This may be the most underrated and yet beautiful city of our 24-day trip. Period.
For nearly a month we've visited some famously gorgeous places as we journeyed across 6 nations along the general direction of the Rhine. The medieval city of Bruges, the uniformly ochre castle ruin and bridges of Heidelberg and the UNESCO World Heritage of Strasbourg are all celebrated among European travelers. But our favorite city was a lesser-known, less crowded but exceptionally photogenic French commune known as Colmar.
Despite its relative anonymity compared to heavyweight Paris or even nearby Strasbourg, Colmar has its fan base among independent travelers and travel writers. Rick Steves for instance puts Colmar, rather than Strasbourg, on his suggested itinerary for France. Even those who distrust guidebooks would be impressed by Colmar's excellent pedigree: half-German, half-French, impossibly medieval, and all romantic.
You'll most appreciate Colmar if you're a photographer in search of inspiration, or newlyweds in search of a romantic escape. Or ideally both. This place is an absolute goldmine of colorful half-timber houses built alongside lovely little canals, under the backdrop of soaring Gothic church spires and cobblestone squares.
If you love Venice, wander over to the old Fishmonger's Quarter for a leisurely cruise on its medieval canals and waterways. Or if you prefer Paris, you can enjoy your street side brasserie in an amorous French accent and finish with some Pinot Gris and Foie Gras. Better yet, you'll pay half of Parisian (or Venetian) prices for food and drinks!
So where exactly is this magical little city?
If you open a map and just hover above where Germany, France and Switzerland meet, you're not far from Colmar. Strategically located in one of the most fought-over regions in modern European history, Colmar is on the French side of the Rhine about 45 minutes away from the Swiss city of Basel, or about the same from Freiburg in the German Black Forest. In fact the closest international airport is the so-called "EuroAirport" of Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg. This ease of access is certainly great for travelers like us, but it's not always so desirable especially at wartimes.
Just the German-sounding name of Colmar betrays its storied past as the frontier between two of Europe's great powers -- established as part of the Holy Roman Empire, captured for France by Louis XIV, retaken by Otto von Bismarck two centuries later, reclaimed by France at the end of WWI, conquered again by Hitler during WWII, then returned yet again to France in 1945.
Today Colmar still displays its street signs in French as well as in its local German dialect. The elderly still speak in the endangered native tongue of Alsatian German, and the current mayor Gilbert Meyer, like many of his fellow citizens, bear a French first name along with a surname of German lineage.
We first realized this convergence of cultures when our hostess in Gutach im Schwarzwald, merely an hour's drive to the east in the German Black Forest, pronounced "Frankreich" (France in the German language) with what sounded almost identical to a French "R". And when we arrived in Colmar every eatery in the Old Town featured our familiar Flammkuchen/Flammekueche, though sometimes renamed Tarte Flambée for the sake of the non-local French speakers.
Our previous 4 nights were spent in small towns and a farmhouse in the Black Forest on the German side of the Rhine, and we were surprised to find a deceivingly large medieval town that would easily take a day or two to fully explore. We decided on 3 nights -- one to unwind, one to fully immerse, and one reserved for one of our most anticipated hikes (see latter article on Hiking the Alsatian Wine Route).
The old town is just immaculately preserved with a wealth of heritage architecture dating as far back as the 1300's. Miyazaki Hayao fans would immediately recognize the multicolored timberframe houses and the cute Gothic rooftop of the Maison Pfister featured in Howl's Moving Castle.
Among the main sights were two of the town's wealth of 13th Century Gothic churches, the towering Église Saint-Martin and the nearby Église des Dominicains, both dominating presences at the centre of the Old Town. Given its grandeur one would easily mistake the Saint-Martin as a cathedral, but the nearest cathedral is actually in the predominantly protestant city of Freiburg on German soil.
The one unmissable sight in town, according to an Alsatian couple we met two days earlier in Gengenbach, is a 13th Century Gothic convent later reborn as the Unterlinden Museum. There is one world class exhibit that every visitor comes for.
The 500-year-old masterpiece of Gothic painting known as the Isenheim Altarpiece. And if you don't fancy 16th Century iconography, there's even a Picasso and a whole plethora of antique Alsatian furniture and clothing. Though ... as an exhibit of Alsatian culture I preferred the Musée Alsacien in Strasbourg much better.
On any given street in town you may encounter the Alsace's unofficial mascot with its graceful long neck and flowing plumage. Alsatians love their storks and the associated legends of fertility and fidelity, and some even go to the length of building nesting platforms for these majestic birds on their rooftops. Many storks are said to return to the same nest for their whole lives, so I can see the return-on-investment for bird lovers.
For nature lovers there's actually a stork refuge in the nearby countryside at the town of Hunawihr, providing a nesting haven to the birds when they return from their 6000 km winter migration from South Africa. While we did pass by Hunawihr during our hike, we never came across any storks in Alsace ... the nesting pair we did see was at a rooftop in Gengenbach on the German side of the Rhine.
HOTEL REVIEW
This is one of France's prettiest medieval city cores after all, and we wanted an authentic local accommodation, in the midst of the romantic townscape, at a reasonable price. Ideally we're looking for the equivalence of a Machiya Townhouse in Kyoto or a Courtyard House in Beijing. And I think we found it, in the form of a centuries-old half-timber house just a few minutes' walk from the Unterlinden.
Maison Martin Jund isn't your typical Chambre d'hôte -- it's a family-owned organic winery which also operates a B&B at the heart of Colmar. Our vaulted room on the upper floor was clean, small but well-equipped with TV, fridge and a small private shower room. But the most amazing part, aside from the beautiful medieval timber frame, was the unbelievably cheap price of less than 40 Euros a night.
The Chambre d'hôte is situated in an adorable neighborhood of 16th Century timberframe houses. There's also the convenience factor -- a coin laundry 3 minutes' walk away on Rue Ruest, a bus stop within 5 minutes' walk for buses to the train station, and a Monoprix supermarket next to the Unterlinden Museum. This is quite a recommendable B&B for anyone looking for a characterful stay in Colmar at near rock bottom prices.
And once settled in, Colmar is just the perfect base for exploring the charming Alsatian villages in the countryside. We did a day-hike through lovely vineyards from Riquewihr to Hunawihr to Ribeauville, all accessible by local buses. With a couple additional days we could have visited Eguisheim or Kaysersberg with its ruined castle, or perhaps a day trip to the enormous château of Haut-Koenigsbourg overlooking the Alsatian plains. We probably could have stayed in Colmar for a week without running out of sightseeing options.
And lastly, you really can't complain about the French cuisine here with a local Alsatian flair. After all Alsace is best known for some of France's best white wine, as well as its delectable locally produced Foie Gras. But I'll have to leave the restaurant reviews to the next article ...
