The Colmar Wine Route Without a Tour

You do not need a tour to see the wine route. The road is public, the villages are free to walk into, and many cellars pour for visitors. This guide sets out what doing it yourself involves, what it costs, and the days when a tour is the cheaper and easier choice.

Is the wine route a public road?

Yes. The Route des Vins d'Alsace opened in 1953 and runs more than 170 km through 119 communes, from Marlenheim in the north to Thann in the south. It is one of the oldest wine routes in France. Anyone can drive it, and the regional tourist board calls the small roads the best way to discover it.

The villages have no gate and no ticket. You can park at the edge of Eguisheim or Riquewihr and walk in, as every tour does. What a tour adds is the driving, the cellar door and the commentary.

Can you drive it and still taste?

Not the driver. French drink-drive law is strict, and a day of tastings is exactly how people cross the limit without noticing. The only safe plan is a driver who stays off the wine all day, or who spits every glass.

That is the real reason tours exist here. A couple who hires a car saves money, but one of you tastes nothing. A tour puts both of you at the counter.

How do you reach Domaine Gueth by bus?

Take the bus from Colmar to the Chapelle stop in Gueberschwihr, then walk about eight minutes to 1 Brunnmattweg. The estate sits 9.5 km from Little Venice as the crow flies. By car, you leave the D83 at the D1V exit.

Once there, Domaine Gueth's hour is a full visit: the winemaking, storage and bottling rooms, then seven organic wines from single-vineyard selections with a pretzel. It is the one wine visit here that needs no van at all. Check the bus times for your return before you set off.

Do you need an appointment at a cellar door?

For a tour of the cellar, book. Domaine Gueth sells its hour as a bookable slot, like a tour. Growers are working farmers, and a visit that has not been arranged may not fit their day, above all at harvest.

For a glass at the counter, ask the cellar. No official list says which village cellars take visitors without booking, so we do not promise you one. If you want to see how the wine is made, book a slot, or book a tour that has booked it for you.

What does a cellar-door tasting cost?

We print one figure only: Domaine Gueth's hour, $19 with seven wines. No other cellar near Colmar publishes a tasting price we can check, and village cellars set their own.

At Domaine Gueth you can buy what you taste and carry it home, or have it delivered to your home. Our post on the order a tasting pours in tells you what to expect in the glass.

Can you go by train?

For some of it. Alsace has 14 railway lines and 161 regional stations, and coaches timed to the trains reach villages the rails miss. You can take a bike on the train for free, except between Strasbourg and Basel at rush hour.

The villages the tours visit sit on the hillside, away from the main line. Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Eguisheim have no station of their own, so a train alone will not get you there. Plan the last leg by bus, bike or taxi.

What does a self-drive day cost you?

Less than a tour, if two of you share a car and one does not drink. You pay for the car, the fuel and village parking, and the tastings you choose. You also lose the commentary, and you spend part of your day looking for a space in a village car park.

The trade is time and one person's glass. A tour costs more per head, but both of you taste, and nobody hunts for parking in Riquewihr on a summer afternoon.

Where is a tour cheaper than doing it yourself?

Three cases. The first is a solo traveller: one person pays the whole car alone, and a shared seat on the ICONICS half day at $111 puts a winery tasting and two villages in one fare. The second is the castle: the Emblematic at $193 includes the Haut-Kœnigsbourg ticket on the days the stop runs, which would cost you €12 at the gate.

The third is the full day. The Ophorus day pours at three wineries for $187, with the driving done. To do that yourself, somebody gives up the wine. Our guide to prices sets every fare against what it leaves out.

What does a guide add that a map does not?

Three things. The first is the cellar door: the operator has already booked the tasting, so a grower is waiting for you. The second is the commentary. The Ophorus days send a qualified driver-guide, and the 4 Wonders day a local guide, who explain the villages as you walk.

The third is the timing. A guide knows how long Riquewihr needs and when Eguisheim is quiet. On your own, you learn that by trial, and a first visit has no time for trial.

Can you mix the two?

Yes, and it is often the best plan. Take the bus to Domaine Gueth for its hour and its seven wines, then spend your afternoon on a tour. The ICONICS half day leaves 6 Rue Turenne at 1:45pm, so a morning in Gueberschwihr fits if the bus times suit.

Or walk Colmar on your own in the morning and join a half day after lunch. Little Venice, the covered market and the Musée Unterlinden are all on foot from the kerbs. Our page on things to do around a tour lists them with their hours.

What if you have no car at all?

Then Colmar is a good base, because everything starts on foot. The CGR cinema kerb is 919 metres from 6 Rue Turenne, and the 4 Wonders office at 76A Grand Rue is 122 metres from it. You can walk to any of them from a hotel in the old town.

Three options remove the walk too. Both 4 Wonders days collect you at your address in Colmar, and the CTravel car comes to any address you give. For a cellar without a tour, the bus to Gueberschwihr is your way in. Ask at the tourist office on Place Unterlinden for the times.

Self-drive vs a guided day

Here is the choice in six lines.

Who should not do this alone?

• Anyone who wants to taste and has no sober driver. Book a van, or one of the private wine tours from Colmar.
• A first-timer with one day. A guide who knows which cellars pour well saves you the guesswork.
• Anyone without a car. Buses reach Gueberschwihr, but linking four villages by bus in one day is slow work.
• A group of up to eight. The private 4 Wonders car costs one fare for all of you, and nobody drives.
• Anyone visiting at harvest. Growers have the least time for unbooked visitors then, and a tour arrives with its slot already booked.

Everyone else can go alone with a clear conscience. Our hour-by-hour day on the route helps you plan one.

Frequently asked questions

Tours for when you would rather not drive

Cellar tour & tasting of organic wines with a feminine touch

One hour in a family cellar at Gueberschwihr and seven organic wines; you get there yourself, by car or by bus.

From $19 per person

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Private and customizable: Alsace Wine Route HIGHLIGHTS in 3 hours

Three private hours for up to four, from any address you give, and a route you shape; no tasting is named in the fare.

From $409 per group, up to 4

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Alsace Half Day Wine Tour from Colmar

Two family wineries and two tastings in four hours from the CGR cinema; adults only, and no snacks with the wine.

From $114 per person

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