Alsace Wine Trail Google Map

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Jim from Chicago's question got me thinking about learning how to use Google's My Maps feature. So I created a map with the route I hiked from Ribeauville to Bennwihr. The program doesn't give you lots of control, but you have to admit it's quite a cool application when you consider it's free and intuitive to use. Anyway, here's my map: Hiking Alsace Wine Trail, Riquewihr France. It's collaborative, so feel free to add to it.

Alsace - Les Perles du Vignoble - Brochure

Several months ago I blogged about hiking in the vineyards just to the west of Colmar France. It's one of my favorite regions and I have grown to really love the wine. See my previous posts Riquewihr, Ribeauville, Alsace hiking and public transport options from Colmar for photos and more.

Anyway, Jim from Chicago, asked me to try to scan the map guide I picked up several years ago that illustrates the 'trail'. As he says many of the signs on the route are now gone, so it's good to have a map. (I got lost on my hike last year from Kientzheim to Riquewihr - not on this map - and found myself walking through the fields adjoining the motorway ... not really my idea of fun.)

The picture above is one of the smaller city maps on the back of the brochure. Pages 2 and 3 of the brochure are the area map. Note that even with the map the trail is not really clear because the map does not include street names ... combine it with another map or use your best judgment.

Here is a pdf version of the entire brochure: Les Perles du Vignoble (2003). (Big file - 12 mb).

Riquewihr to Bennwihr - Hiking in Alsace

The hike from Riquewihr to Bennwihr is a bit less scenic than the Ribeauville to Riquewihr segment, but is still worth making. The route is mostly downhill and winds through the vineyards. It took me about 1 hour, although I took a short cut through Mittelwihr. The photo above is looking back on Riquewihr from the trail.

Bennwihr is a very small town. There is a cafe (the bus stop is located in front of the cafe) and a small food shop (closes at midday). The cafe does not serve food, but it's fun to stop in for a beer or coffee. The photo below is of a statue honoring soldiers who died in the war; it's located in front of the church.



There are several small wine makers in Bennwihr who have tasting rooms and also a very good cooperative cave located on the Route des Vins D'Alsace on the south part of the town.

Riquewihr, Alsace

The hike from Ribeauville to Riquewihr takes you through vineyards and the forest, following the rolling hills. It took me about 1.5 hours at a moderate pace and was a good way to work off the Tarte Flambe and beer. (Did I mention that Alsatian beer is the best in France? Probably the combination of German and French cultures.)

The trail enters Riquewihr at the 'top' of the village (see photo above). Similar to Ribeauville, Riquewihr is an oblong-shaped village with a main street (rue du General de Gaulle) running through the middle. Unlike Ribeauville, Riquewihr still has its medieval walls and gate houses, so its filled with tourists (for good reason). The main street slopes down (relatively steeply) from the western gate to the eastern end of the village. The village is filled with historic buildings and is mostly free of cars. The photo below is from this year, it was raining!



There are many restaurants, small hotels, wine tasting shops and souvenir shops in the village. There are also several small museums: one for the post office and communications in Alsace, one for the local artist Hansi and another one (there seems to be one of these in every historic city) on medieval torture.

My interest in visiting Alsace is more on the food and wine side. My favorite Alsatian food is Tarte Flambe - the Alsatian version of pizza. It's made with a very thin dough, next they put creme frache then the toppings which generally include bits of bacon (spec in German, lardons in French), onions and other things. I love to have it with Munster cheese, another local specialty.

There are many good restaurants in Riquewihr, so take a walk through the town, check the menus and stop at one that appeals to you. We ate at Au Cep de Vigne (also a hotel) located at 13 rue du General de Gaulle, and La Taverne Alsacienne (17 rue du General de Gaulle), and both were excellent (both times Tarte Flambe!).

La Taverne Alsacienne offered a beer brewed at a Riquewihr microbrewery on draft. The beer is called Hollbeer and the brewery (Brasserie) is about 100 meters from the east end of the village (8 avenue Jacques Preiss). I was lucky because the brewery was open the day I visited and so I enjoyed a small glass of fresh beer (La Hollbeer PRESTIGE - 6.5% alcohol) while talking to the brew master about the growth of microbreweries in the USA. The family also makes schnaps and sells a large variety of them in the shop adjoining the Brasserie. The people working in the shop and Brasserie were very friendly and helpful.

Walking back into Riquewihr I stopped at my favorite wine degustation room/shop, Hugel & Fils. The family has been making wine since 1639. The tasting room staff are very knowledgeable and helpful, it is clear that they take their work seriously. I tasted several wines and they were all good. My favorite was their Classic Riesling 2007 ... when I tasted it I had one of those ethereal moments where your eyes roll back into your head with pleasure ... the salesman must have seen that and so he asked, good? Heck yeah! I bought six bottles to carry home with me on the bus and train!

Of course wine was not the only thing I purchased in Riquewihr, I also needed to buy some Munster cheese, which is unlike any other cheese. It pretty much defines the term 'stinky cheese' but the locals know that and they vacuum wrap it for traveling, although when the shopkeeper learned that I would be taking the train she suggested that I unwrap it so that I could have the train compartment to myself. Combining the cheese - served a bit runny at room temperature - with a bottle of Hugel & Fils Gewurztraminer Tradition (2006) is another of those ethereal experiences (and helps explain why I have gained so much weight living in Europe).



