Six years ago, we did our first bike tour. We took the ferry to one of the San Juan Islands near Seattle and had a great day exploring. Since then, as readers know, we’ve done more rides, both guided and self-guided tours (e.g., Versailles, Amsterdam, and Waiheke Island) and have enjoyed them all. But we may have had the best day biking yet exploring the Route des Vins d’Alsace. What made this ride so special? The scenery, the wine tasting, and doing it with friends, of course!
We found a terrific rental company, Alsa Cyclo Tours, with a rental office in Kayserberg, one of the cute towns on the north end of the route and near where we were staying. Their staff had our e-bikes ready to go and they were super helpful in getting us started. While Jeff is a strong biker, he’s not the best navigator – that’s my job. Since I’m not the strongest biker, thankfully Cori had the skills to ride and navigate our self-guided route south to Eguisheim and back, for a total of over 40 kilometers (25 miles).
Leaving Kayserberg we had a chance to survey the scenery – it was stunning:
Nearly the entire route is paved bike lanes through seemingly never-ending rows of vines planted at all angles. Nestled among the vines are countless small villages, each more picturesque than the last. Fortunately, the day was overcast and cool – perfect weather for a day-long ride. We stopped in Eguisheim for lunch and for a walk through the picturesque medieval town – our bums needed a break!
Built in a circle, the village is quintessential Alsace, with half-timbered houses, ramparts, flowers, stork nests, and cobble stone streets. In the center is the Chapel of St. Leo IX, the only Alsatian pope (elected in 1048).
On our return we stopped in Wettolsheim at Jean Louis Schoepfer for a wine tasting. We hadn’t selected a winery in advance, so when Cori proposed a stop there, we had no idea that she had picked the most fabulous winery. Our host was Christophe, the 13th generation winemaker who happily answered our many questions while generously pouring 9 different wines for us to try.
We selected 6 bottles to bring back to Spain, which he graciously allowed us to pick up the next day – carrying them back on the bikes seemed risky after the extensive tasting.
The scenery along the return was just as pleasant and we had an opportunity to use our e-bike power assist on a hill or two. We rewarded ourselves with a kougelhopf – a local cake – which we felt we earned.
Our last morning in the area we stopped in Riquewihr, another attractive village, for breakfast and a stroll:
We were sorry to leave the charms of the Alsace but knew that the German side of the border had much to offer as well.
A conclusion on bike tours – our favorites include wine tasting! Considering the name of our blog, you can’t be surprised.
Adieu,
Shana & Jeff
This was the most fun of any trip and these photos are great!
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