A Guide to the Prettiest Villages in Alsace Part 1 – Colmar

As a first-time visitor to the Alsace region of France myself, I recently learned a lot about where to go and what to see. What follows is a guide for other travelers of the prettiest villages in Alsace.

The Alsace: Location and Atmosphere

“Who waits three days?” I asked the beautiful college girl at the patisserie with incredulity. She responded with that most French of responses: a little “pfft” sound coupled with an eye roll and a gentle swat in the air with her fingers. Her response was so quintessentially French that I smiled at the memory a dozen times during my long weekend in the Alsace. The girl had just explained that it was necessary to eat my variety pack of seven macarons within 3 days and to keep them in the fridge. Then, she added, “most people eat them out in front of our shop.”

That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

I did, in fact, eat two within 5 minutes of leaving the shop, but I judiciously doled the others out to myself over the next 48 hours. A feat of superior willpower if ever there was one.

We had been told that Gilg was the best patisserie (pastry shop) in Colmar. For the record, they were the best macarons of my life.

The Alsace is a region in eastern France just across the border from Germany. For us, it was a mere three-hour drive from our home in Germany. As a result of the region changing hands politically a zillion times over the years, it is a unique mix of French and German. Many signs are in both languages. Food is partially German and partially French.

Critically important for novice travelers: you are more likely to encounter people who speak at least a little English. Parisians can often speak some English but aren’t typically fans of doing so to help you out. Tourism is so critical to the Alsace region, that the residents are a bit more down-to-earth about using their English skills. In addition, German schools teach English from a young age, so almost everyone is bilingual. Many Germans live in the Alsace, so it is easier to find someone with knowledge of English. I would like to pat myself on the back here and say that I used A LOT of my old high school and college French during my trip and was super proud of how well it was received.

Colmar: My Home Base for Exploring the Prettiest Villages in Alsace

Colmar is often named one of the prettiest villages in Alsace, as well as in all of Europe. Many towns have historic half-timbered buildings, including Mainz, Germany. But, in many places, you might find only a couple of streets with these buildings. However, Colmar’s old town is really quite large. Yes, there is a more modern area of town too, but this is set off at a discrete enough distance that while you spend one or two days wandering the old city, you can truly get lost in the fairytale.

While there are wonderful museums and churches to see, one of the favorite pastimes is simply wandering and taking pictures of the canals and buildings (many of which date back to the 1300’s).

Don’t be afraid to get lost down that thing you think is in alley between two buildings. If you look on the wall, you’ll often find a street sign with a name. Yes, that’s how small and old some of the “streets” are.

Colmar is also overflowing with cool museums. Here are a few:

• Unterlinden Museum (for art) – housed in a 13^th century convent. Musée Unterlinden (musee-unterlinden.com)
• Musée du Jouet (toy museum) – Toy Museum – Visit Alsace
• Alsatian Wines Museum – Alsatian Wines Museum – Musée des Vins d’Alsace (museeduvin-colmar.fr)
• Musée Bartholdi – Home Page | Bartholdi Museum (musee-bartholdi.fr)

We are definitely discussing that last one more later. Take note, there are at least three or four more cool museums in this small town.

Marché Couvert

In the prettiest villages in France, even the markets are gorgeous. Don’t miss visiting Colmar’s Marché Couvert. This is their covered market and it is open every day (except Mondays), so you can buy a little bread, cheese, meat and fruit and make yourself a picnic. This is a truly French thing to do and it will be the freshest food you’ve ever had, often coming from a farm just down the road. The market was opened in 1865 and is located in the Poissonnerie (the Fishmonger’s District). The street out front of the beautiful building didn’t always exist. Once upon a time, the front doors opened right on the canal to facilitate the vendors unloading their wares from their boats.

This region is famous for wine and Munster cheese. This version of Munster is stronger (in my opinion) than any American version I’ve had. The “Four Noble Grapes of Alsace” are: Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Muscat, therefore, they specialize mostly in white wines, but you can, of course, get amazing reds too.

You can also visit any one of a hundred little shops for similar quality. You can’t go wrong. We visited Sézanne for meat and cheese. This shop (and restaurant) was recommended to us and the woman was happy to let me sample a slice of this or that so I could make my decisions. The French would never want a customer to be disappointed in their food.

Food Traditions in the Prettiest Villages in Alsace

Whether you visit Colmar or another pretty village, it is imperative that you try some of the local cuisine, which often feels more German than French (in my opinion).

In Colmar’s Tanner’s District (most buildings are from the 17^th and 18^th Century), delicious restaurants abound. We ate dinner at Brasserie des Tanneurs outside one evening and it was nearly perfect (the only downside was the very loud group of four French friends whose laughter was ear-splitting).

My husband ordered Choucroute. This is the hometown favorite in the region. It is a mound of sauerkraut and a couple of large, boiled potatoes piled with various meats. This restaurant allows you to select how many meats. The maximum is five and includes multiple types of sausages and slabs of ham/bacon.

I ordered something that I’d seen others eating all weekend and was super curious about. The French call it a Tarte Flambée. I call it a thin crust pizza with cream instead of red sauce. Mine came with ham, onions, mushrooms, and Emmental swiss cheese. I enjoyed it, but I can’t say that I loved it. I needed a little more crisp in the crust.

Earlier in the weekend, we also tried a jarret de porc braisé (braised pork shank). This was falling off the bone and super tender. The flavor was amazing. However, there was a bit too much fat for my husband. I think this is just down to personal preference. Some people don’t mind cuts of meat like this.

Anyway, these three items were on every restaurant’s menu. Apparently, they are the main staples of the region.

We also topped off our al fresco dinner with one chocolate lava cake and one chocolate macaron sandwich filled with raspberry sorbet. If this section of the article requires me to comment, then you just don’t get me at all! Mon Dieu! They were so amazing!

Colmar’s Famous Son

In his research to prepare for this trip my husband discovered the most fun fact of all about Colmar. It is, in fact, pretty hard not to get a little thrill out of the fact that. . .

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi – the designer of the Statue of Liberty – was from Colmar! He was born there in 1834 and when his family moved away, they continued to maintain a house there, so he returned frequently. The home is now the Bartholdi museum. I also learned that, apparently, there is a fountain in Washington, D.C. that is his handiwork.

Colmar also boasts a super cool replica of “Liberty Enlightening the World” (the Statue of Liberty’s real name). Obviously, it is much smaller than the real one, but it was quite a thrill to be an ocean away from home and still see something so familiar.

The Prettiest Villages in Alsace – the Reason People Come Here

Finally, when you are museum-ed out and need to walk off the rich foods, it is important to make time to enjoy the thing that Colmar is most famous for. Wander and take pictures of the views. These places aren’t given awards for being the prettiest villages in Alsace (and in all of Europe) for no reason.

Oh, those views. . .

Insider tips:

• Visit during the shoulder seasons and get pictures of the most well-known views before 10:00am and after 6:00pm to avoid the crowds.
• Wander down the smallest streets
• Pay attention to the store fronts. Decorating your window frames and door jambs is a major tradition here and I LOVE IT SO MUCH!

It had been a dream of mine for many years to see the France that can’t be found in Paris. Colmar lived up to my every expectation and dream. Just like in Bruges (my other favorite place on the planet), fairytales do come true.