The bus stop is located across from the post office at the eastern end of the village. The photo above is looking at the Marie (city hall) and up into the vineyards surrounding the city from the bus stop. The bus (see earlier post) takes you to the Colmar railway station. I took the local train to Strasbourg, where I caught the overnight train back to Vienna, quite satisfied from my day hiking, eating and drinking in Alsace.

Ribeauville, Alsace

A good place to start your Alsace hike is Ribeauville. If you take the bus from Colmar, you actually travel through many of the wine villages on your way, then you walk on the return trip.

Ribeauville has a very nice cooperative cave (Cave de Ribeauville) - check the hours because they close during midday. The cave is located just a little west of the historic village on the main road (Route des Vins D'Alsace). It's near where the bus drops you off.

Then turn back and walk through the city park to the village. The historic village has an oblong shape running west Route des Vins D'Alsace up into the hills. The village's main street is called Grand Rue (de l'Eglise) and is a semi-pedestrian street filled with restaurants, hotels and shops, all of which I found to be relatively reasonable and less crowded than those in Riquewihr. There is a tourist office right at the beginning of this street on Place des Cloches.




I had a great Tarte Flambe (an Alsatian relative of pizza) at a restaurant/hotel called L'ami Fritz - it's shown in the photo above. Several other restaurant/hotels also looked fine although I did not stay or eat in them. They include Hotel au Lion and Hotel Cheval Blanc (great map of the village on this page).

On the way through the village I stopped by a winery from Domaine Jean Sipp. I did not have time to taste the wines but it looked like a great place. They have two rooms that they rent to visitors - I made a note to stay overnight there next time I visit!

I was hiking from Ribeauville to Riquewihr. The route leads one along the Grand Rue to Place de la Marie, where you turn left on to Rue Klobb, which turns into Rue de la Marne and then left onto Rue du Vignobles (where the "trail" to Riquewihr really begins). I will discuss Riquewihr in another post.

Ribeauville to Riquewihr to Bennwihr - Hiking in Alsace

I had been making day trips to Alsace from Zurich for several years. Only when we moved to Vienna did I realize how much I missed these trips. One of my favorite things to do in Alsace is to hike between the small wine villages. The photo above is of the village of Hunawihr viewed from the trail between Ribeauville and Riquewihr.

We don't have a car, so I have posted an entry on how to visit some Alsatian wine villages on the bus previously. A good option is to take the bus to Ribeauville and then hike back to Bennwihr via Riquewihr. Catch the bus back to Colmar from Bennwihr. Here's a link to the Ribeauville-Riquewihr tourism website.

The villages have developed a 'wine trail' through the vineyards with a few guide posts and signs providing information about the grapes and wine making. For me the real pleasure is simply hiking through the fields (actually the service roads/paths) and just enjoying being outdoors.

The wine trail is described on a brochure I picked up in 2007, but I did not see this year. It's called "Les Perles du Vignoble - Plan decouverte, Sentier viticole des Grands Crus" and it's in French, German and English. I will try to scan a copy and place a link to it here (there are maps of the six villages, small descriptions, and a map of the trails. There are several different trail options, so you can decide how long you want to walk.

The main villages Ribeauville, Riquewihr have lots of restaurants and shops, most of which are open all day. The other, smaller villages, don't always have places to eat and shops often close during the midday, so keep that in mind in your planning.

While a village may not have a restaurant or cafe, they all have one or more places that sell wine. These 'shops' range from small stands selling their own wine to cooperative cellars which stock wine from many local wine makers. Generally you can taste wine in these shops for free but you really should purchase a bottle or two.

The hiking is very nice, there is very little traffic on the roads and even very few people. It's a great way to get in touch with the terroir.

I have posted separate articles on attractions in the different cities on route.

Public Transport in Alsace, Riquewihr

One of my favorite places in the world is Alsace. There is something magical about the vineyards and hills and the mixture between German and French cultures. And, did I mention the food and wine!

We don't have a car and so visiting the small wine towns and villages can be difficult, but it's possible. I generally take the train to Colmar (a wonderful city in its own right - more in another posting). There is a bus station located right outside the train station where you can catch a bus to several of the wine villages. The photo below is of the stained glass windows in the train station cafe. They are hidden in one of the side dining rooms. The restaurant is not bad.



These buses run very intermittently (often only three or four a day) and it can be hard to get information about them. However, many of the buses are operated by the French Railroad's TER (regional train) company, so they are included in the train arrival/departure information systems.

My favorite train arrival/departure information system is from the Swiss National Railway, the site is very clean and easy to use. Here's the English Version. Compare it to the French version ... oh my god what a disaster, but that's another subject.

To use the Swiss system simply enter your starting point (you can choose Colmar) and your ending point, in my case I choose Riquewihr - which is a wonderfully picturesque village from the middle ages (lots of tourists, but for good reason). Another good option is to take the bus to Ribeauville (it goes through Riquewihr on the way) and hike to Riquewihr or even on to Bennwihr.

When you board a bus at the train station you need to buy your ticket in advance, there are machines in the waiting hall. When you board in the villages you can pay cash to the driver (who can usually make change). The drivers I have encountered - while they did not speak much English - are very friendly and helpful.

Also, be sure you check the schedule for the return bus and find out exactly where it stops ... as I mentioned the buses run very in frequently and you don't want to miss them. (As it happened my bus was about 25 minutes late on the return trip which gave me lots of anxiety, but it eventually arrived.)