Colmar: Living in Little Venice, the Gateway to the Alsace Wine Route

At a Glance

• Duration: Our 15-day home base‍
• Home Base: Colmar, France‍
• Top Day Trips: Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle, Ribeauville and Eguisheim.‍
• Memorable Moment: Meeting an 86-year-old local couple on our favorite park bench near the statue and chatting about life and travel.‍
• Overall Vibe: Historically rich, touristy but manageable, with surprisingly tough decisions to find memorable meal.

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This Town is Special Because:

Colmar is truly the perfect blend of historic beauty and modern convenience. It earned its title as the "Gateway to the Alsace Wine Route" for a reason! It’s full of storybook charm, especially in the Petite Venise area, but it’s large enough to offer everything you need for a comfortable stay: great parks, markets, and easy access to travel hubs.

While the tourist crowds at first felt intense—especially on a Saturday when the craft market is running—we managed to find a rhythm by doing early morning walks on the bike/walking trails south of the city, which took us into where the locals live. We even met a wonderful local couple who gave us advice on travel and even confirmed our suspicion that the food here is often geared toward tourists. They told us they go across the border into Germany often for grocery shopping and meals. We also noticed at night we had a lot more of the city to ourselves; after the day-trippers had left. After a few days of navigating around, being with other tourists really was no problem. We never had to wait long to get our perfect photo, or get to where we needed to go; and definitely no issue finding a place for a spontaneous afternoon drink to people watch and enjoy the uniqueness that is Colmar. We also liked the energy and hearing so much German and French; it reminded us of what we are doing and how lucky we are to be living this slow travel life.

Our Home Base: Colmar

We chose Colmar because it’s a great size, it has a reputation as a prominent wine destination for the Alsace region, and it has historic architecture and excellent train and bus connections. We were so happy we stayed here! Our days took on a familiar rhythm: long morning walks, light lunch or happy hour snacks, and then a larger dinner.

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‍Our Colmar Experience: The Day-to-Day

Sightseeing and Attractions

• Little Venice & The Historic Trail: We loved just wandering around and getting acclimated. Colmar is set up with little triangle placards on the ground that you can follow to see all the historic sites. Each site has a placard that tells you a little bit about it in multiple languages, and there’s even a QR code for an online guide. There are many tour guides you can also choose, with all kinds of tours.

• Local Walks: We used AllTrails to find a great walking/bike path outside the city. It took us about 10 minutes to reach the path, which winds along a little river. It ended up being a very nice four-mile loop.
• Markets & Shops: We went through the market stalls set up on many streets and visited the artisan warehouse that houses about 20 artists’ wares. We quickly learned that a busy Saturday wasn't the best day for shopping, and planned to come back on a Tuesday. (Monday has most shops and the Market closed)

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The Wine Scene in the Hub

Colmar is definitely less set up for casual wine tasting than the smaller villages. The few tasting rooms here are more expensive and not as easy and friendly as the small-town producers. However, we found great wine bars!

• La Circle des Aromes: We had a great conversation with our server and the wine tasting was super fun! We tried a Pinot Gris, and then moved onto reds, tasting a Burgundy (Premier Cru) that was one of the best wine we had during our trip, and a very good Bordeaux. We even ordered an appetizer of smoked trout to try and loved it. We went back again to have a glass of that great Bordeaux.
• ‍Sommelier: A wine retailer that also serves glasses on a few tables looking at the Cathedral. We found they carried the top producers from the area, so a great place to buy a bottle.

Culinary Highlights (What Stood Out)

It was hard to choose a restaurant because there were so many, and we felt the quality was more at a tourist level, but we found a couple of absolute gems. I would recommend making reservations at any you want to try, since some we had to book for a weeknight days after our initial request. Ultimately, we felt the food was better in the small wine villages than in Colmar itself, which led us to arranging more meals while we were out visiting the villages instead of coming back to Colmar.

• L’un Des Sens: This was an excellent central wine bar serving local dishes tapas-style. They have a colossal wine list and lovely seating in a quiet square slightly off the main tourist trail, making it feel more local. They offer a unique Japanese-French tapas menu with a great wine accompaniment.

·      La Cocotte De Grand-Mere was intimate, and the meal was spectacular. This was Tom’s favorite meal of our time in Colmar.

• Hotel Restaurant Au Soleil  (Wintzenheim): While technically outside Colmar (a short bus ride + 20-minute walk away), this was arguably the best food we had. Their specialty, Veau en Vol-au-vent with mushrooms and a cream sauce, was exceptional and showcased an experienced chef.
• Bistrot Garmond: For our first meal, we sat outside on a gorgeous, sunny day and shared a charcuterie plate that came with two small glasses of Pinot Gris. It was memorable due to the gracious waitress who spent time talking to us about Colmar and her favorite places.

Other Recommendations

• Balme: A place we went to for dinner when we didn’t have reservations and were able to get a table
• Shelby: A great spot for cocktails.‍
• La Roma Tika/Pizzeria Romantica: A nice place to stop for a pre-dinner glass of wine.
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What We Loved (and Didn't)

What we loved most about Colmar was the perfect balance between its charming old architecture and its beautiful green spaces. The city's size was a huge plus—it felt incredibly easy to explore, yet there was always something new to discover. We would have loved the buses being a bit more straightforward to navigate. We found it hard to know where to go for pick up and drop off since there was more than one bus stop in an area; as well as having the buses announce the upcoming stop. Not a huge issue, but definitely could be made easier for visitors.