Hi Friends, It's Laura

Just a girl with a backpack, a book, and her dog

Home » My Beercycling Adventure Through Alsace: Wine, Rain, and Scenic Rides

My Beercycling Adventure Through Alsace: Wine, Rain, and Scenic Rides

Location: Alsace

Imagine cycling through quaint, narrow, cobblestone streets in France lined with half-timbered houses and flower boxes overflowing with geraniums. You stop into a small shop to get out of the rain and eat your baguette sandwich while drinking crisp white wine. The tasting room is in a stone cellar hundreds of years old. You spend the afternoon biking through rolling hills of vineyards, the neatly ordered vines striping the landscape. This is how I spent a week of my Sparkling Summer, cycling through Alsace on a beer and wine tasting cycle tour – Beercycling. 

Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links, meaning, at no cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

A beautiful day riding along the canal towpath towards the first brewery in Strasbourg, Alsace, surrounded by greenery and calm waters.
A beautiful day riding along the canal towpath to our first brewery of the cycling trip in Strasbourg, Alsace.

The aptly named tour company Beercycling is owned and hosted by Evan Cohan, a friend of some of my friends. When they asked me a year ago to join them on a cycling trip in Alsace for Jeff’s 40th birthday, my first instinct was to say no. I had no interest in grueling miles on a bike over mountains. Then my friend Kat said wine would be involved. Wine, you say? Tell me more! 

About Alsace, start of our cycling tour in France

Alsace is a region in northeastern France bordering Germany, and it is not actually that mountainous. Instead it’s full of rolling hills and increasingly known for its wine and beer. Its capital, and most famous city is Strasbourg. Known for its stunning Gothic cathedral, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, the city has that old-town medieval feel that is a hallmark of Alsace. The region is known for its Germanic influence, as the province (now part of Grand Est province) traded hands between the French and Germans for hundreds of years, until it became decidedly French after WWII. Many older people we met there spoke Alsatian at home, and then German socially. The younger people we met tended to speak French. 

The cycling group stops for a break along the canal towpath, bikes parked beside them, with an easy, paved path visible.
The group at our first rest stop along the canal. The canal towpath has an even, paved surface to make it easy for riding.

Alsace Beer and Wine Cycling Tour in France Overview

Our Alsace Beer and Wine Cycling bicycle tour through France began on a rainy June evening, where my group of seven friends left Paris to meet up at the Tandem Hotel in Strasbourg with the rest of our group. There were 15 of us in all, including guide and owner, Evan, co-guide Henk, van support Tom, and future guide Wendy. We got up on Monday morning for a week-long trip of cycling, beer tasting, and wine tasting. 

The charming old buildings, with stork nests on top! You can see three nests in this photo in Eguisheim- far left, dead center, and just off center on the right.

Our cycling group rode approximately 30 miles each day on the bikes provided by the tour group. I rode an e-bike, as did a handful of other folks in the group, while the rest rode standard hybrid road bikes. While I tried to train before the trip, I knew that I didn’t want to stress each day on the bike and wanted to have fun. The e-bike let me work hard but not too hard and enjoy each ride. 

image shows a woman in a pink shirt and red helmet on a bicycle in front of a canal
The crew on day one. Look how dry we all are.

Itinerary for our Wine Cycling Tour in Alsace, France

Our tour covered 263 km (163 miles) in 6 days. We began in Strasbourg, and ended in Colmar. Along the way we rode to:
Day 1: Strasbourg out and back, 30 miles
Day 2: Strasbourg to Obernai, 28 miles
Day 3: Obernai to Ribeauvillé, 32 miles, hilly
Day 4: Rest day in Ribeauvillé
Day 5: Ribeauvillé to Lapoutroie, 20 miles
Day 6: Lapoutroie to Gueberschwihr, 37 miles, hilly
Day 7: Gueberschwihr to Colmar, 21 miles, optional add on to Three Castles of Eguisheim

A sample day went like this:

🥞 Breakfast: Starts 6:30 AM
🧳 Bike Prep / Introductions – 8:45 AM
🚲 Depart: 10:00 AM
💪 Stats: 48km (30 miles) – Mostly flat
📅 Schedule

  • 8:45 AM – Bike Prep / Introductions (in front of hotel)
  • 10:00 AM – Departure
  • 11:30 AM – Brasserie La Houblonnière + Lunch
  • 2:45 PM – Quick stop by Mogwai Beer Company
  • 4:30 PM – Expected arrival back at the hotel
  • 6:00 to 7:00 PM Dinner – Meet at Le Grand Tigre (5 mins walk from hotel). Come early if you want to watch the start of the Euro Cup France vs. Belgium. Drinks 6 PM, dinner 7 PM.

