Autumn & All Saints’ holidays, & Halloween. Farms-inns and cheeses, animal parks, memorial sites of the 1914-1918 war… Ideas & experiences for your stay in Riquewihr & Alsace in the fall.
From the beginning of October to mid-November in Riquewihr, on the Alsace wine route, but also in our small mountain village in La Vancelle, it is undoubtedly the most flamboyant season of the year!
Jean-Paul Krebs
I am renting holiday cottages but I am also a blogger, photographer, videographer & historian.
Follow me on social networks, I will be delighted to make you enjoy my knowledge of Alsace & the nearby Black Forest!
👉 My page is for all travellers who want to discover Alsace outside the hustle and bustle of the summer holidays and the Christmas market period, and in particular to our visitors who stay in one of our cottages, at the Riquewihr Ramparts.
Until mid-November, you will be spoiled for choice for the experiences and discoveries not to be missed.
Until the end of October, lunch in a farm-inn, Munster cheeses and transhumance are on the program.
Until the end of the All Saints’ Day holidays, the animal parks (Naturoparc, Jardin des Papillons, Volerie des Aigles, Montagne des Singes) will delight young and old. Don’t forget a day at the Ecomusée d’Alsace. Hikes
in the vineyards and forests with golden foliage are spectacular (from late October to mid-November).
The First World War raged on the Vosges ridge line, a few kilometres from the Alsatian vineyard. The battelfields of the Linge mountain and the Hartmannswillerkopf (Old Armand) sites are spectacular and moving. They deserve
your visit.
They are open until mid-November.
Welcome to our apartments at Remparts de Riquewihr
By booking one of our cottages in our historic winemaker’s house located on the Riquewihr rampart opposite the Schoenenbourg grand cru vineyard, you will only have to take a few steps to find yourself in the vineyards!
To be discovered until the end of the autumn holidays 2025 (All Saints)
NATUROPARC, a paradise for storks and otters in Hunawihr
Only 2 kilometres from our holiday accommodation in Riquewihr.
Originally, Naturoparc (the new name of the “Stork Park”) was exclusively a breeding site in captivity of the white stork. It is in order to safeguard the emblematic stork of Alsace that the Hunawihr Centre was born in 1976. They managed to find a technique to “repopulate” Alsace…
The Stork Park is open until November 11, 2025. 👉 For details and schedules, visit the Naturoparc in Hunawihr website.
The Flying of the Eagles at Kintzheim Castle, at the foot of the Haut-Koenigsbourg
It has been almost 50 years since the venerable ruin of Kintzheim Castle on the slopes of Haut-Koenigsbourg became the sumptuous theatre of the Volerie des Aigles and its feathered residents. Ladies and gentlemen, what we
offer you here is a ballet. An artistic aerial ballet during which the winged stars – these same majestic raptors that you will have approached when you arrived – will embark on staggering high aerobatics show under the
guidance of their falconers.
Open until November 11, 2025.
👉 More info (opening hours, fees, etc) to the Eagle’s Park, see their Google Maps page
The fabulous garden of exotic butterflies
In Hunawihr, right next to Naturoparc, a colourful walk to discover hundreds of exotic butterflies in the lush flora of tropical greenhouses. Butterflies lead a secret and hidden life. They are fragile and discreet beings. Butterflies unfortunately disappear very quickly everywhere in the world. You are here in the paradise of photographers. You will approach the butterflies within 10 cm and some may even land on you.
Open until November 2, 2025.
Website:
https://www.jardinsdespapillons.fr
At the Monkey Mountain
At the Monkey Mountain in Kintzheim, approach 200 macaques!
The Monkey Mountain is an animal park located a few kilometres from the castle of Haut-Koenigsbourg and very close to the Volerie des Aigles. This year the park is celebrating its 55th anniversary. Here there is no cage,
it is you who walk in a 24-hectare forest where you will be face-to-nose with the monkeys!
Open until November 11, 2025
👉 Learn more about the Monkey Mountain.
