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Home > Alsace Intense: The Best and the Excellent
More info: Receive detailed hotel list, bike specs, and route description
More infos BOOK NOW !Alsace is known for its excellent gastronomy and wines particular to its mix of French and German cultures, but there is so much more to this region! For cyclists, its exceptional bike paths make Alsace one of the best cycling destinations in France. You can cycle uninterrupted from Strasbourg to Colmar through fairytale villages and gorgeous vineyards, appreciating the region’s history and peaceful atmosphere. Over ninety percent of this tour’s itinerary is on bicycle paths and small, low-traffic routes!
Slightly longer than a short escape but shorter than a week, you will experience the perfect combination of enjoyable biking routes, charming hotels, and fantastic restaurants during your “intense” tour of Alsace. Experience the utmost luxury if you choose our “Option A+” hotels — the incredibly charming "Option A" hotels won't leave you disappointed either!
For travel and cycling tips to Alsace, visit our "Travel and cycling tips" section.
Strasbourg has its own international airport with connections to other European cities. The city is also easily accessible by TGV from Paris (just over 2 hours), and from airports in cities such as Basel, Switzerland and Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany.
Once you arrive in Strasbourg, check in at your hotel, located close to all the major attractions. Afterward, you can enjoy the city by night as you wish!
Regardless of the hotel option you choose, you’ll follow the same route (although staying in an Option A hotel in Barr involves a bit more cycling). Your itinerary will make good use of one of the prettiest cycling paths in all of Alsace, along with the Canal de la Buche, a former horse-path for barges on the canal. You’ll pass dreamy rolling hills and green vineyards on an idyllic warm-up ride. Along the way, you may stop in Molsheim for an eyeful of fine examples of Alsatian architecture spanning centuries. Continue on to your quintessential Alsatian destination, whether it’s Obernai, near the Vosges Mountains, or the pretty town of Barr. Both picture-perfect with traditional houses and neat cobblestone streets.
For Option A, if you stay in Andlau, you will have an extra 15 km (9 miles) to go.
Far from the traffic of the Wine Route, you will set out on a ride across the vineyard region on well-paved roads. You will pass through villages made up of half-timbered houses whose window boxes overflow with geraniums and other flora. Mittelbergheim, Dambach la Ville, Ribeauvillé, and Riquewihr are among the most beautiful villages of France — and you may stop in all of them today. Observe the finely preserved medieval architecture of Dambach la Ville, or maybe catch a tune from the traveling musicians in Ribeauvillé.
Depending of your accomodation, this stage's distance may vary few kilometers.
The Wine Route and its stunning chain of villages lead you to Colmar, the Alsatian capital of wine and art. Artists who have called Colmar “home” include respected names such as Bartholdi, sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, and Renaissance painters Martin Schoengauer and Mathias Grüneweld. You may spend some of your time visiting the Unterlinden Museum of Renaissance Art if you wish. Definitely do not miss “Little Venice,” an artisanal quarter located on the canal. Tonight, revel in the ambiance of Colmar.
After breakfast, depart Colmar at the time of your choice.
4 nights in 3- and 4-star hotels of charm
4 nights in 4- and 5-star hotels