Overview
Four days in Alsace, based in Colmar, cycling the Route des Vins with the regional train network leapfrogging you to each starting point — bikes travel free on TER trains. Each morning a train drops you at one end of a stretch of the route and you ride back through the vineyards, villages and wineries.
Friday is for arriving and for Colmar itself. Saturday takes the train south to Thann and rides the quieter southern half of the Route des Vins back — 63km, past Zind-Humbrecht at Turckheim. Sunday goes the other way: train north to Rosheim and 74km down the famous northern stretch, with Rolly Gassmann at Rorschwihr, then Trimbach, Hugel and Weinbach on the way, and Barr at 19km. Monday home.
Getting There
| Outbound | easyJet, Gatwick → Basel (BSL) 8:30am, arrive 11:05 — ~£39 one way |
| Return | BA or easyJet, Basel → London, from around £82. Take a middle-of-the-day or early-evening departure — the dawn flights are cheap for a reason |
| Basel → Colmar | Le Car shuttle (~€20 each) or split taxi (€60–80 total), ~45 min |
Day by Day
Friday Arrive & Colmar
- Morning flight to Basel; shuttle to Colmar by midday. Check in and collect the hired bikes.
- An afternoon on foot rather than in the saddle: Little Venice, the Unterlinden museum and Grünewald's Isenheim altarpiece, and a first glass somewhere with a courtyard.
- If anyone is restless, Eguisheim is a flat 6km each way — a concentric medieval village built in rings, and one of the prettiest in France.
- Dinner at Winstub Brenner: tarte flambée, choucroute, a carafe of Riesling.
Saturday The southern route — Thann back to Colmar
- Morning TER from Colmar to Thann with the bikes, via Mulhouse, about an hour. Thann is the southern terminus of the Route des Vins.
- Ride north through Cernay and Guebwiller, under the Grand Cru Kitterlé, then along the foot of the Vosges through Soultzmatt to Rouffach — a good square for a late lunch, and roughly the halfway point.
- On through Eguisheim and a short spur west to Domaine Zind-Humbrecht at Turckheim: Olivier Humbrecht MW's biodynamic estate, and some of the most sought-after wine in Alsace. Appointment essential, around €25, book two or three weeks ahead.
- 63km, 264m of ascent, 408m of descent — a net drop of 150m from Thann to Colmar, so it rides easier than the distance suggests. Rouffach at 39km is the natural lunch stop, and Zind-Humbrecht comes at 57km, once the legs are warm and before the last flat run into town.
- Back in Colmar late afternoon. Dinner in the old town.
Sunday The northern leg — Rosheim back to Colmar
- Early train north via Strasbourg to Rosheim, and ride the northern half of the Route des Vins back to Colmar. 74km with 616m of ascent — the bigger of the two days by a distance.
- South through the walled town of Obernai at 9km, then Barr at 19km, Dambach-la-Ville at 32km and Châtenois at 39km. Gently rolling, nothing above 250m for the first two-thirds.
- Rolly Gassmann at Rorschwihr, 48km. A village of 380 people whose vineyards were already being recorded by the Merovingian royal estate in 742, and a family growing here since 1611. Fifty-five hectares across twelve named crus on twenty-one different subsoils — the point of the visit is tasting the same grape off different rock. Everything is hand-picked, fermented on wild yeast for four to six months, and held back: they are still selling vintages from the 1990s while the recent ones sit in the cellar. The caveau is open every day, 10–12 and 2–6, which on a Sunday in Alsace is rare and worth building the day around. 15 Grand'Rue; 03 89 73 63 28.
- Bergheim at 49km, still inside its fourteenth-century walls, then the climb over the shoulder to Ribeauvillé.
- The steepest section comes late. The road lifts to about 365m at the 58km mark, between Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr — the hardest sustained pull of the weekend, and it arrives just before lunch rather than after it.
- More tastings on the way down if you want them: Maison Trimbach at Ribeauvillé (55km, book ahead), a free walk-in at Hugel & Fils in Riquewihr (59km), and Domaine Weinbach at Kientzheim (62km) by appointment. Four cellars in fifteen kilometres is one or two too many — pick the ones you care about and ride past the rest.
- Lunch at Riquewihr — one of the most beautiful villages in France, and busy enough that a booking helps.
- If the Fête des Vendanges at Barr falls on your weekend, it sits directly on this route at 19km: drop in for the parade and a glass of new wine, then carry on. No need to build the trip around it.
- The last 12km from Kientzheim across the plain into Colmar are flat and dull — the price of a good day. Return the bikes; blow-out dinner at L'Atelier du Peintre.
Monday Home
- Colmar breakfast, a last pâtisserie and a wander through Little Venice, then the shuttle to Basel.
- Early-evening flight home.
Festivals & Local Events
None of this weekend assumes a festival. The rides work on any weekend of the season. If your dates land on Barr’s Fête des Vendanges in early October, the Sunday route already passes through the town 19km in — simply arrive there at lunchtime and stay. If it is Slow Up in June, ride that instead of the Saturday: the Route des Vins is closed to cars for the day. The trade is worth stating plainly: on a festival weekend the growers are behind a stand in the square rather than showing visitors round a cellar, so book private tastings weeks ahead or accept that some will be shut, and expect beds to be scarcer, dearer and gone months in advance.
Spring
Slow Up Alsace — early June
A long stretch of the Route des Vins closed to cars for a day and given over to bicycles. If the dates line up, this is the single best day to be on a bike in Alsace.
Summer
Foire aux Vins de Colmar — early August
Ten days of tastings and concerts in Colmar, and the excuse for every village to open its cellars.
Fête des Ménétriers, Ribeauvillé — early September
The fiddlers' festival, a medieval pageant that has run since the Middle Ages, with wine flowing from the town fountain.
