In Colmar

“The first written document mentioning Colmar is dated 823. In 1354, the Decapolis was born, an association of ten imperial towns in Alsace, which aims to defend the privileges and status of the towns of the Empire and to ensure their safety. … The 15th and 16th centuries are the city’s golden age. (…) Today, the city is the third pole of Alsace, and has the reputation of being a calm and bourgeois city.”

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Colmar’s cultural life is punctuated by its shows, cinemas, theaters, opera, festivals and exhibitions: Colmar International festival (July), the famous Foire aux Vins d’Alsace and its music festival (August), the Jazz festival and the Movie festival (October), and the Book festival (November).

Right next to the house are the Unterlinden museum and its famous Issenheim altarpiece, the Bartholdi museum, the Natural History museum, the Toys museum and the André Malraux Contemporary Art Center.

Throughout the year, you can stroll on foot, in a horse-drawn carriage or in the small train at random through old cobbled streets, listen to music in kiosks or in the streets, shop in the Covered market or in the flea markets.

Weather permitting, Little Venice and its canal invite you to explore Colmar by boat. In winter, the ideal location of the house, in the heart of the Christmas Markets, immerses visitors in a magical setting mingling smells of gingerbread and mulled wine.

A stone’s throw away, Place Rapp, the outdoor ice rink and the merry-go-round will delight the little ones.

In late November, several Colmar squares are transformed to accommodate the Christmas market cabins and their warm decor.

Crafts, art work and antiques, gingerbread delicacies and other sweets, Flammekueche, mulled wine or apple juice, merry-go-rounds and Christmas tree decorations come together in a charming colorful mess.

A feast for the eyes, taste buds and ears!

For athletes and hikers, the Vosges are a few kilometers away, with their many marked trails, their farm inns and mountain lakes, and their Nordic and downhill ski slopes.

Canoeing on the Ill river at the marina, relaxing at Ammerschwihr Golf Resort, riding on the Alsace wine route, tasting wine in cellars in the beautiful villages of Riquewihr, Turckheim, Eguisheim, Kaysersberg or Sigolsheim… are just a few of the many possibilities for exploring the area.

Also, a few kilometers away: the NaturOparc of Sigolsheim, the Haut-Koenigsbourg castle, the Monkey Mountain and the Volerie des Aigles in Kientzheim.