Alsace Tourism

Alsace offers its visitors a diverse nature and a rich human and technological heritage. It is famous for its beautiful towns and villages, and their charming houses with timber studs (see photo) and the colorful and flowery balconies and windows.

Alsace is a paradise for trekkers who will find unlimited tracks through the plaines and cultivated lands, hills and vineyards, the Vosges Mountains and its fir forests.
Among these forests, one can also discover splendid castles protecting the ancestral roots and civilization. There are many traced routes and paths for those interested to discover the region on foot or on mountain bikes.

The most famous is "La route des vins d'Alsace" (the wine route of Alsace), which covers a track of 170 km passing through vineyards, forests, ruins of castles, ramparts, wine caves, roman churches and many more villages and towns.

The rounded summits of the Vosges Mountains are known as the "Ballons des Vosges". There are 2 natural parks in this region, the Parc Naturel Regional des Ballons des Vosges, in the south extending on 3000 m², and the Parc Naturel Regional des Vosges du Nord, in the north on covering 1200 m² and recognized by UNESCO as a world reserve of the Biosphere.

The 3 major cities of Alsace are Strasbourg, Mulhouse, and Colmar. The intellectual cultural and financial capital is Strasbourg. Strasbourg is also the capital of the parliamentary institutions of Europe, including the European Court of Human Rights.

The Cathedral, the symbol of Strasbourg, is one of the most beautiful ones in France and is a masterpiece of medieval architecture.
Made of pink sandstone, in the middle of a large cobbled square, it rests on the foundations of a Romanesque basilica built in 1015.
The spire stands at a height of 142 meters.
One of the major attractions of the Cathedral is its astronomical clock. Made by a team of Swiss clockmakers around 1547, the daily routine of its automata at half past noon attracts plenty of visitors.
The Œuvre Notre Dame is a foundation that monitors and restores the art treasures of the Cathedral.

The astronomical clock

The craftsmen use the same type of techniques and instruments as in the Middle Ages. The Museum of Œuvre Notre Dame houses not only the major works of art from the 15^th century, medieval sculptures, tapestry, stained-glass windows, silverware, and still life paintings of Sébastien Stoskopf, but also the originals of the statues, plans and building projects of the Cathedral.

Strasbourg, the cathedral

An eighteenth-century palace, the Château des Rohan, just opposite the south Portal of the cathedral, houses many museums. The Decorative Arts Museum is on the ground floor of the Palace. The collection of Strasbourgeois decorative arts from 1861 to the middle of the 19^th century is displayed here. On the first floor, the Museum of Fine Arts presents an overview of European paintings from the Middle Ages to 1870. Located in the basement, the Alsatian Art and Crafts Museum invites the visitor to go back in time and to discover several thousand years of Alsatian history, from 600 BC to 800 AD. The collection presents the Alsatian way of life with its regional traditions.

Amongst the other museums of interest:
The Modern Art Museum, where the works of some of the greatest innovators of the 20^th century are found.
The Archaeological Museum, where one of the most important archeological collections of France can be seen.
The Zoological Museum,
The History Museum

Mulhouse is the industrial and economic center of Alsace. Although the remains of its medieval past are rare (except for a tower or two), it attracts a lot of visitors for its museums. In fact after Paris, the most visited museums are here.

The National Automobile Museum presents one of the most important collections of vehicles. Bugatti, Rolls Royce, Mercedes are just a few of the 600 cars exposed here. Another attraction, the French Railroad Museum retraces the history and adventures of the railroad industry. The Museum of Printed Textiles has a worldwide reputation.
	Mulhouse National Automobile Museum © ADT du Haut-Rhin

Housed in the Steinbach Villa in Mulhouse, the Fine Arts museum offers a rich collection of European painting from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Among the collection are Boudin, Géricault, Bouchet, Rigaud, and Jongkind.

Colmar is the agricultural and winemaking town. Known as the capital of Alsace's wines, it is an important touristic center. Colmar is famous for its old districts, especially the old tanner's district which has been renovated to create one of the most picturesque areas, known today as "Petite Venise" (Little Venice).
As a city of art, one of its most important landmarks is the Unterlinden Museum, where the famous Altarpiece of Issenheim is displayed. A work of Mathias Grunewald, this altar attracts about 300,000 visitors a year.
Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty was a native of Colmar.
There is a museum in his honor, located in the heart of the city.

The eighteenth-century structure that houses the museum's generous collection of sketches, models, and sculptures is none other than Bartholdi's first residence. North of Colmar, the château du Haut-Koenigsburg (1147 to 1250), built on a 755 m high peak, is one of the famous castles in France. Many other interesting castles are found on the Route des Vins d'Alsace.

Almost halfway between Colmar and Strasbourg on a mount of 763 m is one of the famous landmarks of Alsace, the Mont Saint-Odile. For 11 centuries it was a monastery and today it is a pilgrimage place. Legend has it that Odile, daughter of the Duke of Etichon, was blind at birth. Her father orders to have her killed but a nanny saves her and secretly brings her up. During her baptism Odile's vision returns.

One day, her brother Hughes reveals to the father that she is alive and out of anger the Duke kills his son. To make up for it, he decides to get her to marry a Knight but Odile refuses, as she just wishes to be a religious. The duke again loses control and wants to kill her but she is saved by a miracle. When the father finally realizes the strength and power of her vocation he offers her his castle. In 720 when she dies her grave becomes a pilgrimage place and Saint-Odile becomes the Saint-Patron of Alsace.