Alsace
overview
Alsace has been
fought over by the Germans and the French for many centuries. As a result, although it is now French (it most recently changed hands in 1944),
many of the town names and family names are German, the locals often speak Alsatian amongst themselves rather than French and the food is Germanic with a French
twist.
The area has been a
pathway for invaders since Roman times and today's visitors will find Roman wine presses, medieval
villages and fortresses dating from the Renaissance through to the
World Wars.
The Rhine flows
south to north through Alsace with a large green valley along it. To the
west are the Vosges mountains which mountain bikers can struggle
up to gain fine views of the Alps to the south. The region boasts some fantastic local Alsace wines. It divides
into the Haut-Rhin (to the south including Colmar) and the Bas-Rhin
(to the north including Strasbourg), with the best wines generally
coming from the Haut-Rhin.
Alsace is very
bicycle friendly with more than 2,700km of bicycle routes. Some of them are challenging trails through the mountains, but we
have selected for
you a largely flat bike route which will take you through ancient
towns, close to UNESCO World Heritage sites, beside canals and rivers
and
near local trains (in case you need a lift). You'll pass through pretty
villages, many of them wine-producing, every 5 miles or so.
Whether
you are a regular cyclist or have never taken a cycling holiday
before, Alsace is a good choice. It is well provided with multiple
bike paths, pleasant places to visit and spend the night, bicycle
hire and repair shops and some train support. Both Strasbourg and
Colmar offer architectural delights and medieval buildings.
Castles of various periods abound and wine tastings await the visitor,
both in restaurants and wineries.
Not sure if an Alsace bike tour is for you? Have a look at a typical day.
top
Estimated costs
Holidays in Alsace are not generally offered by travel agents or tour operators outside of France. If you do manage to find an organised Alsace bike tour, it is likely to be priced at about €1,200 for a six day trip, excluding food and drink. Don't worry, you can organise your own self guided bike tour for much less!
Accommodation and other costs are average for France, and standards are generally high. Our estimate of the cost of a reasonably comfortable holiday (ie staying in medium quality hotels, and eating and drinking moderately well) and assuming you rent a bike, based on riding for 7 days and two people sharing a room for 6 nights is:
| Item |
Calculation |
Cost in Euros |
| Bike hire |
€10/day per bike for 7 days |
140 |
| Hotels |
€70/night for 6 nights |
420 |
| Food and drink |
€50 per person per day, for 7 days |
700 |
| Public transport |
|
20 |
| Extras |
say €20 per person |
40 |
making €1,320 in total, or €660 per person.
top
Web translation
A lot of the smaller tourist web sites are written in French only. This should be no barrier to you using them as Google offers a number of translation solutions. Our preferred option is the Google toolbar which can be downloaded, as the quality of translation is reasonable and in most cases the web page will appear in English as you read down it. This means it is always up to date and integrated with the website.
|
