One Day on the Colmar Wine Route, Hour by Hour

A day on the wine route from Colmar holds three or four villages, one to three tastings and a lunch you buy yourself. This guide lays out where the hours go on the tours that publish their stops, so you can see what a day contains before you choose one.

What does a day on the route contain?

Less driving than you expect, and more walking. Every village the tours stop at sits within 13.6 km of Little Venice as the crow flies, so most of your day is spent on foot in the lanes. Eguisheim is the nearest, at 5.3 km; Riquewihr is 11.1 km and Kaysersberg 10.1 km.

A full day gives you three or four village stops of 45 minutes to two hours each. It adds a tasting or three, and one stop long enough for lunch. A half day gives you two stops and usually one tasting. The route itself runs more than 170 km, from Marlenheim to Thann; the tours from Colmar work its southern half.

What does a 9:00am start look like, hour by hour?

The private 4 Wonders day publishes the most exact timings, so it makes the clearest model. It collects you at your address at 9:00am. You spend an hour in Eguisheim, an hour in Kaysersberg, 45 minutes in Ribeauvillé and two hours in Riquewihr, where lunch falls. You are home around 5:00pm. If the tasting in Riquewihr matters most, wine tasting in Riquewihr sets every day's time in the village side by side.

The shared 4 Wonders day runs the same four villages in the same eight hours, with seven aboard and the tasting paid at the cave. The Emblematic also leaves at 9:00am, from 6 Rue Turenne, and fills its day with Hunawihr, Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé, a cellar and, on days it can, the castle.

What does a 1:45pm start look like?

The ICONICS half day is the afternoon model. It leaves 6 Rue Turenne at 1:45pm and puts the whole wine route into three hours and forty-five minutes.

That leaves your whole morning free. Eat before you go: the van allows no food, and a tasting on an empty stomach is a poor idea. The Ophorus villages half day offers a 2:00pm slot as well, but it pours nothing.

How long do you get in each village?

Riquewihr gets as long as any stop on every tour that times its stops, from 40 minutes on the CTravel run to two hours on the private 4 Wonders day. It is the one stop worth all of it: the Dolder tower, the walled main street, and the lanes behind.

Hunawihr is the short stop. Its fortified church stands above the vines, and half an hour is enough to walk up to it. Our page on the wine villages covers each one in more detail.

When does lunch happen?

Around the longest village stop, and you pay. No tour from Colmar includes lunch. The full days stop somewhere you can buy it: Riquewihr on the private 4 Wonders day, a village between wineries on the Ophorus full day.

The half days skip it. Eat before a 1:45pm or 2:00pm start, or after a 9:00am one. The Ophorus listings add a warning worth heeding: snacks are usually not served with wine in France, so have a good breakfast.

How many tastings fit in a day?

Three, on the Ophorus full day. It pours at three wineries, each in a different village, and that is as much as one day holds without feeling rushed. The Ophorus half-day wine tour fits two into four hours.

Most other days pour once. The Alsace Safari days stop at one cellar, for an hour on the half day and 70 minutes on the Emblematic. The Basel day tastes at family wineries on the way. If more than one pour matters to you, choose by that before anything else.

Can you add Haut-Kœnigsbourg?

Only on the Emblematic, and only if the castle's visitor numbers allow on the day. The castle sits 19.6 km from Little Venice as the crow flies, north of the wine villages. From September to October it opens 9:30am to 6:00pm, from 10:30am on Mondays, and last entry is one hour before closing.

Every other day leaves it out. To see it, give it a separate half day, or book the Emblematic and accept that the stop may be dropped.

What does a morning-only tour leave you?

An afternoon in Colmar. The Ophorus villages half day at 9:00am returns you around 1:00pm, and Little Venice, the covered market and the museums are a short walk from the CGR cinema kerb.

It also leaves you without a tasting, because that run pours nothing. Pair it with an hour at a cellar on another day, or book the Ophorus half-day wine tour for its two tastings instead.

Can you fit a museum into the same day?

Yes, around a half day. The Musée Unterlinden opens at 9:00am every day except Tuesday, with last entry at 5:30pm, and it holds the Isenheim Altarpiece. Spend the morning there, then take the 1:45pm ICONICS run.

The Musée Bartholdi, the sculptor's birthplace, opens 10:00am to 12:00pm and 2:00pm to 6:00pm, Tuesday to Sunday. It is closed on Mondays. Our page on things to do around a tour lists both with their hours.

What if you are staying outside Colmar?

Then the Basel day is built for you. It collects you in Basel, Colmar or Breisach at 9:00am, from any of its pickup points, and spends six hours on the route. You get an hour each in Eguisheim, Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé and Kientzheim, and tastings at family wineries on the way.

Basel sits 59.6 km from Little Venice as the crow flies, so part of your six hours is spent on the road. The fare is $341 a head, for two or more. Its overview also allows wineries in Baden-Württemberg, across the Rhine, so ask where you will taste when you book.

What should you carry for the day?

• Water. Some vans carry bottled water, but a July afternoon in Riquewihr is hot, and you walk most of the day.
• Shoes with grip. Village lanes are cobbled, and they are slippery after rain.
• A layer. Cellars are cool in every season, and spring mornings on the plain are cold.
• A card or cash for bottles. Every cellar sells what it pours, and you may want to carry some home.
• Your children's ages. On the Alsace Safari days, each child must be booked with an age so a car seat is fitted.

What would you cut?

If the day runs short, cut the third village before the tasting. Riquewihr and one other village, plus a cellar, is the core of a wine day here. Hunawihr and Ribeauvillé are the easiest to drop.

Never cut the kerb margin. Every operator asks you to arrive ten minutes early, and a van that leaves on time will not wait. Our guide to choosing a format helps you match the day's length to your plans.

Frequently asked questions

Tours that fill a day

Alsace 4 Wonders Small-Group Day Trip from Colmar

Eguisheim, Kaysersberg, Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr with pickup at your door; the tasting at the cave is paid on the day.

From $158 per person

Check Availability

The Emblematic: visit of villages, Haut-Koenigsbourg, Wine tasting

Hunawihr, Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé and a tasting, plus the castle on days when its visitor numbers allow; entry is in the fare when the stop happens.

From $193 per person

Check Availability

Alsace villages half day tour from Colmar

Kaysersberg and Riquewihr with a guide, at 9:00am or 2:00pm; tasting fees are extra, and children from four can come.

From $87 per person

Check Availability