October 3 – November 4, 2024 (Autumn)
Crisp air and crisp leaves, wholesome foods, and cozy nights indoors – autumn is a cheat code for loving any stay. So it’s perhaps not surprising that humble Sélestat was such a winner in our books. Sure, it doesn’t shine as bright as Colmar, but that didn’t stop us from falling hard for our second stay in Alsace.
Sélestat is a pretty small city of fewer than 20k people – storybook Colmar boasts more than three times that many. Its signature landmark, the Château d’eau, is visible from far and wide✨, but we were front and center with an ideal camp just between the train station and the old town center.
Like Colmar, Sélestat offers a trail of tourist-tricking triangles✨ to traipse around town. It was Kieran’s favorite thing in the world for the month. At one point we visited the tourism office and the guide asked what we liked most about Sélestat. Danielle said the triangles, and I think he died a little inside. But for a toddler✨ obsessed with walking✨, they were peak fun.
Sélestat has its charms✨, but is objectively more modest than Colmar. Fewer✨ and smaller✨ attractions. Almost no pedestrianized✨ areas – walking down pretty cobbled lanes hand in hand with a toddler is way less fun when an impatient driver could whip around a blind corner at any moment. But it was also an affordable base for exploring the sights out of town, from nature walks in the Rhine valley to mountain-top chateaus.
Likewise, our Airbnb was a simpler stay than last month, but with undeniable location appeal. Top floor of a family home, rented by the owners themselves, and on a quiet dead-end street we adored after the previous month’s construction shenanigans. The furniture wasn’t very comfy, but it was spacious, the hosts were nice, and we could pick up the triangle trail from right outside.
Our proximity to the train station✨ made it easy to take day trips to other destinations. Top of our list was Strasbourg✨, capital of Grand Est and the largest city in Alsace.
We assumed we’d love Strasbourg’s mix of Alsatian charm and big-city convenience, but it was actually kind of overwhelming, which in turn made it underwhelming. It wasn’t as pretty as Colmar, it was even more car-centric then Sélestat, and in general it was crowded, busy✨, and expensive.
We were glad for the day trip to see✨ the sights✨, but were equally relieved to have based ourselves elsewhere.
The Humanist Library of Sélestat, or Bibliothèque Humaniste✨, topped the list of attractions back at base camp. It’s the centerpiece of the city and anchors a large square that also features the Maison du Pain d’Alsace✨ (Museum of Bread). A ticket to one is supposed to give a discount to the other, but the bread museum lady pocketed our cash and neglected to give us a paper ticket, so her ticky-tack embezzlement screwed us out of 2€ apiece!
Just around the corner, the Église Saint-Georges de Sélestat (St. George’s Church) was under renovation, but still partially accessible.
We enjoyed the nondescriptness of our stay, but for most, the only reason anybody comes to Sélestat is to visit Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg✨, the most famous of the Alsatian chateaus. It’s conveniently accessible by bus from the depot immediately in front of the station, streamlined so tourists don’t have to step one more foot into town than necessary.
A tour of the chateau✨ offers some interesting sights✨. But by far the highlight of a visit to Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg is to climb the impressive walls✨ and enjoy its commanding view of the Upper Rhine Valley.
The small✨ walled✨ of Obernai was a bit more car-centric✨ than we hoped, but then again, so was Sélestat✨. Both still lovely, but after pedestrian-paradise Colmar it seemed bewildering to let people drive and park all over pretty medieval lanes. Danielle has ancestors from this area, so we took the chance to explore the Cimetière d’Obernai behind Église Saints-Pierre-et-Paul✨ for some gravely-serious genealogy research.
Niedernai✨ held the most family history✨, but was harder to get to. Luckily the beautiful trail connecting it with the more-accessible Obernai made visiting both a literal walk in the park.
Alsace is the Christmas market capital of France and one of the most popular in the world, so it’s no surprise that preparations were already underway✨ by mid-October. But the American version of Halloween had filtered over to a surprising degree, and local grocery stores had (quite overpriced) Jack-o-lantern pumpkins for carving and kids dressed up in typical costumes of sorcières and super-héros to go trick-or-treating.
Like Colmar, the food options in Sélestat were clutch. Supermarkets featured amazing range of high-quality ingredients and strangely addicting✨ snacks. A once-weekly street market✨ offered an opportunity to pick up some items from small-scale producers.
There’s nothing like the changing of the seasons to make one contemplate death. But our reason for visiting the cemeteries✨ of Sélestat wasn’t so dark – they were just very nice places to walk.
On the contrary, autumn brought absolutely perfect weather✨. Kieran enjoyed getting his hands on some new playthings✨. And Danielle had fun reporting back to her farmer parents about how harvest season✨ works in this corner of the world.
We probably spent more time out of doors than in. Our favorite stroll was the Rte de Marckolsheim. After passing the Kajak-Slalom-Strecke, it’s a very short walk out of town to farms✨ and fields✨. Continuing on brought us to a bridge✨ over the Dreiwasser – freshly refurbished during our stay – and finally to the lovely Illwald hiking area✨, a favorite of birdwatchers.
For more focused bouts of burning off kid-energy, the playgrounds at the Parc des Remparts✨ were the closest and best around.
Despite being utterly charmed by Colmar and (to a lesser extent) Sélestat, Alsace never really felt like “home” in the way Vilnius or Hvar do. It reminded us a lot of our previous stays in Brittany; on paper Alsace checks so many boxes we should be in love with it, but in practice we were just really, really, really in like.