🚲 Bike Safety

  • As we cycle out of Strasbourg we’ll be primarily on pedestrian paths along the canals. These can be very narrow with 2-way bike traffic, so please be alert, ride single file when needed, and stay to the right.

🍻 Brewery 1 / Lunch: Brasserie La Houblonnière – 11:30 AM @ 24km

🍻 Brewery 2: Mogwaï Beer Company – 2:45 PM @ 42km

🍜  Group Dinner: Le Grand Tigre – 7:00 PM (Please meet us there)

For the day to day of the trip, I’ll outline it separately. When I posted the trip on Instagram, I got a ton of questions about the cycling tour, including what I packed, so I’ll cover those questions about the French cycling tour in an additional post, too. 

Highlights of a wine bicycling tour in France

A cultural highlight I loved was the region’s love of the storks, the cigogne. We saw these enormous birds nested high on top of the medieval buildings. Their nests can weigh thousands of pounds, so there are specially built platforms for them. We saw storks on everything from signs to tshirts to mugs. 

A black t-shirt featuring a large pretzel design, the logo of Alsace. The tshirt is on a mannequin in a shop window.
I wanted this tshirt and a matching sweatshirt but not seventy dollars worth. The “bretzel” is the logo of Alsace.
A metal sculpture or statue of white stork is in a store window. ALso in the window are red checked table clothes with snacks and souvenirs piled on top.
The white stork is the official bird of Alsace – they nest on the rooftops all throughout the region!

I also loved the pretzels on everything! I picked up some very cute pretzel earrings in Ribeauvillé. There was one pretzel sweatshirt I wanted, but it was $75 which honestly is too much for a sweatshirt.

Another highlight was of course the wine. We drank excellent wine at many lovely tasting rooms. I’m a fan of crisp white wines, and the white wine in Alsace is not as sweet as other region’s Gewurztraminer or Rieslings are. The Alsatian pinot gris reminded me of the chasselas wine I tasted in Lavaux, Switzerland. I also fell in love with crémant wines, that champagne-like sparkling wine. The wine was so affordable, too! We generally paid around 11 euros to bring a bottle home. Even when we shipped a case of wine back to the US, the wine was around 20 euros a bottle with shipping of only 30 euros!

The wine-tasting room at Scherb Winery, nestled in a centuries-old stone cellar, showcasing traditional Alsatian architecture. The stone walls are curved. Three tables of people are in front, with people drinking wine and eating cakes.
The wine was pretty great!! This tasting room at Scherb is hundreds of years old.

Riding wise, the sunny days through vineyards were my favorite. I could have cycled through those all day every day, especially on my e-bike. It reminded me of the day off I had in London, where I cycled on the towpath in Hertfordshire. Maybe I just love canal towpaths?? 

Lowlights of a bike tour in France

It rained a lot. A lot. I cannot overstate how much it rained. Apparently France had a very wet, very late spring. Even though we were there in July, we wore sweatshirts, raincoats, and rain pants for most of our trip. 

The group of five cyclists dressed in rain gear, including waterproof jackets and pants, posing against a backdrop of rainy vineyards.
Our crew in rain gear – waterproof pants, jackets, and sometimes helmet covers. The rolling hills in the vineyards are stunning but it sure was rainy.

We also did not get to spend a lot of time in each of the small towns we visited. We had the most time to walk around Strasbourg, because we were there for two nights. However, we barely had time to walk around some of the charming medieval towns, like Eguisheim, because we were only there during lunch. When we did have time to explore before dinner, most local shops or museums were closed.  

I also did not really train enough, if we’re being honest. I did about three long rides with Kat, Jeff and Nick before leaving on the trip, and I never cycled day to day. I also brought brand new cycling pants with me, which was well and truly a mistake. I would have left the cycling pants at home and brought a padded cycling seat with me instead. 

