Colmar Wine Visitor Guide: Kerbs, Times and Costs

The Alsace Wine Route starts at Colmar's edge and has no gate. Nobody sells you a ticket to it, and every village on it is free to walk into. What costs money is a seat in somebody's minibus, a tasting and one castle on a hill. If you are pricing wine tours from Colmar, start with what the fare pours, then find your kerb.

Where the tours leave from

Most shared days meet at a kerb in the old town and leave on time. There are three of them, all within a short walk of each other. 6 Rue Turenne is in Little Venice, in front of the Winstub Brenner. The CGR cinema is on Place Scheurer-Kestner. The Alsace Original Experiences office is at 76A Grand Rue.

Some days skip the kerb and come to you. Both 4 Wonders days collect you from your Colmar hotel or rental, the private three-hour run from any address you give, and the private day from Basel from Basel, Colmar or Breisach. One tour never picks anybody up: you make your own way to Domaine Gueth at Gueberschwihr.

What time they go

Most days publish a fixed start. The Ophorus full day leaves the cinema at 9:30am, and the ICONICS half day leaves Rue Turenne at 1:45pm. The Emblematic, both 4 Wonders days and the day from Basel all start at 9:00am. The Ophorus villages half day runs twice, at 9:00am and at 2:00pm, and one reviewer's advice is to take the morning run, before the villages fill up. The Ophorus wine half day, the private three hours and Domaine Gueth set the time when you book, and your confirmation carries it.

Arrive ten minutes early at any kerb. The Alsace Safari and Ophorus listings both ask for it, and a minivan of eight does not wait long for one late seat. If you are being collected, be at the door at the time on your confirmation.

How many people you need

A small-group day is small because it runs a minivan, and a minivan has to fill before it moves. The rules differ, and they matter if you are travelling alone.

• Two per booking. The Emblematic, the 4 Wonders small group and the day from Basel will not take a single seat.
• One can book, two must go. The Ophorus days accept a solo booking but run only with two adults. If nobody else books, you are offered another date or a refund.
• One is fine. The ICONICS half day and Domaine Gueth take a single traveller. The private cars take your group, whatever its size up to the seats.

Group sizes run small. The private three-hour car seats four, the 4 Wonders small group seven, and the Alsace Safari and Ophorus minivans eight. Domaine Gueth's tasting room takes up to 30.

What you still pay on the day

The fare is not always the whole cost of the day. Three things catch people out.

• The tasting, on the tours that do not pour it. The Ophorus villages half day lists tasting fees as extra. On the 4 Wonders small-group day you pay at the wine cave for what you taste; the listing gives no figure, so neither do we. The private three-hour run names no tasting at all. Every card says which kind of day you are looking at.
• Lunch. No tour here includes it. The full days stop in a village where you can buy it. On the half days you eat first: Alsace Safari does not allow food in the van, and Ophorus warns that snacks are usually not served with a French tasting.
• The castle. Haut-Kœnigsbourg charges €12 for an adult, €16 with the audio tour, €8 for ages 6 to 17 and €30 for a family ticket. Only the Emblematic puts entry in its fare, and even there the stop depends on the castle's visitor numbers that day.

The sight prices are the sights' own, in euros, as they publish them. The tour fares are the operators' own, in US dollars as each listing shows them. Two fares are priced for the whole car rather than per person.

Getting to Colmar

Every kerb above is in the old town, so wherever you are staying in Colmar you can walk to it. The cinema is a little under a kilometre from Rue Turenne, and 76A Grand Rue is almost next door to it. If you are staying outside town, the tours that collect you save the trip in.

If you are in Basel, one private day picks you up there, and also in Breisach, across the Rhine. If you would rather taste without a tour, Domaine Gueth is a bus ride from Colmar to the Chapelle stop at Gueberschwihr, then about eight minutes on foot.

What to bring to a tasting

Bring an appetite you have already dealt with. Eat a proper breakfast, or lunch before an afternoon run, because the wine arrives on an empty stomach otherwise. One reviewer wished for water and a little cheese with the first glass. Bring your own water.

Wear flat shoes with some grip. Riquewihr and Eguisheim are cobbled, and the Emblematic lists moderate fitness. Take a layer for the cellar, and a card for any bottles you buy. Most cellars sell at the grower's own price, and Domaine Gueth will deliver to your home.

Children on a wine tour

Ages are set by each operator, and they vary more than you would expect. The Ophorus half-day and full-day wine tours are strictly 18 and over. The Ophorus villages half day takes children from four. Domaine Gueth pours grape juice for under-18s at no charge.

On the Alsace Safari days, book every child with their age so the right car seat is fitted. A child without a booked seat cannot board, and that fare is not refunded. None of the vehicle tours takes a wheelchair; Domaine Gueth states wheelchair-accessible surfaces and transport.

Booking and cancelling

Every tour here refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours before the start. Inside 24 hours nothing comes back. If the operator cancels for low numbers or, on the day from Basel, for bad weather, you get a new date or your money back.

The 4 Wonders small group can take up to 48 hours to confirm, so book it early if your dates are fixed. Weather by the month is on the Colmar weather page, and what travellers made of each day is in the reviews.

Frequently asked before you go