In our small mountain village of La Vancelle, on the slopes of the Vosges, here is our cottage “The Mountain Hiker*****”
In a setting of golden forests, starting point for beautiful hikes but also just a few minutes from the Alsace wine route, our Mountain Hiker cottage is a wonderful place to stay in autumn!
Here is our cottage in the middle of the mountains, in the pretty village-garden of La Vancelle. In a large clearing surrounded by forests between Strasbourg and Colmar. The environment is exceptional and ideal for resting. The location is convenient and central for discoveries through the mountains of Alsace and the Vosges and even as a starting base to discover nearby Germany. Our cottage is easily accessible at any time of the year.
Spacious, luxurious (65 Sqm) and very comfortable apartment for 2/3 people, on the 2nd floor. Quiet with breathtaking views in a beautiful setting. Private space in the garden with a gazebo.
A perfect place to stay in the Alsatian Vosges mountains. With the wine route and gastronomy almost right outside the door! Michelin star restaurant only 100 m and traditional Alsatian village restaurant (winstub) 200 meters away.
Official 5-star classification (May 2025) by the Ministry of Tourism.
The golden foliage of the forests and its magical landscapes are approaching Halloween and even after All Saints’ Day!
At the end of October, Alsace becomes the meeting place for romantics and artists!
Indian summer and early autumn: Riquewihr and Alsace in all their splendour…
Autumn in Alsace is also the grape harvest season which, depending on the years and the weather, can extend until the end of October for grands crus and late harvests. During the months of September and October, there are still some beautiful wine festivals and many gastronomic opportunities such as the now famous “Week of Taste”.
The summer crowds are gone and those of the Christmas markets are still far away.
At the end of October, a major gold foliage symphony.
At the beginning of October, the foliage is still very green. But as All Saints approaches (November 1) will come the period of golden foliage that will last almost until the period of the Christmas markets.
And in the small village of La Vancelle (where we have our Mountain Hiker holiday home), on the mountainside, just like in the vineyard around Riquewihr, autumn is a flamboyant season, bright with warm and golden colours, perhaps the most aesthetic of the year.
As you have understood, autumn is a magnificent season in Alsace and the Rhine Valley for all gourmets and nature lovers. Sure, you will love it!
Riquewihr in the fall and during the harvest season
Beyond words, discover the video we made and which shows you the beauty of Riquewihr in the fall and a morning of harvest on the Schoenenbourg hillside.
To be in the front row, nothing could be easier: stay in one of our cottages in the Riquewihr Ramparts. Choose yours and welcome!
Autumn is the harvest season, we harvest beautiful grapes!
In Riquewihr and throughout Alsace, the harvest usually begins at the end of August at the beginning of September (for grapes intended for crémant)!
This is the moment expected by everyone, we will cut the long-awaited grapes. The blows of pruning cuts are going well. The small bugets make the large tanks and little by little, the clusters join the press.
The long harvest period is a great opportunity to take nice walks in the vineyards (but remain on the paths) and watch the harvesters in action. The grapes from the hillsides classified as Grand Cru are harvested last, often at the end of October.
Pay a visit to the winemakers and discover Alsace wines
Is it raining? Is this really a problem? On that day, the winemaker certainly does not pick his grapes. Take the opportunity to meet him and taste his wines. Push the door of one of the many tasting cellars in the region,
and discover the wines of local winegrowers.
👉 Check the list of my favourite winemakers, in Riquewihr and in neighbouring villages.
The “Neuer Sisser”, the new sweet wine, a curiosity to be discovered only in autumn…
Once the grapes are cut, they go to the press. The precious juice flows out and will start to ferment to become wine. Without waiting for a complete alcoholic fermentation, we can already taste the juice after a few weeks: it is the new wine. The alcohol level is low and the sugar of the grapes is still very present, but the characteristics of the different Alsatian grape varieties are already being identified. No more grape juice and no real wine yet, new wine (not to be confused with early wines that are real wines) can only be enjoyed on site. It is untransportable because it is in full fermentation and therefore cannot be placed in a closed bottle. At many winemakers it is possible to taste it.
