EuroVelo 5 in Alsace: A bike ride through the vineyards

Time to base ourselves in Strasbourg for a few days and do some biking.

So what did we do? Take the train to Colmar, one of those gorgeous half-timbered towns.

Then we biked back to Strasbourg following EuroVelo 5 through vineyard after vineyard.

EuroVelo 5 is a long-distance bicycle route also known as the Via Romea, and it goes from Canterbury, England, to Rome and onto Brindisi on the Adriatic coast.

We only biked a small part of it — about 65 miles.

I had biked from Strasbourg to Colmar via Selestat more than 30 years ago, way before the advent of EuroVelo routes. This time felt very different — more vineyards, fewer towns. No Selestat, for example. But so many different bike routes! EV5 incorporates Alsace’s Veloroute du Vignoble. The red and black sign in the second photo is for Critical Mass rides.

Back then, I also didn’t bike as many miles in a day! And if I am honest, 65 was too many this time. How was I supposed to stop, taste wine and then keep biking? (I didn’t. Stop for wine, sadly.)

But the scenery! Just a sampling:

The first couple dozen miles were relatively flat. We took farm roads (paved!) past fruit trees as well as vineyards. We saw so many other riders, some out for the day, others with panniers loaded with gear for several days on the road … it was the day after a Thursday holiday in Germany, so many were taking a day off to create a four-day weekend. As everywhere in Europe, a good percentage of the bikes are e-bikes.

We spotted one World War II-related site just west of Colmar, in the beautiful half-timbered town of Turkheim: a museum commemorating the brutal fighting in the area during the winter of 1944-1945, known as the Colmar Pocket or the Poche de Colmar.

The route became hillier and steeper around Mittelbergheim and Barr, more cute towns with, yes, wine-tasting options. Is this where you want an e-bike? In the distance, we could see the lone spire of Strasbourg’s cathedral.

After 50 miles, a few miles north of Molsheim, we turned east toward Strasbourg. EuroVelo 5 sent us alongside the lovely, shaded Canal de la Bruche straight into the center of Strasbourg. Look at this bike-friendly cafe next to one of the locks!