Riquewihr
France
A walled wine village of about a thousand people at the foot of its own grand cru slopes, with Kaysersberg, Ribeauvillé and Hunawihr a few kilometres along the same road
Photo by Dirk Scheuble on Unsplash
Photos by Aswathy N, Filiz Elaerts, Filiz Elaerts and Filiz Elaerts on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of France
May to October for the vineyards and the harvest, and December for the Christmas markets — market weekends fill the one street from gate to gate
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 80mm in May
Where it is
48.17°N, 7.30°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Walk up through the Schoenenbourg vines behind the village before the coaches arrive
- Taste at two or three cellars, and spit if you are driving
- Walk the vineyard path to Hunawihr and Ribeauvillé, and take the bus back
- Stay a night in one village rather than doing five from Colmar in an afternoon
- Go up to the Haut-Koenigsbourg first thing for the view over the plain to the Black Forest
Riquewihr travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget France
Mid-rangeEuro, and cards in the wine cellars, restaurants and most shops. The Christmas market stalls are the exception, and a good many want cash for a cup of vin chaud. Never change money at an airport booth on the way in.
ATMs & cards
Few machines in the villages and they run dry on market weekends. Draw in Colmar from a bank’s own machine before coming out, and always decline the conversion.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- independent machines that offer to charge you in your own currency
Use these instead
- Crédit Mutuel
- Crédit Agricole
- Caisse d’Épargne
- BNP Paribas
Draw in Colmar before coming out: the villages have very few machines and they empty on market weekends.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of France
Very safeVery safe. The village is small and fills completely on market weekends and summer afternoons; come early. The wine route is a working road, narrow between villages and shared with tractors in the harvest, and tastings add up — someone in the car should be spitting.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the main street on market weekends — it fills from gate to gate and the crowd only moves at walking pace
- the wine route between villages — narrow, no pavement, tractors in the harvest, and drivers who have been tasting
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa France visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of France
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodTarte flambée from a wood oven, choucroute, baeckeoffe, and kougelhopf from the bakeries. The point, though, is the wine: taste at the cellars in the main street — Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer, often from the slope you can see from the door — and buy there rather than in Colmar.
Travel tipsGetting around
Car needed- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- G7Works here
- FREE NOWWorks here
G7 the taxi fleet, by app
- Against a taxi
- Much the same. The flat airport rate is a taxi rule and the apps price against it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Paris — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
French
- HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
- PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
- Thank youMercimer-SEE
- Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic, and strictly secular
Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
- Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
- Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
- Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated
Don't
- Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
- Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
- Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
- Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised
Where to stay in Riquewihr
No Holistay rentals in Riquewihr yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Riquewihr on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg BSL
1hfrom the airport· 65 km as the crow flies
About an hour by hire car; by bus and train through Colmar, nearer two hours.
Also worth pricing: Strasbourg SXB — about an hour by hire car, or the train to Colmar and the bus.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
