Eguisheim- Half-timbered houses, storks and vineyards in the heart of Alsace

We arrive in Eguisheim on a warm evening in mid-July, when summer is at its most beautiful. It's not the first time we visit Alsace, yet I almost forgot how enchanting this region is. The scenery and villages in this part of France are almost surreally sweet, and Eguisheim is no exception.

The narrow cobbled streets are lined with leaning half-timbered houses in bright, vibrant colors that almost feel too perfect to be true. Hydrangeas and hanging geraniums climb and bloom everywhere, as if the entire village's house facades are competing to be the most beautiful facade. Eguisheim is not just a small French village, but a fairytale experience that stays with you.

Ring roads and charm

Eguisheim ranks among France's most beautiful villages, and it is not difficult to understand why. Countless medieval half-timbered houses coexist here - so many that it feels impossible to keep count. The houses are well maintained, freshly painted and seem almost untouched by the passage of time.

The streets are clean and free of graffiti and litter. Despite the temperature climbing above 30 degrees this July weekend, the flowers that adorn the village are as fresh as if they had just bloomed. Eguisheim is simply a place where every detail is as charming as it is impressive.

One of Eguisheim's unique characteristics is that the houses are built in circles around the town's core. A smart way of building which means that the houses in the Middle Ages functioned both as homes and as protection against enemies. One side of the house has windows and doors, the back is smooth as a wall and without entrances and windows.

If you have started walking on one of the narrow ring roads, you cannot deviate whenever you want, then the city would have been too easy to conquer. But who wants to deviate, when every little street lamp and cobblestone tells the story of the medieval village?

Popes and storks

Eguisheim is perhaps best known in French history as the birthplace of Pope Leo IX and in the center of the village the Château Saint-Léon remains as a memorial to him. The castle is not large, but has a beautiful tower with the shiny, patterned mosaic that you often find on the roofs of Burgundy. On the castle's roof you will find the village's now most famous residents. The storks. On every other roof, the big birds spread their wings and look down on the village. Everywhere in Alsace you can find these impressive birds, but it is probably here in Eguisheim that I have seen the most storks in one and the same village.

It clatters like clogs on a hard floor as the storks play for each other with their big beaks in the sunset. The echo propagates in the narrow alleys and causes more storks to join in the symphony. A few storks start squabbling on a roof. Storks mate for life and unwanted suitors are not accepted without a fight.

A visit to the village's largest wine producer

Eguisheim is located on the famous Route des Vins d'Alsace which winds through the area's vineyards and villages. Alsace is known for its white wine and Eguisheim is no exception. The vineyards go all the way down into the village and you don't have to walk many meters from the village's main street to suddenly stand in the middle of sun-ripened grapes.

Wine has been grown in Alsace since Roman times. The dry and sunny climate and the Vosges mountain massif protect against rain and wind and make the area ideal for viticulture. The majority of the vineyards in Eguisheim are located within the village itself and many of the village's families have been winegrowers for generations. Traditions have been preserved while wine production has developed and modernized, but the craftsmanship remains and is a source of pride.

The city's largest and most famous producer is the wine house Wolfberger, which began in 1902 as a cooperative of winegrowers. Today, 420 winegrowers are affiliated with Wolfberger and together they produce a large variety of wines – including 15 Grand Crus, the area's highest wine classification. Despite the winery's large production and elegant visitor center, everything feels relatively small-scale.

On our visit to Wolfberger, we selected four wines for tasting, which were carefully presented by knowledgeable staff. A very nice wine tasting, which was completely free. Because that's how it is on most farms in Alsace. Everything is friendly, personal, convivial and has the feel of small scale.

Wander among the vines

Around Eguisheim, you'll find the pleasant Sentier viticole Eguisheim, a hiking trail through the vineyards that tells the story about the area's grapes and wine along the way. Specifically, the hiker learns more about the area's two Grand Cru vineyards – Eichbergand Pfersigberg– and their unique microclimate and terroir.

The wines in Alsace are primarily regulated by the French appellation system AOC Alsace, which was introduced in 1962. Within the Alsace AOC terroir, seven grapes are grown – riesling, gewurztraminer, sylvanter, muscat, pinot gris, pinot blanc and pinot noir. The different grapes produce very different wines, from fruity whites to berry red wines.

Evening walks and lovely dinners

We stay in Eguisheim for three nights, just enough time to explore the area and the three castles that look down on the village. In the evenings we walk around the small alleys and observe life in the village. The children coming home from school, the house cat stroking around the corner and the smell of freshly baked bread from an open window. Eguisheim is not a typical tourist resort, although the village gets its fair share of tourists (700 000 visitors a year to be exact). Eguisheim is a village that lives and thrives, largely thanks to its tourists.

We find many lovely restaurants, the majority of which are located on the slightly more secret ring roads. The evenings are warm and the outdoor seating is always full. You can often find free tables in the basement vaults, which in and of itself is not always a disadvantage. The prices are completely affordable and a glass of local wine is often ridiculously cheap.

Wine festivals all year round (almost)

In a wine town, it goes without saying that you celebrate the year's harvest, and there are plenty of harvest festivals in the region. The days we visited Eguisheim in mid-July there was a local small festival for three days.

For 8 euros you get a wine glass (which you get to keep) and a binder with a plastic-wrapped list of all the over 100 different wines you can try. Then all you have to do is point and your glass will be refilled. No extra expenses. No additional costs. Just a great opportunity to get to know the region's different grapes, farms and vintages.

None of those who served the wine spoke anything other than French, but French is the language of wine. So you don't have to worry about the glass ever needing to be empty.

A village to experience

Three nights in Eguisheim was just enough, although the distances are small and it is easy to explore the whole region with a base in Eguisheim. Although we visited a handful of villages in Alsace, Eguisheim is special. Not only for its ring roads, but also because it was very easy to park the car and explore the vineyards on foot. The village is also well located for a pleasant overnight stay on the way to or from the south of France.

How do I get to Eguisheim?

Eguisheim is located in Alsace in northeastern France, right on the border with Germany. The nearest major airports are in Stuttgart, Strasbourg and Zurich.

Map

We stayed at the three-star and charming the Originals boutique hotel Hotel la ferme du Pape with a perfect location inside the village and a large parking lot. Simple but fresh and nice.

You can read about more wonderful places in Alsace on mine Alsace side, but also take the opportunity to visit the nearby regions Baden-Württemberg and Burgundy.