"Touring Alsace - North" 2012 7 Day Fully Guided Tour [ We ride in  France ]

the essence of the tour!

The ride through the North of Alsace is a combination of culture, history, the pleasure of the open road and gastronomy.

The winding foresty roads, the historic visits and with every meal, the party atmosphere always beginning with a local aperitif. All the meals and drinks (in reasonable amounts) are included in this tour, to underline our intention of presenting the culinary specialities all week long.

The ride through the North of Alsace will take you through steep valleys, deep forests, with rivers where you can imagine the trout jumping, fields where the haymaking is in full swing, lost hamlets where life has stopped. The nature is magnificent, the houses in hundreds of colours, the gardens full of flowers in bloom. The people have simple tastes: a well trimmed hedge, a fine smelling lime tree on the village square with a bench underneath to sit on in the evening with friends. They eat well, sometimes too well, but they have understood that it is around a good table that friendships are made, that brotherhood is found.

You will be welcomed by our Harley friend Philippe Velten. We will leave everyday from the pretty hotel "The Golden Lion" (Le Lion d'Or) at La Petite Pierre, in the Regional Park of the North Vosges, and discover a region full of history and culture. This tour round the North of Alsace is one of our oldest tours in Europe, and it is not a little to say that the enthusiasm of the participants made us decide to launch this tour with more ambition in our new European programme.

It is a route planned to help you discover the northern part of Alsace, where the weather is generally very good in June but can be changeable, particularly in the Vosges mountains and in the Black Forest. Certain changes may be necessary according to the weather conditions (we cannot indeed guarantee everything in our programme, but will do our best following a 5 day weather forecast). We suggest that you arrive earlier or stay longer after the tour in Strasbourg in order to visit this magnificent city. It will be our pleasure at West Forever to advise you or book extra nights in hotels.

- We will ride in group at a moderate pace, following our guide on his Electra Glide.
- Your luggage is on a truck behind the group.

tour itinerary

Day 1: Entzheim (Arrival)

Meeting point at the guide's farm in Entzheim. For those arriving by plane or by train, transfer can be arranged. Parking is organised for those who come by car, with or without a trailer. Rental bikes will have previously been collected from the Harley-Davidson dealership at Fegersheim. Free evening.

Day 2:

Molsheim – Boersch – Mont Saint Odile. Picnic at Champ du Feu or in the plain, depending on weather conditions. Visit the Nazi camp of Struthof. Schirmeck – Nideck forest – Wangenbourg – Neuwiller – La Petite Pierre. Aperitif at the castle. Meal at Lion d'Or.

Day 3:  

Ride through the forest – Wingen – Bitche – Woerth. Visit of "Four a Chaux"/Maginot Line. Lunch at 'La Clairiere' in Woerth. Lichtenberg castle. La Petite Pierre. Wine tasting evening : 7 types of Alsatian wines. Meal at Lion d'Or.

Day 4:  

Wine Road of northern Alsace, from Marmoutier to Scherwiller. Lunch at Triembach au Val. Fouchy – Urbeis – Le Hohwald – Obernai. Return to La Petite Pierre via some troglodyte houses. Aperitif and meal at the Relais de Chasse.

Day 5: Epicurean Day! 

Phalsbourg – the inclined plane at Artzwiller – Rocher de Dabo. The pass of Donon (west ascent). Lunch at Christiane's, at the Inn of Donon. Forestry road and return via the pass of Steige, Champ du Feu, Belmont, Donon (descent on the eastern side). Aperitif at the Rocher Blanc. Meal at Lion d'Or.

Day 6:

Day in the northern plains – Swartzwaldhochstrasse – German Wine Road. Lunch at a German Inn. Castle in the vineyards. Harley-Davidson dealership. Free evening.

Day 7: Entzheim (Departure)

Breakfast and goodbyes!