Easter Weekend Part 1: Northern Switzerland and Alsace

We spent the long Easter weekend taking a road trip through Northern Switzerland and Alsace this year. Alsace was a destination that I've had on my Europe bucket list for several years now, mostly because of the photos I had seen of its gorgeous, quaint villages that look like they have been plucked right out of a story book.

I like to think of our journey on Friday as the "Pinterest day" because I chose our destinations based on Pins of Switzerland that had popped up for me over the past year. We first visited the Rhine falls in Northern Switzerland which is Europe's largest waterfall.  Despite the weather being cold and wet, we took a quick CHF8 boat trip to a little rocky island in the center of the falls and climbed steep stairs to overlook the rushing water.  We weren't overly impressed by the falls; but, then again I have heard that the late spring is a better time to visit because there is a lot of melting snow water passing through.

The falls from the rocky island in the center

Lots o water

The falls from afar, the rocky island in the center is the one that we climbed up

After leaving the Rhine falls, we drove to our hotel destination a half hour away in a tiny town in Northern Switzerland called Stein am Rhein.  Again another Pinterest destination, this tiny town mesmerized me. It is surrounded by a medieval wall and all of the buildings in town are decorated with intricate paintings and colors.  Many buildings were constructed in the 1300s!  Seriously, walking around this village had me at many times asking myself, is this place real?!  I promptly declared it the winner of my prettiest village in Europe award.

Waking up on Saturday morning, we began the second leg of our trip leaving Switzerland and entering Germany through a corner of the Black Forest (a great drive) and then passing back into France into the region of Alsace.  Three countries in one morning!  Alsace is on the border of Germany and France and has changed nationalities many times throughout its storied history. This contributes to a unique culture which is infused with a special Alsatian French dialect, Germanic cuisine, and architecture that alternates between Germanic, French, and Gothic styles.  In addition to its unique culture and beautiful architecture, Alsace is also a well known wine producing region (more on this later).

At the recommendation of my grandmother, our first stop in Alsace was Eguisheim, a medieval walled Alsatian village.  Again, literally out of a story book, but with a uniquely Alsatian touch, brightly colored buildings squished together vying for space in tiny, cobblestone alleyways. The weather was dreadfully cold but we were able to walk around and explore. I can imagine this little town is overrun with tourists in the summer, so although it was freezing, there were minimal tourists, so we were able to experience Eguisheim as it should be, a living village.

More on the second (warmer!) half of our Easter weekend road trip in the next blog post.

EAT: Nothing noteworthy
STAY: Hotel Chlosterhof
PLAY: Rhine falls (during the late spring), Stein am Rhein, Eguisheim