This beautiful and unique region of France is a wonderful destination for a relaxed French family holiday, where time slows down, and you can escape the rat race and reconnect with nature.

The region has historically been passed between French and German rule and has a strong germanic influence.

The villages and towns are straight out of a fairytale and a must visit. The kids loved exploring them just as much as us grown ups.

The city of Strasbourg is lovely and picturesque, and the magnificent cathedral is well worth a visit, but for us the magic of the region lies in the gentle rolling hills of the vineyards and countryside, where you can bike ride, walk or jump in the car and explore the many adorable and unique villages which are unmissable.

We took our 6 and 4 year old boys on holiday here to explore the region, and we all had a fantastic time.

Here’s what we got up to on our trip.

Strasbourg

We had 2 days in Strasbourg to see the city, staying one night at the Novotel. We love a good city trip but like to keep it short and sweet with the kids.

Must see:

The amazing gothic cathedral: We loved visiting this grand cathedral, second in beauty and grandeur only to the Notre Dame in Paris. We didn’t get the ticket to go to the top with the kids, but I’m sure the views would be fantastic.

La Petite France: The neighbourhood called La Petite France is a beautiful area of the city with winding cobblestoned streets, flowers spilling out along the canals, and colourful wooden houses in the traditional Germanic style. Wander through and enjoy the atmosphere, stopping in the cafes and bistros that line the waterway. There’s also a pretty playground near the canal, which is great to let the kids run off steam after sightseeing.

You could take a boat trip on the  Batorama, which is a tour boat and sightseeing cruise along the canal and with a fun kids commentary

There is also a little tourist train that is a fun way for families to see the city and great for families with younger kids that will get tired walking around the city.

The Citadelle Park: We always try and factor in some parks stops wherever we go, to give the kids to give them chance to run and play, and this park is a great choice in the city with various play areas including a splash pad.

We like to take it easy in the city, not stressing about ticking off every must see, and instead walking about and soaking up the atmosphere.

You never know what surprises you will discover when exploring a city on foot. Our kids are good walkers, but if they got tired, we would have taken the little tourist train or gone back to our hotel for a break in the middle of the day. We also always stop for lots of ice creams and let’s the kids go and their own pace, with plenty of play stop and rests on benchs if they want.

We were also told there was a man made beach at the dock land area with pedalos, but it started to rain and then we had to move on, so we didn’t get a chance to visit. Next time we will try to go here as it sounds like a fun place for the kids, as it also had free childrens activities on while we were visiting in August.

Colmar

We spent 5 days in Colmar, using the beautiful town as a base to explore the villages in the area. We really loved Colmar and definitely plan to return here many times. Strasbourg is a bustling regional capital, but Colmar, being smaller, has a more intimate and relaxed feel. It is a gorgeous place. It has all the lovely historic buildings and picturesque walks along the canals, great restaurants, and shops. It quaint beauty charmed us all.

The area ‘Little Venice‘ is the main draw, with bridges over the picturesque canal which runs through the town centre. There are shops, restaurants and bistros lining the mediveal streets by the waterside. It really is so pretty, there are beautiful pictures on the sides of the coloured buildings and in summer masses of flowers from hundreds of window boxes and planters spill out onto the street.

We had fun wandering around the streets, listening to the music from street performers and picking up trinkets and souvenirs. I also had the best strawberry tart of my life from a local patisserie ( and I’ve eaten a lot of tarts in France, believe me!)

The kids were welcome in the restaurants, we were seated on the street outside so we could watch the world go by.

There was a food festival of some sort on in the town one night we were there which was so much fun! The kids made friends playing with some other children in the fountain, we all had some delicious food from the vendors and then there was a FABULOUS 7 piece Jazz band that meandered through the street playing, followed by a joyful crowd all the way to a small stage in the middle of the square. The kids loved it,  it was electric and one of those moments you get travelling that you never forget.

On a different evening, we walked up to the park to find find the local play area and the boys had a ride on the carousel; there is one in every French town we’ve ever been to and the kids never get bored of them!

We also stayed at the Novotel whilst in Colmar, as we like the chain and find them comfortable and good value, and with friendly welcoming staff. This hotel was in a great location near the old town as well, with only a short walk into the heart of Little Venice.

Eguisheim

The village of Eguishiem really blew us away when we arrived. You can park in the large, well signposted car park on the edge of the village and walk in- less than 5 minutes.

It is stunningly beautiful. The houses are bright and colourful and there is an abundance of flowers everywhere. There is a beautiful historic church which overlooks a  fountain in the village square, and honestly, it looks straight out of Beauty and the Beast.

There were one or two places selling pretzels and local delicacies from stalls along the streets and a couple of small shops selling souvenirs; they also sold toys and were quite stern with the boys warning them not to touch the toys in a harsh tone. I presume they had a bad experience with kids in the past! We were quite taken aback as we were watching the boys and they had been very well behaved and had not touched anything.

We managed to find the boulangerie and got the most delicious filled baguette with the regional speciality Munster Cheese, which was extremely smelly but tasted amazing!

There were also signs up around the village warning against noise, some specifically noise from children, in particular scooters and bikes (they can be very loud on the cobbled stones). This was the only place on the trip that we did get a bit of an anti- kid vibe, maybe that was just us, but we didn’t let that bother us, we knew our kids were behaving well and weren’t being excessively noisey.

The village is really small and won’t take long to look around, and there are a few restaurants in the village centre to get lunch, as well as various wine tasting rooms and lots and lots of tourists that seemed to be on wine tours or bike riding tours. This is the heart of the Alsace and the Route de Vin.