Welcome to our apartments at Remparts de Riquewihr
By booking one of our cottages in our historic winemaker’s house located on the Riquewihr rampart opposite the Schoenenbourg grand cru vineyard, you will only have to take a few steps to find yourself in the vineyards!
An autumn day on the Route des Crêtes des Vosges.
How beautiful is this Road of the Ridges! I travel it all year round, in summer to take animal photos or to hide from the strong heat of July-August, but also in winter when it is transformed into a cross-country ski slope. In autumn, the forest is multicoloured: green, yellow, red, brown, enough to impress your eyes. So “hop-la!” (as they say in Alsace), put on your sneakers and make your way for an excursion on the ridge road and a short hike on the altitude muds. And then, a marcaire (local cow boy) meal in a mountain inn (after the effort, comfort haha).
After a beautiful day in the mountains, walking on the trails of the Vosges ridges and a good traditional lunch in a farm-inn, back to the vineyard for the night!
On the Munster cheese road.
Just like Alsace wine, the famous local cheese, Munster, also has its way. The Munster Valley, with its magnificent mountain landscapes, includes 16 villages where farm-inns, cheese farms and the Cheese House of the Valley offer you Munsters made with the milk of cows that graze in the surrounding mountains. A pure delight! This is an opportunity to take a nice excursion to the Munster valley and on the high-altitude pastures and then stop at a farm-inn and taste all this. Do not hesitate to buy some: they will put it under vacuum so that you can bring it back to the cottage without the smell of the munster embalming the car 😉
The Vosges cow, queen of the mountain!
The “Vosgienne” cow wears a more or less regular white band on the back and stomach and black spots on the face. Its short croissant horns are curved upwards. She is of medium size.
The Vosges cow is remarkably rustic: she is an excellent walker. Hikers who follow the herd during the transhumance know something about it, watch the video later! The “Vosgienne” meets difficult terrain and contributes to the maintenance of high-altitude meadows; it maintains the diversity of flora.
The “Vosgienne” gives less milk than “plain” cows but it is of high quality, appreciated for munster cheese but also local specialties such as “barkas” and “bibeleskaes”. The “Cœur de massif” cheese is produced only with milk from the “Vosgienne” cow.
Autumn transhumance, a great moment in the Munster Valley!
In the middle of spring, herds leave the valley farms to reach the high-altitude pastures. In autumn, they go the opposite way. When the altitude fodder has been grazed, the cows descend again to spend the winter warmer in the valley. It’s descending transhumance. It is a tradition still alive on many farms and a festive moment for farmers, their herds and today, for lovers of nature and rurality.
Many hikers follow the herds but be careful, the cows are fast and enduring. You have to be a (very) good walker. Watch this little video I made a few years ago on the Schiessroth farm, at the foot of the Hohneck, above the Gaschney.
Transhumance Festival in Muhlbach-sur-Munster
Saturday, October 4, 2025 from 09:30 to 24:00
The Transhumance Festival in Muhlbach-sur-Munster is the largest festival in the Vosges Mountains! A great opportunity to discover the cows of the Vosges breed, honoured on this occasion. According to custom, the famous clarines, lustre for this great day, are put at the neck of the animals.
The procession of Vosges cows (Vosgienne), but also brown cows from the Alps and others, promises to be colourful: some 200 animals from several high-altitude farms will cross the streets of the village to the sound of the clarines. Hikers can join them on the course.
Enough to participate in an amazing folkloric show, do not deprive yourself of spending a pleasant time with your family in the heart of this beautiful Alsatian valley! If you have not been able to go yourself to an altitude farm-inn to taste the traditional marcaire meal (the “marcaire” is the “cow-boy” from the Vosges), you will have the opportunity to eat it at the party.
