Alsace/Lorraine recommendations

[squashyhat]

Looking for recommendations for a small town/large village in the Vosges area of France for a 10 day break in September. DH and I are driving from UK and staying a few days in Strasbourg first. We are looking for self-catering, nice views, walks and a few local bars and restaurants.

We like Eguisheim and Ribeauvillé

Thanks @Forgottenmyphone they both look beautiful.

Bumping in case there are any other recommendations.

Slightly further South is Besançon, which is on a horseshoe bend in the river. Very picturesque, and a lovely town.

Can’t give you any specific recommendations, but I was in Alsace on a dark rainy November weekend for a competition last year, barely able to see any of it, but was still very impressed by what I saw. Food was amazing, and there seemed to be a castle on top of every hill. Forest just went on forever, and all of the towns and villages seemed to be the town every Disney cartoon ever is based on - lots of cute wonky timber houses. We stayed in the Wangenbourg-Engelthal area.

Eguisheim seconded. Colmar is also very nice, though a little bigger.

I would also not rule out popping a few km over the border into the Kairserstuhl which has some lovely villages and also good wine.

Agree with the recommendations. Riquewihr or Kaysersberg also cute.

If you're staying in Strasbourg then you can probably tour the Alsace side on a day trip basis. Spend a couple of hours in Dambach-la-Ville, which is nearly as pretty as Riquewihr/Ribeauvillé without the hordes of coach visitors.

Also pop over to the Black Forest for at least one day. A fun thing to do is for the non-driver to grab a cheeky self-service tot of firewater from one of the self-service Schnappsbrunnen in Kappelrodeck.

On the western side of the mountains, maybe look at Épinal or Gérardmer (which, unintuitively, is pronounced "Gérarmay" as if it was a verb, not "Gérarmaire" as if "mer" was the sea).

Lived in Alsace for 18 years. Eguisheim is definitely worth a visit, as are Colmar and Strasbourg itself. If you are in Eguisheim, be sure to visit some of the many Crémant d'Alsace wineries in the area.