Scenery and Food Galore in Alsace Eguisheim

You already have heard about Eguisheim and its history and people. But you also have heard the word Alsace in the earlier post. It’s because Alsace is the eastern historical region of France on the eastern border and on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland.

Alsace is one of the 22 administrative Régions in metropolitan France, it has two departments which are Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin. Eguisheim is part of the  Upper Rhine or Haut-Rhin.

Brief History of Alsace

After World War II, Alsatians began to primarily speak French, the official language of France. Internal and international migration since 1945 has also changed the ethnolinguistic composition of Alsace.

But before that, the language in the region is much of Alsace is Alsatian, a set of Alemannic dialects closely related to Swabian and Swiss German.

The largest and the capital city of Alsace is Strasbourg. The Alsace region has 2 departments, 13 departmental arrondissements, 75 cantons (not shown here), and 904 communes.

One of its most proud of the commune is Eguisheim which has crowned as the Most Beautiful Village in France since 2003.

Tourism Office Eguisheim

The office of Tourism of the village located right in the heart of the Central Square. Where you can see a bunch of tourists wandering around the area.

For Guide and Tours, the office offers every Thursdays at 5:00 pm from mid-June to mid-September a free Tour Guiding. Normal Tour and Guide service is throughout the year available on booking at the Tourist Office, in French, German and English.

What to Eat

Most of the restaurants, bars, café, and patisseries/boulangerie shops are artisanal. Which made by locals and the production and ingredients are from the village itself. You can also check about France’s Provencal Food Specialities

Searching on the web, it was quite difficult to name all these prominent shops with delicious delicacies for sale.

We’ll start with this luscious desserts oozing with delightful taste. France itself is known for its “croissant” and of course “French baguette”.

However in Alsace you will see more of their “Tarte au fruit”, “Tarte au Fromage” and other sorts of pastries.

Alsace Pralines

You’ll be amazed to discover that Pralines are one of the specialties in this region. Pralines flavored with Cinnamon, Caramel, Orange, Speculoos, and a lot more.

Artisanal Dessert

There are tons of cakes (gâteaux) like langhopf, Beerawecka, Kougelhopf salted or classic, and Pain d’Épices with 70% Honey. The are also sablé biscuits, macaroons, and other sorts of pains d’épices like Gingerli and Leckerli.

Nougats and dried fruits

On the right exit side of the Central Square you’ll see this shop called “Le Comptoir de Fruits” which sells various kinds of dried fruits including papaya, mango, coconut, lemon, orange, and many more.

Nougats is also one of their specialities, fruity flavored nougats are mostly the most popular like pistachio, orange, raspberry, and strawberry. 

The owner will of the shop will let you of course taste some of their best product for free, all these artisanal products are locally made.

Restaurants

While wandering around the town, you can find restaurants almost every corner of the village. On the official site, there were only 20 restaurants included (highlighted) but if you’re in the place you’ll see more as expected.

There are more of Auberge restaurants, as well as Pizzerias, Crêperie, Brasserie, and Taverne. Take note that the restaurants have their time of dining which is lunch, if you’ll go after that you cannot order Menu Meals anymore.

One of the small restaurants that I would recommend is the one found next to the Central Square, 2 mins of walk.

Tartines

Since restaurants don’t cook fresh meal menu anymore after the certain time. You can choose tartine instead, they are super good and tasty. For those who love cheese this place is a paradise!

Commencing with Tartine Bibalakass garlic, ciboulettes spice and sliced bacon. Which is really delicious!

The second one will be Tartine with Münster fondu rosemary spices and ham. Münster is actually a sort of cheese which is found in the town as a local product. 100% produced by the farmers.

Lastly Tartine with chevre and ham, chevre is simply goat cheese fondue added with the taste of ham and bread.

What to drink? of course you know it already. Alsace Grand Cru wines!

Alsace Grand Cru

The name Alsace Grand Cru is only given to granted to wines made from grapes harvested in certain strictly defined areas within the Alsace wine region of production.

Three different AOC labels exist in Alsace – Alsace Grand Cru and Crémant d’Alsace (sparkling wine) – as well as the prestigious terms “vendange tardive” (late harvest) and “sélection de grains nobles” (choice of noble grapes).

Among of these prestigious wines includes Eichberg (Eguisheim), Hatschbourg (Voegtlinshoffen), Pfersigberg (Eguisheim and Wettolsheim), and  Steingrubler (Wettolsheim).

You can also visit the Alsace Vineyards and Wines museum in Kientzheim castle in the Haut-Rhin, headquarters of the Saint-Etienne brotherhood.

What to buy

If postcards are not your favorites then you can visit to plenty of souvenir shops around the village. You can start with “La Boutique du Champignon” in Rue du Rempart Nord, where you can find scads of souvenirs to collect.

Statuettes and figurines of owls, turtles, birds, craft pottery, high quality table linen decorated with images of forest mushrooms, last but not th least figurines of “champignons” (mushrooms)

The owner of the shop is really kind, she will even explain you the history behind these mushrooms figurines. You can also take some photos but ask the owner first of course.

Other Best Scenery in Eguisheim

As you have noticed, there are not many cars in parked inside the village. There are some reasons of this, first is because the paved roads are too narrow for the car to pass on, and second villagers are the only ones who can park their car in their residence.

Among that half-timbered gingerbread like classic houses, there are some of them which have more vibrant colors like violet, pink, red, orange, lavender, blue and red which makes them more attractive than the rest.

Where to Stay

The village offers you different options like hotels, bed & breakfast, holiday’s accommodation, campsites and touristic residence which includes pool site.

Prices may differ on where you want to stay, if its gonna be in Eguisheim then tariffs of hotels are from 40 euros and above per night. If you’d like to more cheaper you can get some affordable hotels and B&B in Colmar which is near Eguisheim.

If you prefer to live like the locals, better take a B&B in Eguisheim, they will surely welcome you as a local and treat you like a family.

References:
Eguisheim Official Site
France_Voyage
Wikipedia

Booking.com