Alsace holiday home rentals, apartments and villas

Why choose a holiday home in Alsace?

Your trip might begin with "Once Upon a Time" as you enter this fairytale land that shares a border with Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Evidence of the enmeshed French and German heritage can be found in everything from architecture to cuisine.

The finest white wines, Kronenbourg beer, and the birthplace of quiche Lorraine are complimented by steaming choucroute. Picture sauerkraut with sausages, potato, and smoked ham to fuel your journey as fertile vineyards, gingerbread houses, and castles give way to modern Strasbourg.

Cathedrale de Nortre Dame was the tallest building in the world until 1874. Noted for its pink sandstone veneer, breathtaking interior and staggering views from the pinnacle it was described by Victor Hugo as a "gigantic and delicate marvel" and can be seen from the distant Vosges Mountains or the Black Forest on the other side of the Rhine River. Vosges provides an interesting detour to the town of Domremy where Joan of Arc grew up.

If you travel via the canal and river systems in the region you may visit Petite Venise, the popular and well-preserved canal quarter of Colmar. The home of engraver-painter, Martin Schongaur, and Statute of Liberty designer, sculptor Frederic Bartholdi; it is a small stretch to picture 16th century merchants crowding these waterways.

Travel through Lorraine area to find over 250 museums, including one dedicated to classic automobiles, along with France's second largest flea market in Metz and Europe's largest hot air balloon festival. The first international handshake in outer space happened directly over Metz when Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft docked in the summer of 1975 and their Commanders opened the hatch to greet each other.

For your out of this world experience, bring your hiking boots, cycle, appetite, and passion for history to this region in the heart of Europe.

Contribution post: 02 July 2010