Why this ride
Rolling secondary roads, villages and strong food-and-culture stops. It also links naturally to Historic Centre of Strasbourg and Alsace villages.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Alsace Wine Route
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 122 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 51
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Access context
Check mountain-pass openings, low-emission zones and local restrictions. Specific flag: seasonal traffic.
Seasonal context
Apr-Oct
Scenic road chapters
Route des Vins d'Alsace
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 49 km this is Route des Vins d'Alsace, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 49 km
- Named road
- Route des Vins d'Alsace
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Marlenheim
Marlenheim is where the Alsace Wine Route begins, or at least its northern end, and a sign on the edge of the village announces it. From here, a signposted trail of about a hundred and seventy kilometres winds south along the foothills of the Vosges, linking over a hundred villages built among the vines. The first impression is of low hills in ordered rows, half-timbered houses with flower boxes at every window, and storks nesting on chimneys and church towers. In spring, the white blossom on the cherry trees brings a sudden, brief brightness.
Read the complete Marlenheim write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Marlenheim sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Ribeauvillé.
2. Ribeauvillé
Three ruined castles stare down at Ribeauvillé from the first slopes of the Vosges, and each belonged to the same family. The lords of Ribeaupierre ruled this corner of Alsace for centuries, building the Saint-Ulrich, Girsberg and Haut-Ribeaupierre castles one above the other on the ridge, and from the town's main street you can see all three on a clear day, like a set of broken teeth. A footpath climbs to them, and the view from the top, over a sea of vineyards to the Rhine plain and the Black Forest beyond, is the best reward.
Read the complete Ribeauvillé write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ribeauvillé comes up 33 km in. Next is Colmar.
3. Colmar
Colmar is the driest city in France, and the Vosges are the reason. The mountains to the west catch the rain coming in from the Atlantic, leaving the Alsace plain in their shadow with some of the lowest rainfall of any French city, and the sunny, dry climate is the secret of the wines and the orchards that surround it. It is a small city of about sixty-five thousand people, the capital of the Alsace wine country, and it has a charm that has made it one of the most visited towns in eastern France.
Read the complete Colmar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
65 km in you reach Colmar. Next is Thann.
4. Thann
Thann marks the southern end of the Alsace Wine Route, where the vineyards run out and the Vosges close in on the river Thur. It is a small industrial and market town of about eight thousand people, with a Gothic church whose slender spire is one of the finest in Alsace. The Collégiale Saint-Thiébaut, built in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, has a richly carved west portal and a roof of glazed coloured tiles, and it was built to house a relic of Saint Theobald, a bishop whose thumb, according to legend, was brought here in the Middle Ages. Legend also says that three small lights appeared in the fir trees above his resting place, and to this day, on the evening of 30 June, the town burns three fir trees in a fire ceremony to remember it.
Read the complete Thann write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Thann, late in the day.