteenth-century polyptych painted for a hospital treating ergotism, which is among the most affecting things in European painting.

Climb the Strasbourg cathedral platform, 332 steps, for the view over the Rhine plain to the Black Forest.

Come at Christmas if you can handle the crowds, and book a year out if you do.

Practical notes

Strasbourg is under two hours from Paris by TGV and has its own airport; Basel-Mulhouse is an hour south and better connected. Frankfurt is two hours.

May, June, September and October are ideal, with harvest in late September. The Christmas markets run from late November to the end of December and fill everything. Winter otherwise is cold and quiet.

A car is needed for the wine route; Strasbourg and Colmar are walkable and linked by frequent trains.

Questions people actually ask

Is Alsace French or German?

French since 1945, after changing hands four times from 1871. The culture is genuinely its own rather than a blend.

Strasbourg or Colmar?

Strasbourg for the cathedral, the scale and the transport. Colmar for the denser old town and the Isenheim Altarpiece.

When are the Christmas markets?

Late November to the end of December. Book accommodation many months ahead.

How many nights?

Four. One city, two on the route, one for the Vosges.

If you only book one