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Frequently Asked Questions about a stay in Riquewihr

Do you want to stay with us and have a question? Find some answers below or send us a contact form available from the upper menu. 

Is it necessary to have a car to stay with us in Riquewihr?

NO you do not necessarily need a car in Riquewihr.

Actually the answer depends on how long you will be staying, in which season and whether you want to discover larger areas (Alsace, nearby Germany and Switzerland are easily accessible from Riquewihr) or only the nearby vineyards and cities. The nearest SNCF/TGV station is Colmar. From Colmar station to Riquewihr (around fifteen kilometers), there is a bus every hour which will drop you off at the bottom of the village of Riquewihr, approximately 300 meters from your gîte. But if there are several of you, it will be interesting to take a taxi which will take you near to the door of the house, especially if you have some luggage.

You can stay in Riquewihr for a good week before you have exhausted everything you can do on foot, by bus or by renting a bike: walks in the mountains and in the vineyards and to the neighboring villages of Hunawihr, Ribeauvillé or Zellenberg. Visit the museums and the village of Riquewihr… There is a fantastic bakery, a grocery store where you can buy something to prepare your meals. There are also numerous restaurants on site.

The bus network can allow you to easily reach Ribeauvillé, Kaysersberg and Colmar.
Check the FLUO.EU website for all combinations of public transport in Alsace
.

Of course, if you want to discover all the riches of the vineyards and the mountains, a car will still be very useful. If you arrive by train or plane to Strasbourg or Basel-Mulhouse, you can easily rent a car at the airport. You can find rentals on the internet at very advantageous rates. Here is a good car rental address: Holiday Autos, with online reservation. But we can also organize airport transfers as well as private day tours.

To see exactly where we are, check out our dedicated page.

Good to know: if you favor our Mountain Hiker apartment in La Vancelle, although the place is easily accessible and only 8 km away from the wine route, you would need a car.

What about parking in Riquewihr?

The historic city of Riquewihr is not very suitable for vehicle traffic and it would be a shame if cars invaded such a site. But our gîtes are very well located, never more than 150 m from a public car park.

To make your stay easier, the tourist office (in the center of the village) offers you the municipal parking card at 4 EUR / day (price beginning 2024).

Important: Please note, this parking card does not entitle you to a reserved space. It entitles you to a special flat rate and saves you from constantly putting coins in the parking meter. But you need to find an available place.

For all our gîtes / rentals except the little Gobelin’s Refuge studio, we offer a private parking space (uncovered but behind a gate, EUR 10 to 12/night depending on location) inside the old town of Riquewihr. This option must be selected when booking (see options during the booking process). It is not available in December during the Christmas markets because access is impossible. Except for the White Stork , the Dove’s Nest and the Sentinel rentals. They have the possibility of a parking space accessible all year round, outside the ramparts.

I would like to go cycling during my stay. Where can I rent a bicycle or mountain bike?

Cycling is becoming more and more popular. If you come with your own bike, we have the possibility of storing 4 bicycles. However, it is not possible or authorized to bring a bicycle into our apartments/gîtes.

If you do not come with your own bike, it is now possible, from Easter to autumn, to rent bikes in Riquewihr itself. Simply book online with the rental company who will make the bicycle available at their premises in the village center the next day. It’s very practical because you take possession of the bike in the morning and return it in the evening. No need for a garage! Check their website.

Don’t commit too far in advance. We suggest you first see the environment, the weather and your mood for the day, then decide what you will like to do and when.

Our vineyard is hilly and sometimes even mountainous. Until a few years ago, only well-trained cyclists were comfortable. Nowadays, electrically assisted bicycles and mountain bikes with good autonomy make this type of outing much easier. Car traffic on the Wine Route can be a problem for cyclists, especially on weekends, so be careful and above all, use the many small roads and cycle paths.

Cycling is not the only option: visiting the village of Riquewihr is done on foot anyway. The typical villages nearby are connected by bus. It is easy and pleasant to walk from one village to another through the vineyards and return by bus.

About us? Who are “Remparts de Riquewihr” and “Rosa Gallica”?

The “Remparts de Riquewihr®” are an establishment and a registered brand which brings together our holiday apartments located on the historic ramparts of Riquewihr. The “Remparts de Riquewihr” belong to a small family business – Rosa Gallica sàrl – created by Martine and Jean-Paul Krebs, enthusiasts who have evolved in the world of tourism throughout their careers, particularly serving distant destinations. We have prepared a special page for you to tell you more about our story.

We are renting apartments, no rooms. What is the difference?

