Alsace Wine Route road trip

A quiet road through autumn vineyards between Orschwihr and Westhalten

Photo: olive.titus, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Distance
about 170 km (106 miles)
Country
France
Difficulty
Easy
Type of trip
Road trip

The Alsace Wine Route, the Route des Vins d'Alsace, is a tourist route through the vineyards on the eastern slopes of the Vosges. It runs for about 170 km from Marlenheim, west of Strasbourg, south to Thann, near Mulhouse. It was launched on 30 May 1953 with a car rally: one convoy set off from Marlenheim and another from Thann, and they drove towards each other. It isn't one road. It strings together wine villages along the foot of the hills, 67 of the region's 119 wine-growing communes by French Wikipedia's count, and the vineyards round Wissembourg and Cleebourg form a separate northern part near the German border. You sleep in the villages and towns, in hotels, B&Bs, holiday lets or campsites, and there are motorhome areas too.

The wine is the reason to go. Alsace grows seven grape varieties and has 51 Grands Crus, 49 of them along the route, and the tourist board counts about 720 producers on it. You don't need a car. Trains from Strasbourg stop at Molsheim, Rosheim, Obernai and Barr, a tram-train runs from Mulhouse to Cernay and Thann, and a hop-on hop-off bus links Colmar with Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr, Kaysersberg, Eguisheim and other villages. The Vineyard Cycle Route, part of EuroVelo 5, runs beside the wine route from Marlenheim to Thann on old railway lines and quiet lanes.

Highlights along the way

  1. Marlenheim, Molsheim and Rosheim: The northern gateway is the Strasbourg vineyard, from Marlenheim to Molsheim, where vines grow next to orchards. Further south the route crosses the Romanesque Road, and Rosheim has some of its churches.
  2. Mittelbergheim and the Haut-Koenigsbourg: Between Strasbourg and Colmar the villages sit among vines and forest. Mittelbergheim is one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, and the Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg looks down from its hill. Cyclists should know it's a stiff climb.
  3. Colmar, Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Eguisheim: Colmar calls itself the capital of Alsace wine, and the Maison des Vins d'Alsace there has brochures and a tasting room. Riquewihr and Eguisheim are on the Plus Beaux Villages list, and Kaysersberg is close by.
  4. Guebwiller and Thann: The south runs from Soultzmatt to Thann at the foot of the Grand Ballon, the highest point in the Vosges, and some of the vineyards are very steep. Guebwiller has four Grands Crus, and Thann has its Gothic collegiate church and the Rangen, the steepest vineyard in Alsace.
  5. Wissembourg and Cleebourg: About 60 km north of Strasbourg, off the usual route, Cleebourg has the most northerly vineyards in Alsace, where vines were first planted in the 700s. Wissembourg and nearby Hunspach are worth the detour.

Distance

About 170 km (106 miles) in all from Marlenheim to Thann, by the tourist board's count. The Wissembourg and Cleebourg vineyards are extra, about 60 km (37 miles) north of Strasbourg. The Vineyard Cycle Route alongside is 131.5 km (82 miles).

Best time to go

There's something on in most seasons. The route's own site lists summer wine festivals, harvest festivals in autumn and new wine in September, and in winter Alsace is known for its Christmas markets, with a separate tourist board site, christmas.alsace. Once a year the SlowUp opens the cycle route to people on foot and on bikes only. Dates change each year, so check the calendar on wineroute.alsace before you go (read for this guide on 3 November 2026).

More journeys in France

Flyby films from France

More routes like this

Road trip routes