The "country town" of Colmar in Alsace is sweet and charming. The colorfully painted traditional…read morehouses, canals, displays and atmosphere cast a fairy tale spell over the town and is said to be the inspiration behind Disney's Beauty and the Beast. One of my companions remarked that Howl's Moving Castle is modeled after Colmar as well. So maybe you can get a picture in your mind. You must visit to see for yourself. The half-timbered houses, the cobblestone streets, the canals (Little Venice), the historic center -- this is a very lovely town and one of the highlights of our trip. Also, we visited in December and the Christmas markets were in full swing. I'm sure that summer would be a great time to visit, but Colmar is especially magical during the Christmas season. Be prepared for crowds.

Taking a break from the big cities, Colmar is a charming gem in the Alsace region of France…read more Arriving a few days before the Christmas markets start, I find the hotel I'm staying at and the town itself busily building up it's appearance. It's a seasonal thing. But do they really need to? The town is like a medieval setting in a Disney movie! The architecture of timbered wood, houses with pointy roofs and even little nooks with Disney characters is amazing! This town has all levels of dining establishments: fine dining to snack nooks. It's the combination of French and German influences that make this region different from others in France. I just visited the Musée Underlinden. It's impressive for the Triptyque altar pieces on display. A surprise is the size of this museum (quite large!) as well as a Claude Monet piece and other better known French artists. The Petite Venise neighborhood is filled with canals which have flatboat rides cruising down the waterways. 5-star picturesque! If you happen to travel to Eastern France, I highly recommend a stay in Colmar. It's one of the nicest small towns I've seen in my travels!

If Colmar is the prettiest town in the region of Alsace, then Eguisheim is definitely the prettiest…read morevillage. And that's even quite official: Eguisheim has been ranked as "One of the Most Beautiful Villages in France" since 2003 and won the title of "France's Favourite Village" in 2013 on a TV show. And one can easily see why. After you drop your car on the massive parking lot just at the entrance of town (east-side) you'll find yourself in a fairy-tale style old village where time seemed to have stopped a long time ago. The whole village is easily walkable. Be sure to start with the "ring"-walk leading around the whole village through the nicest streets and lanes. All cobbled. Countless shops and restaurants along the way. Yes, it is very popular with national and international visitors, but there are really some good shops with high quality products. Built in 1257 Eguisheim has an endless number of beautiful and colourful old buildings and houses. When you walk along the outer ring, you really could stop every few seconds to admire the amazing architecture. After doing the ring-walk you should also walk around the center. The Château de Saint-Léon-Pfalz, Fontaine de Saint-Léon, Chapelle Saint-Léon IX, Presbytère Catholique and more sights can be found here. Along with even more restaurants to sit down and watch the world go by. A visit to Eguisheim is not complete without doing some wine tasting. For Eguisheim has many wineries. It is impossible to check them all out in one day - you'd be driven away in an ambulance if you attempt to do so. We chose the "Wolfberger" winery. Regular red, white and rosé. But also Crèmant (sparkling wine - on par with Champagne quality-wise), liquors and dessert wine. Free tasting (a flight of three) even. Get your hands on one of their Rosé-Crèmants. Tasty. Eguisheim. A real highlight on our 5-week Road Trip through France. We'll be back this spring. Can't wait.

Eguisheim--what a remarkably charming medieval French village! It is a popular tourist…read moredestination, in part because the Alsace "Wine Route" passes the village. Its circular town formation is for both protection and commerce purposes. Unlike some other medieval fortified towns I'm familiar with this town was formed by connecting houses and businesses to form a circular town formation. Eguisheim is a medieval village in France's Alsace wine region. The narrow, concentric streets of its old town are lined with many preserved half-timbered houses. The central Château Saint-Léon dates back to the first part of the 13th century. The castle was built by the Counts of Eguisheim and taken over by the Bishop of Strasbourg during the 13th century. An episcopal bailiff occupied it until the French Revolution (1789). It has been listed since 1903 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. The village is also known as a Village Cigogne d'Alsace (in Alsatian: Elsässisches Storckadorf), meaning that there are storks in the village. Eguisheim has a park dedicated to the white stork (Ciconia ciconia) which is freely accessible.

Kaysersberg was voted the most beautiful town in France in 2017, and when you visit it's not hard…read moreto see why. Quaint houses, cobblestone streets, and a roaring river that cuts through the center make it the stuff of dreams. I visited recently with a friend, and would recommend that you place this at the top of your list for your visit to Alsace. After winding through the vineyards (as one does when in the region!), you can park your car and stretch your legs for a bit in the center of this picturesque village. We meandered through the streets, eventually buying some pottery that is typical of the region (I think most people here accepted American Express, but bring your Visa and some cash just in case). We also refreshed ourselves with a small cup of coffee from a friendly barista, as one tends to do when in Europe. All too quickly our morning in Kaysersberg was over, but we will definitely be back the next time we are in Alsace!

From the owner: Commune historique Village fleuri et cité natale du docteur Schweitzer, Kaysersberg est sans nul…read moredoute l'une des plus belles communes d'Alsace. Cette cité médiévale dont l'histoire remonte à 1227 a conservé tous les charmes de sa période moyenâgeuse et offre une immersion extraordinaire dans l'univers rural alsacien. Le centre-ville dispose de nombreux monuments (pont fortifié, église paroissiale, château) qui témoignent de la richesse architecturale de l'époque.

Our group of 5 spent an enjoyable afternoon with Arnault, one of the two partners behind this food…read moretour company based in Colmar in the Alsace region. Arnault did a good job showing us around an had reasonably good English. He picked us up at our hotel in his roomy, air conditioned van and we headed out from Colmar up into the Vogues mountains where it was sunny and slightly cooler. Our first stop after around a 30-minute drive was a mountain top restaurant know only to locals. Interestingly it's also a reindeer farm although the deer were high up in the forest on this bright sunny summer day. We got to choose from six very traditional local dishes and since we were a group of 5, got one each of the first 5 on the list and got some small plates and just shared everything which was great (even if we did get a few looks from the surrounding tables). It's easy to see and taste the German influences in this region. A very filling lunch. Our next stop took us to a farmer-owned cheese cooperative, La Madison du Munster, where we not only learned about the traditional cheese making process but got to taste a wide variety of Munster cheeses from the mornings production to flavored and aged varieties. Delicious. After cheese we headed to Eguisheim, the heart of the Alsatian wine region and a very picturesque city. Arnault had arranged a very special tasting at a small winery that's been around and in one family for over 400 years where we were captivated by the stories and history of the region as told by one on the family members. After tasting a half dozen wines (some paired with local desserts that Arnault had brought), it was time to head back to the hotel. We were so full from out 6-hour tour we decided to skip dinner and just go out for a late- night ice cream. This little gem of a company is just getting started but if our trip was any indication, they will be expanding and needing more staff soon, as all the stops were great and we got a wonderful sense of the food and wine of the region. Don't miss this!

Suzele took great care of us, taught us more than we could have learned on our own, and brought us…read moreto wineries and food establishments that completely suited what we asked for. The sightseeing and conversation were also wonderful! Thanks for sharing your expertise! M and A

Suzele was a nice find as a guide to the Alsace area. We joined our other members of our traveling…read moregroup for a lunch and wine tasting and Suzele was flexible to allow us to join them. And both before and after led us to cute towns sharing the history of them. She also took us to a winery and helped us compare to the previous tasting. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with her!