👉 Detailed program of the Transhumance Festival 2025 in Muhlbach-sur-Munster
Halloween and All Saints’ Day autumn holidays with children…
It was once said that on the night of October 31 to November 1, the boundaries between the world of the living and that of the dead were very thin. It is then that darkness and light rub shoulders…
Before Halloween, a folkloric and pagan festival strongly celebrated in Anglo-Saxon countries, brought to us the fashion of pumpkins dug in the shape of faces, Alsace had a very old tradition that went back much further than the Middle Ages. Skull-shaped fodder beets were dug to simulate skulls. Inside these beets, a candle was placed and placed on the window sills. The grimacing faces of the beets gave the children chills. These frightening lanterns, which were lit in the evening and which shone on the windowsills, were to guide the dead.
Nowadays, the tradition has practically disappeared but I still remember that when I was a kid, a long time ago, my grandfather (he was a farmer) showed me how to dig these beets.
Nowadays, we often think that Halloween is a Celtic rite. Well, not at all!
Historians have shown that originally, the tradition was Germanic. The “Rübengeister” (spirits hidden in turnips) are known throughout Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, French Flanders, and formerly in Alsace, Moselle and England. But this custom is unknown in the vast Celtic territories of Gaul, for example.
Good to know
Halloween is none other than the recent name of the “Rübengeister”, a Germanic custom, imported to the British Isles by the Saxons, Angles, Frisians and other Danes. Later, the Irish introduced it to the United States,
where beets were changed into pumpkins.
Halloween at the Haut-Koenigsbourg castle
From October to early November 2025 (at the end of the All Saints’ Day school holidays), the famous Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg is inhabited by the spirit of Halloween.
With its procession of chills, imagination and mysteries, the castle will make you tremble with fear… or shudder with pleasure!
Adults with teenagers, with young children, or with friends, at the castle you will find the ideal activity to celebrate the darkness. BRRRRR!
There is no doubt that as Halloween 2025 approaches, the Haut-Koenigsbourg dungeon will be threatened again. Will we once again see Professor Schutzhausen’s team try, with your help, to put an end to this evil? Will you take part in this investigation, between Murder party and Escape Game?
We will know more in some time, when the defenders of the fortress have managed to communicate with the outside world. Be careful, in the very heart of the dungeon, the atmosphere is cold, humid and dark… Will you endure the tension and anguish of this adventure?
In the meantime, you can go through the door of the castle of Haut-Kœnigsbourg, and dive into the world of the Middle Ages. From the low courtyard with its inn, forge and mill, to the spiral staircases that lead to the lord’s
furnished apartments… You will discover an architecture, collections, an atmosphere full of 900 years of history. And it is by visiting the castle freely or by joining a guided tour by a guide (formula that I really recommend),
that you will fully discover the fortress, its riches and details.
Halloween and the Tales and Legends of Autumn at the living museum of Alsace.
Located near Guebwiller, 45 minutes from Riquewihr, the Living Museum of Alsace is the largest open-air museum in France. It is organised as an Alsatian village from the beginning of the 20th century. It presents an exceptional collection of buildings and everyday objects and participates in the transmission of gestures and artisanal know-how. The village is formed by an exceptional collection of traditional houses that have been dismantled beam by beam in their municipality of origin and brought up to the Ecomusée d’Alsace to save them.
Every year, with the approach of the Halloween party and the All Saints’ Day period, the Ecomusée d’Alsace invites you to dive into a universe where tales and legends punctuate the lives of villagers.
In this mysterious atmosphere, storytellers will be happy to share with you traditional stories, where superstitions and popular beliefs mingle! While nature is adorned with its most beautiful colours, the mystery gradually infiltrates the alleys of the village…
From mid-October to beginning of November 2025, you will live a timeless moment!
👉 The details of the program on the website of the Ecomuseum of Alsace.
Sites of memory of the First World War 1914-1918 in the Vosges (WW1).
In 1914, it had been 43 years since Alsace and the Moselle department had been integrated into the German Empire (1871) and formed the Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen whose capital was Strasbourg. For nearly half a century, the “lost” provinces have fuelled French nationalist discourse. The desire for revenge was one of the objectives of WW1, the First World War.
