Riquewihr on Foot, from the Dolder Gate to the Walls and the Vines

Riquewihr is the best-known village on the Wine Route: a sloping main street, half-timbered houses from the 16th and 17th centuries with their courtyards and iron signs, and vines that reach right up to the wall. It can be seen in a couple of hours on foot, and the best thing is to arrive early or stay until the afternoon, when the coaches leave.

The walk

Enter at the bottom, next to the town hall, and climb the rue du Général de Gaulle, the main street, looking at the courtyards and side passages. At the top is the Dolder, the 25-metre gate tower of 1291 that closed the town. Go through it and continue to the second gate and the Tour des Voleurs, the old prison. Return along the parallel alleys and by the wall, and go out at one side to the vines: from the slope you see the roofs of the whole village.

The Dolder museum

Inside the tower there is a museum, classified Musée de France, which tells how Riquewihr was fortified between the 13th and 17th centuries: the lords of Württemberg, the walls, the weapons of the citizen soldiers and the trade of the gatekeepers and night watchmen who lived in the tower. From the top you see the roofs, the plain and the Black Forest. It is open from 10:30 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 17:45: every day from 11 July to 30 August, and at weekends and on public holidays from 4 March to 30 June and from 1 September to 31 October. On Christmas market weekends it opens from 11:00 to 17:00. Entry costs €3; the joint ticket with the Tour des Voleurs and the Maison de Vigneron, €7; accompanied under-15s do not pay.

Practical details

Riquewihr is about 15 km from Colmar. The paid car parks are outside the walls: the centre is pedestrianised. With a dog, on a lead in the streets. In December the Christmas market fills the village, especially on Saturdays.