If you're visiting Alsace, you'll undoubtedly want to take a trip along the famous Alsace Wine Route. A great idea, but do you know that you can cycle it? The Véloroute du Vignoble (Eurovélo 5) follows the Alsace Wine Route, which stretches from Thann (southern Alsace) to Marlenheim (further north, not far from Strasbourg). In this blog post, I give you all my tips for organizing your tour!
Why cycle the Alsace Wine Route?
Cycling the Wine Route allows you to discover the vineyard differentlyNo noise, no pollution, your nose in the wind, the scent of sun-drenched earth and vines (or rain, depending on the weather, but it’s usually hot in Alsace in summer!). Only advantages! As a bonus, you can easily take breaks anywhere, which is not the case in a car!
The cycle route passes through beautiful countryside and charming villages. It is hilly, which may put some people off. However, you don’t need to be a great sportsman to ride a bike: if you do a minimum of sport regularly, it will pass by itself. Another increasingly popular option is the electric bicycle. The electric bike makes the route really accessible to everyone.
Cycle paths, pavements and choice of bike
The VĂ©loroute du Vignoble has few real bicycle paths reserved exclusively for bikes. It is rather a mix between restricted traffic lanes (on which cyclists and local residents circulate, i.e. mainly the agricultural machinery of the winegrowers going to work in the vineyards) and roads (open to all). The road portions are still quite small, so cycling in the area is still very enjoyable!
Since you’ll be riding exclusively on asphalt, the choice of bike is yours: you can opt for a road bike if you’re in the sporty mode, or a mountain bike (perfect for cycle touring). However, I wouldn’t recommend taking a mountain bike, as it’s not really suited to this type of itinerary.
How many days does the Alsace vineyard cycle route (Eurovélo 5) take?
There are several options for discovering EurovĂ©lo 5. As for me, it’s an itinerary I’ve travelled many times before, but never tire of! It’s clearly the most beautiful in Alsace, let’s face it.
If you’ve only got a day or so to spare, or you’re not really used to cycling
You can also opt for a only part of EurovĂ©lo 5. In this case, I’d advise you to choose one of the (many!) existing loop walks, which you can do for a full day or even half a day. You can choose a walk that’s longer or shorter, more or less athletic, suitable for children, etc…
In Alsace, we’re lucky enough to have a number of cycle routes and tracks, making it easy for you to create lovely loops for great days out on the Alsace Wine Route! I propose several different circuits, allowing you to discover different parts of the Wine Route:
- Easy bike tour around Kaysersberg (20km)
- Cycling tour around SĂ©lestat (47km)
- Couronne d’Or vineyard tour (33km)
- Forest and vineyard walks around Guebwiller (25km)
- Sports circuit around Rouffach (34km)
- Circuit between Vallée de Villé and Route des Vins (32km)
If you have a few days to spare and would like to go roaming
In this case, I advise you to choose the section of EurovĂ©lo 5 between Colmar and Strasbourg. Marlenheim (the official start of the Route des Vins) is easily reached by following the Bruche canal. from Strasbourg and, on arrival in Colmar, don can easily take a train with his bike back to Strasbourg. In my opinion, this is the most beautiful part of the VĂ©loroute du vignoble! Allow at least 3 days for this, so you’ll be able to enjoy a fairly leisurely day’s cycling, but there’s plenty to see along the way, and it would be a shame not to plan several cultural and gourmet stops.
You’ll be able to explore picture-postcard landscapes and visit some superb villages at the same time (and enjoy wine tastings– in moderation, of course!). Examples include Rosheim, Obernai, Barr, Mittelbergheim, Itterswiller, Scherwiller, Châtenois, Bergheim, RibeauvillĂ©, Riquewihr, Colmar… For more information, please read the detailed article I wrote on my other blog about the Alsace Wine Route by bike between Strasbourg and Colmar (in French only).
If you’re into sports
Are you a road cyclist who wants to cycle the Wine Route? You can easily do the entire VĂ©loroute du Vignoble:
- or over a day if you are well trained and wish to pedal exclusively
- or two days of riding, but also take the time to make a few tourist and gourmet stops.
I’ve already taken this second option with friends for a weekend: it’s easy to get to Thann by train with your bike, then we did the first day between Thann and Colmar (with an overnight stay in Ingersheim), and the second day from Ingersheim to Strasbourg. It makes for a great weekend of sports and sightseeing!
Here are my tracks on Komoot. I’ve added a few detours that I thought were relevant to the official VĂ©loroute du Vignoble itinerary, such as passing through Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and RibeauvillĂ©, which are not on the EurovĂ©lo 5 route. It adds a bit of distance and elevation gain, but it’s well worth it! Be careful on the second day, on the Komoot map it goes to my home and not to Strasbourg. Once in Soultz-les-Bains, take the VĂ©loroute du Canal de la Bruche back to Strasbourg.
Bike rental, electric bike rental or turnkey tour
If you want to cycle the Wine Route, there are three options: bring your own bike, rent one on site or book a turnkey cycling holiday. Here are a few good addresses:
- To book a turnkey holiday, I recommendLe VĂ©lo Voyageur and A bicyclette.
- For bike and VAE rentals, visit Alsace Cyclo Tour in Eguisheim or Spot4Bike in Barr.
