Ribeauville - A picture book village in a picture book land

It was a chance meeting in a local supermarket between my hubby and a former teacher that first alerted us to the Alsace region in France. The teacher had recently been there on a holiday with family and waxed lyrical in the bread aisle about the region. That piqued hubby’s interest enough to do a bit of research and realise that it was an area of France we had not been to previously and needed to explore.

Where is the Alsace?

The Alsace region sits in eastern France, on the French side of the river Rhine, that forms the border with Germany. It sits in a broad valley, running roughly north to south between the Vosges mountains to the west in France and the Black Forest to the east in Germany. The region’s capital, Strasbourg, sits towards the north end, and Basel on the Swiss border sits at the south end. The focus of this review is the small town where we stayed, Ribeauvillé, which is just a few miles north of the medieval city of Colmar.

Why we chose Ribeauville

Sitting on the south-east facing foothills, rising to the Vosges mountains, the region provides fertile and sheltered ground for vast vineyards that form the Alsace wine route. The mountains create a rain shadow effect, blocking winds and rainfall, making it a dry and pleasant area for grapes and visitors alike.

As we were travelling in late April, the potential of dry, warm weather sealed it for us and we chose Ribeauvillé as our base as it sits on the edge of one of those foothills, giving magnificent views of the mountains and vineyards and within easy reach of of other similar villages.

Historically, many of the villages in the region have changed hands between France and Germany many times as the border has moved back and forth, giving all the villages a wonderful blend of medieval Franco/Germanic styling. Obviously as a major tourist area, those medieval buildings have been restored and maintained for the visitors, but even so, they feel architecturally unique and are very pleasing to the eye.

Where we stayed

As we wanted electric and showers, we ignored the aire de camping car and chose the only campsite in town. Ribeauvillé Municipal Campsite – Pierre de Coubertin, is a 4-star site, situated on a country lane behind the local sports ground and is only a 15-minute walk through the pleasant town gardens to the centre of the town. It is a quiet and shady flat site, with clean showers and toilets. They don’t take bookings, so it’s a case of turning up and hoping for a vacant pitch. It wasn’t a problem when we were there, but I would imagine it gets hectic in peak periods. All things considered, for 20 euros off-peak and 22 euros on-peak (2025 prices) I thought it was pretty good value, especially when you get a daily visit to your pitch from the local cheeky stork!

Storks

In spring and summer, storks leave their African homes and flock north to the warm sheltered climes of the Alsace. As you walk towards Ribeauvillé, the first thing that catches your eye is their humongous nests perched precariously on roofs and chimney tops. We get to see the occasional swan’s nest at home, but nothing that big, at that height, so we were fascinated by them. Apparently, the locals see them as a sign for their farming activities, the more storks, the better the year ahead, so they actively provide supports for the nests to encourage them to return.

Three Castles of Ribeauvillé

Sitting high above the town on a nearby hillside are three castles, starting with the lowest, Chateau de Saint-Ulrich, then Chateau du Ginsberg and finally Chateau du Haut-Ribeaupierre. All were built in the thirteenth century by local warlords, as strongholds and look-out towers to protect against the invading hordes. It is possible to do a clearly signposted, round walk from the town, starting in the Place de Republique. It takes around 3 hours and is classified as ‘moderate’. I classified it as ‘not happening', as the weather was far too warm and paths too steep for my liking!

The Town

On leaving the Jardin de Ville, you enter the Grand Rue, which is the central spine of the town, where most of the cafes, shops and restaurants are based. In most places it's only a stride or two from one side to the other, giving it a nice cosy feel. Tightly packed, brightly painted buildings with exposed timbers, odd-shaped roofs and tall chimneys, a wonderful blend of two nations traditional architecture. We arrived just after Easter and the town had dressed their buildings to mark the occasion. I’ve still got a soft spot for a cuddly teddy, so I especially liked the bear displays.

Cuisine

We were determined to try the local cuisine, which is a blend of French and German influences, so our first port of call was a bakery selling Bretzels and Kouglehopf. Bretzels are a large soft pretzel which my hubby assures me was lovely with his local craft beer from Brasserie du Vignoble. Kouglehopf is a ring-shaped cake, flavoured with almonds and raisins, but it was far too dry for my liking, and it’s put me off for life. One thing that got the thumbs up from us both was the very tasty Tarte Flambée, which is a crisp flatbread topped with cream cheese, bacon and onions. The hubby described it as ‘a slimmer’s pizza’.  We were able to buy the ingredients to make them in the van at the local supermarket too.

Out and About

The vineyards provide great walks along the hillside to nearby villages, although it is possible to drop a little further down to the flatter plain if you want to make things easier for yourself. We had our bikes with us and did a lot of cycling, but there is a good local bus service that will take you to Colmar, and a Petit Train to take you on a tour around town which we did on the first day then realised we were cycling almost the same route to the next village the day after!

My Overall Opinion

Staying here was to be a stop off on the start of a longer trip, and I had not given it much attention prior to travelling.  I was pleasantly surprised about how nice I personally found the town to be and how beautiful the vineyards and hills were, although I advise an electric bike on some of those hills as I spent a lot of time pushing my manual one up them!  The buildings in town reminded me of the scenery we all saw in our childhood fairy tale books, and I loved the fusion of French/German food, far different to what I’ve experienced elsewhere in France.

Whether it’s a trip just to explore the Alsace, or a stopping off point on a trip to the Black Forest or the Alps, I’d highly recommend Ribeauvillé to use as a base, as it perfectly represents what you’d see elsewhere in the region and is ideally situated to get out and about in the local area.

Enough waffle from me, if you have been to the area, please drop me a comment on the blog letting me know what you thought of it.  If you enjoy reading my blogs, please like and subscribe to my website so you get notified when the next blog is published.  It’s completely free, I don’t fill your inbox with unwanted spam, and it really means the world to me to know my experience has helped someone else.

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Happy Travels