Alsace wine walking tours take you on foot through Colmar, Riquewihr or an estate's own vines, with a tasting at the end on two of them. No van, no coach, two or three hours.
Two hours inside Riquewihr's walls with a native Alsatian, from the Musée du Dolder. The tasting of a local family's wine is an extra you choose when you book. Allow time to park.
From $36 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two hours through Colmar's old town with a local guide, six walkers at most, ending with a tasting at a cellar in the fare. It runs rain or shine; pregnant women and anyone with limited mobility are advised against it.
From $51 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The walk goes through the vines themselves: an hour among the rows, an hour in the cellar and vat room, an hour at the table with six wines. An umbrella is lent if it rains.
From $65 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two hours with a local guide, six walkers at most, and the tasting in the fare.
Check availabilityIt is two or three hours on foot with a guide, and a glass at the end. No minivan, no coach, and no hours on the road. You pick one place and learn it well.
The three places could hardly differ more. Colmar is a town of canals and half-timbered houses. Riquewihr is a walled village among the vines. And the vineyard walk takes you into the rows themselves at a wine estate, then into its cellar.
Prices run from $36 to $65 a person. Nothing with a guide costs less on this route.
A van day gives each village an hour. A walk gives one place two or three hours, with the stories behind the façades.
The Colmar walk takes six at most, so you can ask as much as you like.
Only the vineyard walk takes you along the rows, where the guide explains the soil, the work of the year and biodynamic farming.
A walk and a van day answer different wishes. Here is how they compare.
| Colmar walk | Riquewihr walk | Vineyard walk | A van day from Colmar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How long | 2 hours | About 2 hours | 3 hours | 3.5 to 9.5 hours |
| Where | Colmar's old town | Inside Riquewihr's walls | An estate and its vines | Several villages |
| Tasting | In the fare | Optional extra | Six wines, in the fare | Depends on the tour |
| Group | Six at most | Not stated | Not stated | Up to eight on most |
| Price | $51 | $36 | $65 | $113 to $160 |
| Getting there | On foot in town | Your own way | Your own way | Collected in Colmar |
If you want four villages in a day, take a van from Colmar. If you want to understand one place, and taste at the end, walk.
It cannot take you to the castle, and it cannot show you a string of villages. Each walk covers one place. If you want Haut-Kœnigsbourg and three villages in a day, the castle day from Colmar does that; the Alsace wine tours from Colmar page compares it with the rest.
A walk also cannot carry you home after the glass. For the Riquewihr walk and the vineyard walk, decide before the day who drives, or ride the open-top bus between April and October.
The Colmar walk meets in the old town, so you walk there. The Riquewihr walk meets at the Musée du Dolder, inside the village; its guide asks you to allow time to find a parking space. The vineyard walk moves between two estates by day of the week: Domaine Camille Braun at Orschwihr on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Domaine Étienne Simonis at Ammerschwihr on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Both have a free car park. Our map of every meeting point shows where each sits.
Walk an estate's rows, see its vat room, then taste six wines at the table.
Check availabilityWant the villages as well as the walk? Every tour is on Alsace Wine Tours.