My wife and I went on a walking holiday in Alsace in September that we really enjoyed.
Although we have holidayed in France on many occasions, particularly when our children were younger, we had not previously visited Alsace and I suspect that it is not a holiday destination that readily springs to mind for many Brits. It is situated in north-east France and borders Germany. Indeed, the region has changed hands between France and Germany several times over the centuries. It last did so at the end of the Second World War. However, although it is part of France, the region is strongly influenced by its neighbour to the east,. This is apparent in its place names, its food and wines and some of its architecture.
We travelled to Alsace by train: Eurostar to Paris, the TGV from Paris to Strasbourg and then a local train to Obernai. We departed from London Paddington at 10:25 BST and arrived at Obernai at 17:50 (local time). With the benefit of hindsight, it would probably have been less tiring if we had flown to Strasbourg. The latter is the principal city of the region and is, of course, the seat of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
The tour operator through whom we made the trip arranged our accommodation and transported our luggage from one hotel to the next. Thus all we had to carry was a rucksack each, containing waterproofs (which in the event were not needed), water and, on most days, something to eat for lunch. One can either walk in an organised group or independently. We chose the latter. There was also a choice each day between a high route and a low route. The former were longer walks and involved more hill climbing; the latter were mainly by or through vineyards. We did some of each but preferred the lower routes as they were prettier. The high routes tended to be through forests. The length of the walks varied. The shortest, an afternoon walk only, was 6.2 miles; the longest was 19 miles. We chose the shorter one of 10.3 miles, that day! On average we were probably walking between 10 and 12 miles a day.
After staying the night at Obernai, a picturesque small town, the walk started the following day from Barr, a short train ride away. From there we travelled, over the course of the next six days, in a southerly direction, staying at Dambach-La-Ville, St Hippolyte, Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr, Lapoutroie and Kaysersberg. Each of these places was of interest but two of them, Riquewihr (below left) and Kaysersberg (below right), are beautiful medieval towns. I wish we had had more time to explore them.
The local food is very German-influenced, with a lot of pork and choucroute (sauerkraut in German) and the portions tend to be huge. If gourmet cuisine is more to your liking, you should not be disappointed. I understand that Alsace has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other region of France. We ate in two such restaurants, and one that was Michelin-recommended, and all three dinners were very good.
The white wines are world-famous. These include Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris.
For anyone who has not visited Alsace, I believe it has a lot to recommend it.
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