Autumn
Fête des Vendanges, Barr — early October
A corso parade, new wine and fireworks in a working wine town. Barr sits directly on the northern leg, 19km into the Sunday ride, so if the dates happen to line up you can drop in on the way back to Colmar rather than planning the weekend around it.
The Region in Brief
A little history
A Rhine borderland that changed nationality four times between 1871 and 1945 — which is why German grape names carry French appellations and the villages have names like Riquewihr and Kaysersberg. Alsace wines were among medieval Europe’s most prized exports down the Rhine; the Route des Vins, created in 1953, is France’s oldest wine road; and the storks on the church towers are a conservation success story.
Spring — March to May
8–19°C, warming quickly through May. Storks return to the village rooftops in spring, the vineyards are bright green, and the Vosges still hold snow on the tops. One of the prettiest times to ride the Route des Vins.
Summer — June to August
17–27°C and reliably sunny — Colmar is one of the driest towns in France. Long evenings for winstub terraces; the villages are busy but the vineyard lanes never are.
Autumn — September and October
9–19°C, with the vines going gold and red and the harvest in full swing through late September. October brings new wine, onion tart and the first of the cold mornings.
When to go
Early June or late September. June for the car-free vineyard day and the long light, September for the harvest and the colour.
The wines
The four “noble” varieties — Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat — across 51 grand crus, almost all bottled in the tall flûte. Plus Crémant d’Alsace (France’s best-selling sparkler after Champagne), Pinot Blanc, and late-harvest Vendanges Tardives for the cellar.
The food
Choucroute garnie, tarte flambée, baeckeoffe slow-baked under a bread-sealed lid, Munster cheese with cumin, kougelhopf for breakfast — rich, Germanic-French cooking that Riesling was made to cut through.
Where to Stay
Hostellerie Le Maréchal (4★)
16th-century building with rooms over the canal; the most atmospheric hotel in Colmar.
La Maison des Têtes (5★, Relais & Châteaux)
Spectacular 17th-century building with a Michelin-starred restaurant attached.
Hôtel Le Colombier (4★)
Solid, central, well-priced — if you would rather spend the money on wine.
The Wineries
Domaine Zind-Humbrecht
Olivier Humbrecht MW's estate — some of the most sought-after wines in Alsace. It sits about 6km west of the direct line into Colmar, so treat it as a spur off the Saturday route rather than a stop on it. Appointment essential, ~€25, book 2–3 weeks ahead.
Domaine Weinbach
Biodynamic estate in a walled clos below Kaysersberg; mineral, long-lived Rieslings. Appointment essential.
Rolly Gassmann
Fifty-five hectares in a village of 380 people, worked by a family that has been on the same ground for four centuries — and whose vineyards appear in Merovingian records in 742. Twelve named crus across twenty-one distinct subsoils, all hand-harvested and fermented separately on their own yeasts, so a flight here is the same grape read off different rock. They hold stock back for years, which means you can taste mature Riesling and Gewurztraminer at cellar-door prices, including late-harvest and Sélection de Grains Nobles. Open seven days, 10–12 and 2–6 — the only serious grower on the route reliably open on a Sunday. 15 Grand'Rue, Rorschwihr; 03 89 73 63 28; rollygassmann.fr.
Maison Trimbach
Thirteen generations; bone-dry, laser-focused Rieslings, including the legendary Clos Sainte Hune. Book ahead.
Hugel & Fils
One of Alsace's great names, tasting room in the centre of Riquewihr. Walk-ins welcome, free.
Eat & Drink
| Friday | Winstub Brenner — tarte flambée, choucroute, Riesling. What eating in Alsace should feel like |
| Saturday | Late lunch on the square at Rouffach, halfway up the southern route; dinner in Colmar old town |
| Sunday | Lunch at Riquewihr on the northern leg; blow-out at L'Atelier du Peintre (Michelin-starred, book far ahead) |
| Monday | Depends on your flight |
Useful Links
- Fête des Vendanges de Barr — town site — official Barr pages for the festival
- Visit Alsace — festival listing — regional tourism entry with each year’s dates
- Vins d’Alsace (CIVA) — the official Alsace wine board — grapes, grand crus, producers
- Véloroute du Vignoble — Alsace à Vélo — official route page for the vineyard cycle route
Practical Notes
- France allows cyclists 0.5‰, the same limit as drivers — so one glass with lunch is the practical ceiling if you are riding afterwards. See the country-by-country table.
- Both riding days are one-way, with the train doing the climbing. Bikes go free on Alsace TER services, and the line shadows the Route des Vins the whole way — so any village with a station is a bail-out if the weather turns or someone has had enough.
- Sunday is the harder day, and it is the second one. 74km against 63km, and 616m of ascent against 264m, with the steepest section at 58km. If the group would rather even it out, starting at Obernai instead of Rosheim takes off about 9km.
- The festival is a bonus, not the plan. Barr is on the northern leg, so if the Fête des Vendanges coincides you simply ride into it. If it does not, the weekend loses nothing.
- Bikes on TER trains: free but limited spaces — reserve when buying tickets on SNCF Connect. Most important Friday and Saturday.
- Bike hire in Colmar: Colmar Vélo / Vélodocteurs, Le Vélo Libre (app-based Moustache e-bikes), Les Bicyclettes de Louise. E-bikes recommended.
- Book ahead: Zind-Humbrecht, Weinbach, Trimbach; L'Atelier du Peintre; hotel — Colmar fills up in October.
- Weather: 8–19°C in spring, 17–27°C in summer — Colmar is one of the driest towns in France — and 9–19°C in autumn. Cold mornings on a bike whatever the season, warm afternoons. Layers.
- Currency: euros. Cash for markets and small caves de dégustation.