From August 4, 1914, the French army was ordered to enter Alsace to seize the main valleys and cities. After rapid success (Mulhouse was taken over as early as August 8 and scouts had even managed to push to the gates of
Colmar), the French army is nevertheless forced to abandon the conquered territories in an ephemeral way and must withdraw.
After this war of movement, the front stabilised on the heights of the Vosges (the old border) during the months of October and November 1914. Germans and French have been face to face for several years. Everyone tries to
take back the most strategic positions, leaving an incredible number of dead on the battlefield.
Many of these memory sites benefit from being visited. Franco-German associations maintain trenches, combat posts and military cemeteries. They also animate museums. The winters of the Great War were terribly harsh in the Vosges. Nature has regained its rights in the places where hell reigned just over 100 years ago and the old battlefields are crossed by hiking trails. These important memorial sites must be visited by November 11 at the latest because even today, these memorial sites are closed in winter.
Hartmannswillerkopf Memorial and Battlefield – HWK
The front line begins in the south of Alsace, at the Swiss border (Kilometre Zero). In this area, near Mulhouse, the Massif des Vosges is dominated by an impressive rocky spour overlooking the Alsace plain and the village of Hartmannswiller, the Hartmannswillerkopf. The French call it the Old Armand (Hartmann is the German first name for Armand). French and Germans are fiercely fighting for this strategic observation post. In 1915 alone, the summit changed sides 4 times. Fighting continues throughout the war on this battlefield devastated by shells, gases and flamethrowers.
The exact number of deaths will never be known but at least 30,000 soldiers perish there.
A path reminiscent of a trench leads to an imposing and spectacular memorial, easily accessible from the road. Under the esplanade is a large crypt with the remains of 12,000 unknown soldiers. The commemorations of the Armistice of November 11 are moving and impressive.
On the eastern flank of the memorial is a large cemetery that gathers 1,264 tombs of identified French soldiers as well as six mass graves.
If you have a little time in front of you and you are properly put on, take the trouble to continue on foot to the east and the plain of Alsace. Where the Great Cross and the observatory that has been the scene of so many clashes are located. The vast battlefield is travelled by many hiking trails. Since 2017, a Franco-German historia pays tribute to all the fighters and presents spectacular documents and images on what was the daily life of the fighters on both sides.
The battlefield is permanently accessible. The historial is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (6 p.m. on Sundays & holidays) until November 16, 2025, before closing for the winter.
Linge Memorial, museum and battlefield.
The Linge Ridge is located in the Alsatian Vosges. 1,000 metres high, it separates the valleys of Orbey and Munster, about twenty kilometres west of Colmar.
Classified as a historical site since 1921, it is one of the deadliest battlefields of the First World War. During this conflict, the Germans had organised their Defence on the Linge ridge line in order to prevent the advance of French troops towards Colmar.
From July 20 to October 15, 1915, alpine hunters, often aged 19-20, launched the assault on this impregnable bastion. Gas shells and flamethrowers were used.
About 10,000 French and 7,000 Germans perished during this period before the troops froze and remained face to face until the end of the conflict in November 1918 (see the German cartoon above).
The site we visit today is a large rocky nipple, a land dotted with shelters and squared by a network of fortified trenches covered with a shaky moor and a few trees. The period barbed wire has not been removed and everything is admirably well preserved. It is difficult to imagine that this superb place, whose northern tip of the nipple forms a rocky spour from which we have a magnificent view, has witnessed such a butchery. However, hundreds of soldiers on both sides are still resting there.
At the Memorial Museum, French and German objects found on site are exhibited: weapons, ammunition, relics and personal objects. Showcases present mannequins of French and German fighters, models of the battlefield, period photographs, letters written by soldiers, maps showing tactical operations. A video projection of period photographs is also offered to visitors.
The Linge Memorial Museum is open from the beginning of April to November 11, 2025.
👉 Learn more about the Battle of Linge and its memorial museum…