It was massively busy and popular, so our top tips would be to get in and out quickly and arrive as early as you can to beat the tour buses and coaches ( definitely before 9am). Also, be considerate of the local residents and keep the noise down, and keep a close eye on your kids in the shops!

Riquewihr

Riquewihr is another stunning, colourful medival village with narrow streets and cobblestones. The car park is at the bottom of a steep hill, so you enter the village from and go through a gateway in the medival walls and see the village high street stretch up in front of you. The street heads uphill, winding up, up and around, getting narrower, until you pass the beautiful church and a large archway in the historic high walls that encircle the village.

There are lots of options for food and drink, some wonderful cafes and bistros where you can sit out and people watch.

We loved spotting the different traditional shop signs made out of wrought iron ; so beautiful and unique. Spotting all the different signs was a great game for the kids!

There were lots of gingerbread shops as it is a regional speciality and it was delicious, as you could have guessed.

There were also lots of ponds filled with koi carp, which the boys enjoyed looking at.

At the top of the village, if you pass through the archway and leave the old town there is a small playground for the kids which is great fornthem to be able to run about and to escape the tourists for a bit.

Another very popular and busy village; get there early to avoid being shoulder to shoulder.

Kayserberg

Kayserberg is a small town in a very picturesque setting, surrounded by vineyards and forested hills. The main square and along the river are particularly pretty with the colourful timber buildings as is typical in the Alsace village style.

Chateau de Kayersberg, is the  historic castle that looms over the village and has wonderful views of Kayserberg Village and the surrounding countryside. It’s a 5 minute walk from the office de tourisme in town. If you are feeling energetic, you can climb the tower ( 110 steps) to get an ever better view from the top!

As ever with the kids, get there early, perhaps wandering  the streets and stopping for breakfast, before visiting the castle, allowing you to leave before the crowds get properly going and the kids have had enough!

Chateau de haut Kroenigsbourg

Chateau de haut Kroenisborug is a medival castle located in the Alsace, near the village of Orschwiller, and a 30 minute drive north of Colmar. We drove up winding uphill roads and then caught clipmse of the castle before us, it look straight out of a fairytale and must be said is very beautiful and impressive.

The meer sight of it got the kids imaginations going, with dragons, Knights and princess games being acted out! It has incredible views of the region at 757 metres above sea level.

There are lots of steps and different levels; it is not suitable to access with a pushchair, and a carrier is recommended for non walking babies and toddlers. It is a great place to explore, with lots of different rooms, with displays of swords, armour, and canons to look at. Needless to say, the boys were in their element!

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What we ate

We normally went to one of the amazing boulangerie/ patisseries ( a French bakery) wherever we were for croissant, pain au chocolate and coffee, finding a pretty spot on a bench with a view to enjoy our breakfast.

You are never far from an amazing bakery in this area of France (or all of France?!) And the delicious treats from these establishments are one of my favourite things about our travels in the country.

Lunch was normally another trip to the boulangerie for filled baguettes, and I always bring fresh fruit from the market or supermarket with me in my bag on days out. We loved choosing the munster cheese for a filling,  which is an Alsace speciality; a super smelly cheese which was so delicious. We also treated ourselves to lots of gingerbread, which is another food Alsace is famous for, and boy, is it good. We prefer eating alfresco in a park or beauty spot, so we normally get it to go, but sometimes we would choose a cafe or bistro we fancied too.

For dinner we often chose a restaurant in the village or town. We just strolled by and chose something we liked the look of and never had a problem not booking, even though we went in August, which is peak season. If you have a particular in mind, it can get busy, so it might be worth booking to make sure you get a table. We loved eating the Tarte Flambee, a creamy pizza/ flatbread with a creamy sauce and onions and bacon. The boys loved this one too! Tarte Flambé is another speciality of the region, and you can find it on most menus in the area.

Where we stayed

We stayed in the Ibis in the centre of Strasbourg for 2 nights to explore the city, and found it excellent value, and really.comfortable. In Colmar, we stayed in the Novotel and would also recommend it. We stayed for 5 days in Colmar and used it as a base to explore the surrounding villages.

The Novotel family room was a decent size, had a fridge/ kettle/ tea and coffee, plus was a 2 minute walk to the centre of Colmar, and had secure underground parking too ( this was an additional charge).

The staff were friendly and helpful, and they also gave the boys a gingerbread teddy on arrival, which they were absolutely delighted with and was a really nice touch.

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Final thoughts

This is a really nice area of France to explore and is in a great location to add on to a longer trip or on a trip to the alps (this is what we did). It’s a 6.5-hour trip from Calais, so not to far to do in one day from the tunnel/ ferry crossing if you time it right.

The stunning architeque and beautiful villages are unique and amazing to see in person. There is lots of stunning countryside to visit and found it to be an easy to navigate trip for our family. The route de vin is the main draw for tourism in the area attracting  both cyclists and motorists who come to tour the vineyards and wine rooms. We  found the lack of child centred activities in the region did not hinder our trip, and the medival castles, villages, fabulous food, and countryside were plenty to entertain our family of four.  Recommend!

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Hi! I’m Lizzie, a mum of two living in the Cotswolds. Here on Travel Happy Family, I share all of our travels with you, where we’ve been, how we got there, and how much it cost!

If you are looking for ideas on where to travel with your kids, inspiration for new destinations, or just want to follow us on our journey, welcome, and I hope you find what we write helpful.

Happy travels! Xxx