Hi all, want to nip over the border with a visiting friend, mainly to get another country on his itinerary but also to pick up some confit du canard... Any suggestions for a nice little French town to visit, not too far away (by CDN standards ) from Zurich? Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Sam

Colmar.

dave

Thanks... it's been reccomended by a couple of people, I'm leaning toward that one. Just gotta dig out a map and figure out how to get there!

Colmar and nearby villages of Kaysersberg, Riquewhir, Ribeauville and Eguisheim.

Riquewihr is good, very quaint, pedestrianised and mobbed with tourists. Ribeauville is similar, but not so pretty. The real reason to visit these two villages is that they are on the wine route and to get your hands on some Hugel and Trimbach respectively. Gewürztraminer & Pinot Gris specifically.

dave

Exactly! BTW, Hugel is very generous with allowing you to try whatever you want, especially considering what a high-end label they are. They are a world-class producer. However, for amazing deals on wine, I'd recommend the community winery in Kaysersberg as well. Zinck wines in Eguisheim is also a very good winery at reasonable prices.

Avoid the summer tourist season and they're not too bad.

mulhouse is also quite a nice town, just over the border

Thanks everyone, we are off to Colmar... Au Revoir!

It's not too bad, and if you live in Basel it's great to do a bit of shopping in. Though for a bit of sightseeing, Colmar is much, much better. Visiting Carrefour on the way back probably isn't a bad idea though.

I would just head to Strassbourg.

But if you're in the french part of CH, Lyon would be the better bet.

Strasbourg is indeed great, and I was there a couple of weeks ago, and can heartily recommend the Regent Petit France - in the old town on the river.

Lyon is good (Cour-de-Lyon or the Villa Florentine are the hotels of choice here) but its a bit far from Zürich for a weekend, and the Geneva-Lyon car drive is no fun.

dave

Thanks for the tip, went to Colmar yesterday. Even with the variable weather it was a very pleasant afternoon.