If you’re after great white wines, you’ll be in seventh heaven. Vines march up the hillsides to castle-topped crags and the mist-shrouded Vosges, and every so often an exquisitely preserved medieval village invites you to stop and soak up the atmosphere. Corkscrewing through glorious countryside, the entire route stretches 170km (105 miles) from Marlenheim. This is certainly not your typical Alsatian destination, but the area around Ensisheim, north of Mulhouse, will appeal to travelers after something different.

Local Traditions of the Alsace region

The massif of the Vosges gradually gives way eastward to the plain of Alsace, while to the south the region of Sundgau in southern Haut-Rhin rises to the Jura Mountains. Fall in love with the most mythical of wine routes Alsace is the most bicycle-friendly region of France,citation needed with 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) of cycle routes. However, the abandoned Maurice-Lemaire tunnel towards Saint-Dié-des-Vosges was rebuilt as a toll road. Alsace is furthermore famous for its vineyards (especially along the 170 km of the Route des Vins d'Alsace from Marlenheim to Thann) and the Vosges mountains with their thick and green forests and picturesque lakes. A gastronomic symbol of the région is the Choucroute, a local variety of Sauerkraut.
Here, the Latin and German worlds collide, and this is reflected in the city’s culture, architecture and inimitable Alsatian style. Nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts will find invigorating escapes by heading further up to the Massif des Vosges (Vosges Mountains). With its splendiferous cathedral and irresistible backdrop of old half-timbered houses and canals, the city of Strasbourg sets the tone. Alsace is idiosyncratic and colorful at the same time, and that’s why it’s so appealing. With an intriguing mix of French and German influences, Alsace is a distinctive region that leaves you wondering exactly where you are. Join our community to get discounts, travel inspiration and trip ideas – just in time for summer!
Earthenware and crockery have been fashioned here for several centuries, and most Alsatian families still use a colorful Soufflenheim pot to cook choucroute (sauerkraut). This is a gentle, unhurried region of billowing hill country sprinkled with small lakes, carpeted with dense forests, laced by rivers and freckled with cute villages and hilltop castles. Consider dining at a winstub (wine room), a traditional Alsatian restaurant renowned for its warm, homey atmosphere. Take the spiral staircase that twists up to the viewing platform, from which you can enjoy unmatched views of the city, the Alsatian plain and the Massif des Vosges. No trip to Alsace is complete without a meander on the Route des Vins (Alsace Wine Route), one of France’s most cherished wine roads. Pick a destination, and let our local experts customize every detail of your adventure.

• Get my personal insider insights, travel guides, cultural gems delivered and exclusive offers to your inbox.Your journey to Paris and France begins when you sign up on our Substack!
• Join our community to get discounts, travel inspiration and trip ideas – just in time for summer!
• Alsace cuisine is a delightful fusion of French and German culinary traditions, reflecting the region’s rich history and cultural diversity.
• The end of the Second World War signalled that it was time for the reconstruction and reconciliation of the peoples of Europe.
• Take your time discovering its varied landscapes by bike or on foot, from the Rhine plain to the Vosges mountains, and join in the joyful celebrations that punctuate the year, from carnivals and Easter to the grape harvest and the magical Advent season.
• As the capital of Alsace and a UNESCO World Heritage site, Strasbourg is a must-visit destination.

Get inspired by destinations chosen in this year's Best in Travel list. Most beautiful villages of France Alsace promises the journey of a lifetime! French Moments is about promoting the French culture and language through its website and social network.

Warum Buchenholz die beste Wahl für Holzdübel ist

Even if they are for the most part in ruins, their silhouettes, perched at the top of the Vosges Mountains, have been a part of the countryside for centuries, thus defying time. Alsace is one of the regions of France that has retained the most medieval castles. The touristic itinerary Route Romane d’Alsace (Romanesque Road of Alsace) links the region’s best examples of Romanesque architecture in Alsace.
Taking the shape of a crescent, this “blue banana” is a continuous corridor of urbanisation with a population of 110 million, which adds up to three-quarters of the EU’s purchasing power. The Upper Rhine region, of which Alsace is part, is located at the heart of the European Megalopolis, which stretches from Liverpool to Geneva. Saint-Louis and its suburbs form part of the Basel agglomération in Switzerland, which comprises 830,000 inhabitants in Swiss and German towns.

