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Getting Here and Around

The three daily direct TGV high-speed return trips from Paris, Gare de l’Est, to Colmar (€72.10), taking 2 hours 50 minutes each way, are perfectly complemented by 10 semi-direct, hourly TGV/TER combos from the same station. They all require a change at either Strasbourg or Mulhouse but barely 10 minutes is added to the trip. The last of the five Sélestat-bound (€4.20) trains/buses from Colmar to stop at Ribeauvillé (€2.80) is at 1:06. The LK Groupe (www.l-k.fr) has regular bus services from the Gare SNCF to towns throughout the region, including Ribeauvillé (seven daily). Colmar’s train station on Rue de la Gare is in the far southwestern corner of town; from here, walk 15 minutes down Avenue de la République for the tourist office, or take municipal TRACE buses (buy ticket from driver).

For Colmar and its enchanting environs, take a highly recommended van tour with Les Circuits d’Alsace (8 pl. de la Gare | 68000 | 03–89–41–90–88 | www.alsace-travel.com)—castles, villages, and vineyards make for an exhilarating itinerary.

Visitor Information

Colmar Tourist Office.

| 4 rue Unterlinden | 68000 | 03–89–20–68–92 | www.ot-colmar.fr.

EXPLORING COLMAR

To find Colmar at its most charming, wander along the calm canals that wind through La Petite Venise (Little Venice), an area of bright Alsatian houses with colorful shutters and window boxes that’s south of the center of town. Here, amid weeping willow trees that shed their tears into the eddies of the Lauch River and half-timber houses gaily bedecked with geraniums and carnations, you have the sense of being in a tiny village. Elsewhere, the Vieille Ville streets fan out from the beefy towered church of St-Martin. Each shop-lined backstreet winds its way to the 15th-century customs house, the Ancienne Douane, and the square and canals that surround it.

The Maison Pfister (11 rue Mercière | 68000), built in 1537, is the most striking of Colmar’s many old dwellings. Note its decorative frescoes and medallions, carved balcony, and ground-floor arcades.

Up the street from the Ancienne Douane on the Grand Rue, the Maison aux Arcades (Arcades House) was built in 1609 in High Renaissance style with a series of arched porches (arcades) anchored by two octagonal towers.

The cultural highlight of Colmar is the Musée d’Unterlinden, once a medieval Dominican convent and hotbed of Rhenish mysticism, and now an important museum. Its star attraction is one of the greatest altarpieces of the 16th century, the Retable Issenheim (1512–16), by Matthias Grünewald, majestically displayed in the convent’s Gothic chapel. Originally painted for the convent at Issenheim, 22 km (14 mi) south of Colmar, the world-famous, multipanel altarpiece is either the last gasp of medievalism or a breathtaking preview of modernism and all its neuroses. Framed with two-sided wings which unfold to reveal the Crucifixion and Incarnation, the multipaneled masterpiece includes depictions of the Annunciation, the Resurrection, and scenes from the life of St. Anthony, including a Temptation rioting with monsters that even outdo those of Hieronymous Bosch. Grünewald’s altarpiece, replete with its raw realism (note the chamber pots, boil-covered bellies, and dirty linen), was believed to have miraculous healing powers over ergotism, a widespread disease in the Middle Ages. Produced by the ingestion of fungus-ridden grains, the malady caused its victims—many of whom were being nursed at the Issenheim convent—to experience delusional, nearly hallucinogenic, fantasies. Other museum treasures can be found exhibited around the enchanting 13th-century cloister, including arms and armor. Upstairs are fine regional furnishings and a collection of Rhine Valley paintings from the Renaissance, including Martin Schongauer’s opulent 1470 altarpiece painted for Jean d’Orlier. | 1 rue Unterlinden | 68000 | 03–89–20–15–50 | www.musee-unterlinden.com | €7 | May–Oct., daily 9–6; Nov.–Apr., Wed.–Mon. 9–noon and 2–5.

The Église des Dominicains (Dominican