Walking into a fairy-tale: Strasbourg – Colmar – Eguisheim
January 2019 – I had to be in Paris for work and thought to myself, I need to combine this with a short adventure. I reached out to a good friend of mine and asked her whether she would join and she said yes. That’s how this mini escape started and turned out to be an amazing trip.
Strasbourg
Located in the Alsace region (the German region of France; next to Germany and Switzerland), Strasbourg is a mesmerizing destination. If you ever choose to visit Strasbourg you definitely need to stay in “Petite France (Little France)” area. It’s literally like walking into a fairy-tale. The streets were still decorated for Christmas. A perfect wintery scenery! It was a bit freezing for us (being Mediterranean and all) but breath-taking. There was only one thing missing from turning this into the perfect winter get-away… Snow. That’s what we kept discussing with my friend and just our luck, the last day of our trip we woke up and everything was covered in snow. It was 6 am and I begged my friend to get out and start taking pictures of the fantastic scenery. Luckily she said yes, and to tell you the truth it was totally worth it, we were ecstatic.
But why don’t I show you.
How to get there
By train: We took a train from Paris to Strasbourg, booked it online to make sure there are available seats via https://en.oui.sncf/en/ouigo
By plane: You can fly there to Strasbourg Airport if it’s convenient to you. Use skyscanner.net to identify flights that are most suited for you and your itinerary.
By car: You can always rent a car and use it to explore the near by towns as well.
Where to stay
We booked our stay at this fantastic boutique hotel “Hotel Suisse”. Cute and cozy, those are the words that come to mind first. If we are ever back in Strasbourg it will definitely be our number one choice.
What I bought and absolutely loved
Well of course the handcrafted German wooden Cuckoo clocks. My grandma used to have one in her living room and I always wanted to get one myself. When I walked into a local store with handcrafted wooden clocks, right in the centre of Petite France, I couldn’t resist.
Worth seeing in Strasbourg
- The iconic Petite France Area
- The Strasbourg cathedral
- The covered bridges (“Les Ponts Couverts de Strasbourg”)
- Vauban Barrage (“Vauban Dam”)
Colmar
We jumped into a train and in just 30 minutes we were in Colmar. It was absolutely freezing for us so we had to make a short stop to a local store and buy an additional sweater to wear. But it was worth it, Colmar was as beautiful as Strasbourg. Amazing narrow little streets, wooden houses, fairy-tale vibe. We walked into a local coffee shop and enjoyed our coffee and tea gazing at the beautiful view.
Eguisheim
Despite the really cold weather we decided to walk there. It was a 2 hour long pace walk that gave us the opportunity to take lot’s of pictures and walk through the vine yards. I would suggest to go the in Autumn if you want to see the vine yards, the town will be a bit busier and you will also get a chance to visit local shops, eat and taste the local wine. By the time we got there the town was empty, mostly because we were there off-season but we didn’t mind at all. We started walking around the centre of the town… and there it was the street Eguisheim is mostly known for. Trust me in real life is much more beautiful. Just grab a map or use your phone and get yourself lost in the narrow streets of the old centre of Eguisheim.
We wanted to go back to Colmar and the only way there (besides walking) was a taxi. We walked into the information centre and asked a kind lady there to call for one as considering the small size of Eguisheim taxis are only available from Colmar.
Interesting fact: The Alsace region has long been associated with White Storks (Ciconia Ciconia). They represent tenacity, loyalty and fidelity of the region’s inhabitants.
P.S. I loved all three destinations I had to go back. But I’ll tell you about this story later on.