The economy of the Alsace region

Deep restructuring has affected main activities such as car manufacturing (Peugeot is the region’s first employer with an important site in Mulhouse). The alsatian industry has been facing diversification, particularly since 2004 when many potassium mines (Mines de potasse d’Alsace or MDPA) were closed for good. However, because of its concentration in wine-growing, tobacco, hop, hemp and sauerkraut cabbage production, agriculture in Alsace is reputed to be high-value-added. The region has one of France’s lowest unemployment rates (8.4% in 2011). Alsace is a prosperous region, ranking third in France after Ile-de-France and Rhône-Alpes. Alsace is the first export region of France based on the export value per inhabitant.

The Vosges Mountains

• From the time of Augustus to the early fifth century AD, the area of Alsace was incorporated into the Roman province of Germania Superior.
• According to the Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE), Alsace had a gross domestic product of 44.3 billion euros in 2002.
• After 1918, French was the only language used in schools, particularly primary schools.
• The touristic itinerary Route Romane d’Alsace (Romanesque Road of Alsace) links the region’s best examples of Romanesque architecture in Alsace.
• Between 100,000 and 130,000 Alsatians (of a total population of about a million and a half) chose to remain French citizens and leave Reichsland Elsaß–Lothringen, many of them resettling in French Algeria as Pieds-Noirs.
• If you’re after great white wines, you’ll be in seventh heaven.
• French lost ground to such an extent that it has been estimated that only 2% of the population spoke French fluently, and only 8% had some knowledge of it (Maugue, 1970).

Experience guides offer travelers innovative ways to discover iconic destinations, featuring unique adventures and trip-building tools for personalized journeys. For travelers looking to design a trip that feels unique. These guides provide in-depth insights for your trips, helping you explore destinations deeply for unforgettable experiences, whether popular or off the beaten path.
Though the ban has long been lifted and street signs today are often bilingual, Alsace–Lorraine is today predominantly French in language and culture. However, in a Decree of 18 December 1952, supplemented by an Order of 19 December of the same year, optional teaching of the German language was introduced in elementary schools in communes in which the language of habitual use was the Alsatian dialect. After World War II, the French government pursued, in line with its traditional language policy, a campaign to suppress the use of German as part of a wider Francization campaign. The population was forced to speak German and 'French' family names were Germanized. During a reannexation by Germany (1940–1945), High German was reinstated as the language of education. After 1918, French was the only language used in schools, particularly primary schools.

Both Alsatian and Standard German were for a time banned from public life (including street and city names, official administration, and educational system). The Ministerial Memorandum of 21 June 1982, known as the Circulaire Savary, introduced financial support, over three years, for the teaching of regional languages in schools and universities. In 1951, Article 10 of the Deixonne Law (Loi Deixonne) on the teaching of local languages and dialects made provision for Breton, Basque, Catalan and old Provençal but not for Corsican, Dutch (West Flemish) or Alsatian in Alsace and Moselle. During the Lutheran Reform, the towns of Alsace were the first to adopt the German language as glitzbets casino registration their official language instead of Latin. Although Alsace has been part of France multiple times in the past, the region had no direct connection with the French state for several centuries. As is customary for regional languages in France, neither Alsatian nor the Frankish dialects have any form of official status, although both are now recognized as languages of France and can be chosen as subjects in lycées.

In recent times, villagers started to paint the rendering white in accordance with Beaux-Arts movements. The traditional habitat of the Alsatian lowland, like in other regions of Germany and Northern Europe, consists of houses constructed with walls in timber framing and cob and roofing in flat tiles. While 39% of the adult population of Alsace speak the dialect, only one in four children speak it, and only one in ten children uses it regularly.
The population grew rapidly, from 800,000 in 1814 to 914,000 in 1830 and 1,067,000 in 1846. At the same time, some Alsatians were in opposition to the Jacobins and sympathetic to the restoration of the monarchy pursued by the invading forces of Austria and Prussia who sought to crush the nascent revolutionary republic. Mulhouse (a city in southern Alsace), which had been part of Switzerland since 1466, joined France in 1798. "La Marseillaise" was played for the first time in April of that year in front of the mayor of Strasbourg Philippe-Frédéric de Dietrich. On 21 July 1789, after receiving news of the Storming of the Bastille in Paris, a crowd of people stormed the Strasbourg city hall, forcing the city administrators to flee and putting symbolically an end to the feudal system in Alsace.