What an Alsace Wine Tour Costs, and What the Price Leaves Out

Alsace wine tours run from $36 to $878, and the fare alone will mislead you. Whether the tasting is in it, whether the castle is, and whether the price is per person or per group matter more than the figure. Here is every fare, what it covers and what you still pay, so you can price your Alsace Wine ticket prices honestly.

What do the fares run from?

The lowest fare is $36, for a two-hour walk in Riquewihr, and the highest $878, for a private day for up to four. In between, you pay:

• $36 to $65 for a walk with a guide.
• $48 for a day on the open-top bus.
• $74 for the estate lunch at Gertwiller, meal and wine included.
• $113 to $149 for a half day.
• $143 to $246 for a full day.
• $146 a head for ninety minutes of private tasting.

Every fare, and what it leaves out

Sorted from the cheapest. The last column is what you still pay on the day.

Why can the same day cost $34 more?

Because Ophorus sells its half day and its full day on two booking platforms at once. Same kerb, same hours, same minivan of eight, and a different price. The two half days are $34 apart and the two full days $53.

Before you book the dearer one, check what differs: the cancellation window, the payment terms and the review count. We show the cheaper listing first on the Alsace wine tours from Strasbourg page, and link both.

Which fares include the tasting?

Most of them. Four do not: the castle day from Strasbourg pours no wine, the open-top bus excludes tastings, the 4 Wonders day sells its tasting at the cave, and the Riquewihr walk sells it as an extra. Every other fare pours in the price.

So compare a fare that pours with one that does not only after you add the wine. A cheaper day that makes you pay at the counter may cost you more.

What does a tasting cost when it is not included?

Nobody publishes it. The 4 Wonders day and the Riquewihr walk both leave the price of the tasting to the day or to the booking page, and growers set their own terms at the counter. We do not print a figure we cannot source.

For a benchmark, the vineyard walk near Colmar pours six wines with three hours of a guide for $65, and the Colmar walk ends at a cellar, tasting included, for $51.

What does Haut-Kœnigsbourg add?

On three days, nothing: the castle day from Strasbourg, the castle day from Colmar and the private Tesla day put the ticket to Haut-Kœnigsbourg in the fare. On any other day, or on your own, the castle charges these prices at the gate:

Entry is free on the first Sunday of each month from November to March.

Lunch: who feeds you, and who does not?

One fare feeds you: the estate lunch at Gertwiller, $74, with a traditional Alsatian meal, a wine beside each course and coffee or tea. You make your own way to the estate.

Every day tour leaves lunch to you, in a village, at your own cost. The Ophorus listings add that snacks are not served with the tastings. Budget for a village restaurant or a bakery, and eat before a morning tasting.

Per person or per group?

Per person on every fare but one. The private Tesla day is $878 for a group of up to four, so it costs the same for two as for four. Its per-head cost falls to about $219 when the car is full.

The private tasting in Strasbourg looks similar and is priced the other way: $146 each. Read the unit under the price on every card before you add it up.

Are tips expected?

They are not in the fare. Most listings put tips or gratuities in their exclusions, which leaves it to you. No listing states an amount, and nobody will ask. If your guide made the day, say so in a tip.

What do you still spend on the day?

• Lunch on every full day.
• The tasting on the 4 Wonders day and, if you add it, the Riquewihr walk.
• Bottles you choose to buy. Nobody has to, and the vineyard walk says so.
• Entry fees on the days that exclude them, if you go inside a museum.
• Getting there for the walks outside Colmar and the Gertwiller estate.

Is the cheapest tour the worst?

No. The Riquewihr walk, the cheapest fare, is rated 4.7. The lowest rating goes to the open-top bus, at 4.2, and it is a bus, not a wine tour: book it as one and you will be disappointed. Book it as a bus and it does its job.

The price tells you about the format, not the quality. A two-hour walk costs less than a ten-hour day because it is two hours.

What does a fair price look like by format?

• A walk with a tasting: $51 to $65.
• A half day with two tastings: about $114.
• A full day with three: about $193.
• A long village day with one: $143 to $146.
• A private day for four: about $219 a head.

The format guide, choosing an Alsace wine tour, helps you pick the format first.

How can you pay less?

• Book the cheaper twin. The Ophorus half day and full day each sell at two prices for the same day. Take the lower one.
• Fill the car. The Tesla day costs the same for four as for two, so bring friends and split it.
• Pick a day that pours in the fare. A tasting bought at the counter adds to a fare that looked lower.
• Go on the first Sunday. From November to March, entry to the castle is free that day, which saves €12 a head if you visit it on your own.
• Buy the family ticket. At the castle, €30 covers up to four people with two adults.
• Walk, then ride. In season, a walk in Colmar and a day on the open-top bus cost $99 together, with one guided tasting in it.

None of these cuts the wine. They cut what you pay around it.

Frequently asked questions

Tours that give the most for the fare

The true heart of Alsace in Riquewihr with optional wine tasting

Two hours walking Riquewihr with a local guide, as long or as short as you ask. The wine tasting is an optional extra here, not part of the price.

From $36 per person

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Alsacian meal - wine tasting & Immersive wine cellar tour

A family estate at Gertwiller: the cellar, the barrel built for the 1900 Paris World's Fair, a guided tasting and a meal with a wine beside each course. You make your own way there.

From $74 per person

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Private tasting: discovering Alsatian wines

Ninety minutes of tasting in central Strasbourg, your party only, meeting at the palace gates. No vineyard and no minivan, just the wine and a guide.

From $146 per person

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