Tour Bike Tour, Alsace, France (Guided Groups)

Guide

An experienced guide to attend to all problems en-route

Accommodation

Accommodation in characterful 3*** and 2** hotels which are comfortable and intimate All rooms are en-suite, of course

Meals

Breakfasts Evening meals

Optional

Transfer from Designated Airport (Basle - Mulhouse) £70 Transfer from Designated Train Station (Colmar) £35 Self-Drive (Parking Available) £20 Off-road parking available Transport If Travelling From London £210 Includes Return Eurostar, TGV And Local Transfers Transport If Travelling From Paris £140 Includes Return TGV And Local Transfers

Others

High quality bikes are provided - a joy to ride and rigourously maintained We include helmets, locks, waterproof jackets, bicycle panniers and water bottles Basic repair kit plus the repair services of your guide - we fix your punctures! Maps Gourmet Food is central to your cycling experience with us Transportation of luggage between stops Wine tasting fees at vineyards

Not included:

Others

Lunches Drinks Entrance fees at any local attractions

Start planning your experience

Day 1 Colmar To Turkheim
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Colmar To Turkheim

We start from Colmar, and make our way out through a river park to join the Route Des Vins at Rouffach.

Following the ‘Route des Vins’ we’ll cycle through vineyards and medieval villages, and we’ll visit a producer of Alsace’s famous Munster cheese. You’ll find this cheese offered at virtually every restaurant in the region, so we’ll start by learning a bit more about it.

Cycling through Orschwihr, Rouffach and Eguisheim, we finish the day at the Auberge de la Comtesse in Turkheim.

Distance = 59 Km / 37 miles
Day 2 Day 2: Turkheim To Ribeauvillé
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 2: Turkheim To Ribeauvillé

A shorter day today, because we’re busy! If we didn’t have time yesterday we’ll explore Turkheim, famous for its 3 fortified gates and nesting storks which we’ll see throughout Alsace and are considered to be good luck. Some householders place old wagon wheels on chimneys to encourage the storks to nest.
Turkheim is also home to probably Alsace’s finest red wine, made from Pinot Noir – it’s a similar landscape to Burgundy, at a similar latitude, so no great surprise the same grape thrives here. So we’ll taste pinot noir and Gewurtztraminer, the most aromatic of the Alsace wines and my personal favourite.
We’ll visit Ingersheim, Ammerschwihr (lunch) and Katersberg, and finally we’ll visit the Domaine du Moulin Dusenberg where we’ll explore local cheese and their highly-rated Alsace wines.
Tonight we stay in the centre of Ribeauville at the Hotel de la Tour.
Distance = 21 Km / 13 miles
Day 3 Day 3: Ribeauvillé To Obernai
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 3: Ribeauvillé To Obernai

Today we start off on our route des vins, but detour onto another special bike path, the Alsace salt routes. We’ll visit a distillery at Saint Pierre bois where we’ll rejoin the wine route on our way to the villages of Itterswiller and Andlau.
In Gertwiller we can visit a gingerbread museum - gingerbread has a significant place in Alsace culture, and it’s nice to have such a charming excuse to explore it. Finally we end up in Obernai, yet another beautiful medieval village where we’ll stay at the Gouverneur Hotel.
Distance = 58 Km / 37 miles
Day 4 Day 4: Obernai To Strasbourg
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 4: Obernai To Strasbourg

Today we follow an old Roman road and our old friend the route-des-vins as far as Alvosheim where we meet the Canal de la Bruche. We can follow a cycle path along the Canal de la Bruche all the way into the centre of Strasbourg.
Strasbourg is a beautiful City, and at its heart the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg, at the time of writing my No. 1 favourite cathedral. It is huge, and here’s a great piece of trivia – by 1647 The Great Pyramid had eroded enough so that Strasbourg Cathedral became the tallest building in the world for more than 2 centuries, and remains the 6th tallest church in the world. What this really means is that when you see it, you’ll say what I said: “Wow!”.
We stay close to the Cathedral in the Hotel Dragon, and believe it or not we cycle right into the centre of Strasbourg without going on a road.
Distance = 44 Km / 27 miles
Day 5 Day 5: Strasbourg To Séléstat
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 5: Strasbourg To Séléstat

We’ll start with a morning visit to the Cathedral, and then we’ll cycle into Germany.
These days there simply is no border between France and Germany, we’ll pass the European Parliament and cross the Rhine into Germany without let or hindrance – it’s rather lovely. We’ll follow a bike path up the River Rhine and cross back into France to follow the Canal du Rhône au Rhin which links the Mediterranean with the North Sea.
We end our day in Séléstat, home to the world’s most famous Humanist library. Here’s a strange fact – books printed (not hand-written) before 1501 are known as Incunables, and the Humanist Library of Sélestat boasts more than 500 of them among a collection that includes books dating back to the 7th Century. Nothing special happened to printing in 1501, it’s an arbitrary date, which I think makes it a little bit cooler.
Tonight we’ll rest our bones at the Hotel Vaillant.
Distance = / 44 miles
Day 6 Day 6: Séléstat To Colmar
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 6: Séléstat To Colmar

We’re going International again today, following a cycle path across the Rhine into Germany, where we’ll follow the Baden Wine Route on cycle paths through forests to the wine village of Burkheim. We’ll visit a vineyard and have lunch in Burkheim, and carry along the cycle path to Breisach.
Breisach boasts a cathedral dating back to the 12th Century. It has had a tempestuous history, changing hands between France, the Holy Roman Empire and Germany at least six times and suffering badly from Allied artillery in WW2.
But now it’s lovely, with a reconstructed cathedral, a beautiful altar piece and a magnificent silver shrine housing the relics of their patron saints.
Returning to France, we’ll arrive at the extraordinary fortress of Neuf-Brisach, designed by famous military engineer Vauban after Breisach was returned to the Holy Roman Empire in 1697. The town has a regular square grid street pattern inside an octagonal fortification, but that really doesn’t describe it! The fortifications are a series of enormous octagonal moats surrounding the town, far exceeding the size of the town they were designed to defend. Find some aerial photos online, it is amazing.
Finally, we’ll follow a cycle path into Colmar. As well as a well-preserved town centre, Colmar’s most famous artefact is the Isenheim altarpiece in the Unterlinden museum, which we’ll visit to see if its worth the fuss. The answer is it is!
We’ll finish at the Hotel du Turenne close to the centre of Colmar, and we’ll spend our final evening in the medieval old town at the heart of Colmar.
Distance = / 37 miles

7 days tour

Bike Tour, Alsace, France (Guided Groups)

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Itinerary of your trip Bike Tour, Alsace, France (Guided Groups)

Colmar To Turkheim

Day 2: Turkheim To Ribeauvillé

Day 3: Ribeauvillé To Obernai

Day 4: Obernai To Strasbourg

Day 5: Strasbourg To Séléstat

Day 6: Séléstat To Colmar

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