Don’t miss a moment of the ✨ Sparkling Summer ✨

Read all about Paris, Taylor Swift, hiking in the alps, getting slightly lost in the Alps, cycling through wine country, drinking through wine country, and cycling AND drinking through wine country. Catch every post on my Sparkling Summer on Hi Friends It’s Laura.

Read More

Where we stayed on our cycling tour in France

  • Hotel Tandem, Strasbourg: The best hotel of our trip was this cycling themed hotel. Great location, cute rooms, and a full bar in the lobby. Rooms from $146.
  • A La Cour D’Alsace, Obernai: Zero memory of this hotel. Rooms from $146.
  • Hotel de La Tour, Ribeauville: A perfect location looking out over the village square.  Rooms from $103.
a brunette woman in a jean jacket and black slacks stands in front of a large yellow ochre painted wall. The small windows have bright pink geraniums in the window.
  • Hotel Restaurant Du Faudé, Lapoutrie: The room we stayed in had two full bedrooms and baths, so I thoroughly enjoyed some space to myself. Rooms from $93.
  • Hotel Relais du Vignoble, Gueberschwihr: A surprisingly modern hotel, even though it looked very charming from the exterior. 
  • Ibis Styles, Colmar: This is like a Holiday Inn Express. A very cute, but not large, room with a balcony. Great breakfast. 

While you may not stay in any of these particular hotels, booking any stay through one of my affiliate links helps support this website. You can book through Expedia, VRBO, or Booking.com – any booking provides a small commission at no extra expense to you. I use that to offset web hosting costs for Hi Friends It’s Laura.

A group of cyclists, all wearing blue cycling jerseys with orange trip mill about a stone courtyard. Many are drinking beer tastings. A WWII jeep is in the front right corner as decoration.
Our group at Timothy’s in Eguisheim trying his beer. He has this old WWII Jeep that he is restoring in the courtyard of his brasserie. Our last day was jersey day – all of these folks had taken a previous Beercycling tour and were back for more!

Would I recommend Beercycling Beer and Wine Tour in Alsace?

Yes! I primarily went on this specific tour because two of my closest friends, Jeff and Kat, had been on tours with Evan before and wanted to celebrate Jeff’s milestone birthday. I brought along my friend, Tiffany, and we joined three other friends in Paris for the trip. Part of the fun was hanging out with friends and having a great time every day. 

two women smile at the camera. One on the left has a navy cycling hat on and a blue jacket. The one on the right is taking the selfie and has pink sunglasses, and a pink shirt on.
Kat (on the left) made me go on this trip – a wine cycling tour in northeastern France (Alsace, to be precise)!

The tour itself is also terrific. Evan is a great tour guide and host, and made everyone feel welcome along each part of the trip. I would not have taken this type of trip on my own before. In fact, Alsace was not even on my radar for somewhere to visit. I found Alsace and its wineries absolutely charming. In some ways it’s similar to the parts of Brittany and Normandy I visited previously, and yet entirely different. It’s also very different, in a good way, from Paris. 

If you wanted to go on a cycling tour but I haven’t sold you on Alsace, Beercyling also runs trips to Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Italy. Evan is thinking about a Dolomites tour, and that’s number one on my bucket list right now! 

A quaint Alsatian town with half-timbered buildings and brightly painted walls. In front is a fountain.
On the Beer and Wine Cycling tour, you ride through adorable medieval towns like this every day. Every town in Alsace has a cute square like this, full of cafes, tasting rooms, and shops! This was taken in Obernai, but I only knew that because I googled the hotel name.

Were I to revisit Alsace, I might be tempted to stay in Strasbourg or Eguisheim and do day trips to cycle since I’m more comfortable with the area. The Route des Vins is very well marked, so I would feel fine about renting a bike or taking a single day tour. Strasbourg has a lot of medieval architecture and history that I’d love to learn about on a walking tour. For example, it was the site of a dancing plague in the early 1500s??? Insane, right? (I read this fiction book about the plague, and this nonfiction one is downloaded to my Kindle.)

Find bike rentals in Strasbourg

Overall, I had an amazing week cycling through France, spending days experiencing the charm of Alsatian towns and their wonderful wines. If you’ve been on a similar tour, what was your favorite part? 

[instagram-feed]