These few details may seem obvious. However, we have discovered that they are not for everyone… So much the better if they help to enlighten you on the question. There is no typical French definition of an apartment but a European one. It is not only a matter of vocabulary. It involves a precise legal status as well as different types of responsibility for both the owner and the client/tenant.

Renting a furnished tourist accommodation (or gîte in French) should not be confused with renting a guest room or a hotel room. A bed and breakfast or a hotel is renting rooms. No cooking facilities are required or provided and bathroom can be shared with others (although this is the case only in very cheap places). The client is under the responsibility of the hotelier. The occupant of a furnished apartment is a tenant under the law, with specific rights and obligations. Unlike a hotel room or a guest room, a furnished tourist accommodation is not generally rented for a single night, but for a longer stay. Traditionally, rental is done by the week, but with us, we will welcome you from 3 nights minimum (2 nights out of season, from January to March and mid-November).

An apartment or house offered as a gîte or furnished tourist accommodation, unlike a guest room or a hotel room, has a kitchen or kitchenette to allow you, if you wish, to prepare your meals and be perfectly independent.

In a traditional furnished rental there is no daily cleaning, unless the guest requests it and pays the charges (request possible when booking).

Thanks to this mode of operation, opting for a gîte allows you to benefit from a comfortable environment at the best quality-price ratio, a marked advantage compared to traditional hotels when the planned stay is long. The owner’s operating costs are passed on over a long stay, the tenant is independent, in short, everyone saves money.

Conversely, it is impossible to apply these same prices for a one-night stay. In this case, the entire cost would be passed on to a single night and the cost price would therefore be very high. This is why we have a minimum stay…

About stairs, floors and elevator.

In the medieval times, the population of the villages had to protect themselves inside the ramparts. This means that the houses were built vertically in order to have as much space as possible. Our apartments are located in historical medieval houses, part of the French National Heritage. We had therefore to keep intact the original structure with its different levels. It was not possible to install elevators. Please note that, although the staircases are fully practicable, our apartments are unfortunately hardly suitable for people having mobility problems or for very big people.
Remark: Our studio ‘Refuge of the Imp’ and the ‘Little Bear’ apartment are at street level. The Dove’s House is a full house with a bedroom at street level and living room space one level higher. The Lucky Dragon house is only a few stairs above the garden level. The Little Wolf apartment and the Fox & Grapes are one level above the garden. Please note that in Europe we count the garden or street level as ground or floor zero, not one.

About mobile phones in France

Please note that – as we are renting our private holiday apartments – we are not a hotel or a bed and breakfast and we do not have any permanent reception desk. But we are always reachable. We may need to be in touch with you – and you with us. Emails are not always a good tool. Nobody is checking emails permanently. So email is not the proper way for urgent matters. The mobile phone is the best device as it gives the possibility of an instant contact by telephone, text message or WhatsApp.

Years of experience taught us that carrying a mobile phone when travelling is not a gadget but definitely a helpful tool, sometimes saving lives.

As long as you are inside one of our holiday apartments, you will benefit from a free high speed internet connection. But when you are outside … Staying connected during your trip in Europe is quite easy. The Orange Holiday Tourist SIM card is easy to get: choose a tourist SIM card to stay connected abroad. Thanks to internet access through mobile data, you’ll be able to enjoy all the local services and make the most of your stay. In my opinion, their eSIM is even better than the regular SIM. It is a digital SIM card that allows you to enjoy your mobile plan without needing to insert a physical SIM card into your device (not all smartphones have 2 slots for sim cards. Convenient and easy to use, you simply download the eSIM onto your phone by scanning a QR code to access your data anywhere ! The service is available for almost 40 different countries in Europe.

More about the offer on the website of Orange.

If your stay in France exceeds 3-4 days or if you travel to further European countries, it is worthwhile taking some time for this since it is probably cheaper than using your own phone contract (if outside Europe) on a roaming basis.

Your stay with children

We are happy to welcome calm and careful children, under the responsibility of their parents. The minimum age requirement varies depending on the accommodation offered, mainly for reasons of safety for the child. Thus, our house at The Dove’s Nest or the Lucky Dragon are unfortunately not suitable for the stay of very young children (many stairs in open spaces, trinkets and fragile and expensive decoration, etc.), but on the other hand, we have several other apartments where a stay with children is easier. The question does not arise for babies who are not yet walking.

Are pets allowed? A dog? A cat?

We are happy to accommodate a calm, clean and well-behaved dog, provided it is mentioned during the reservation (select the corresponding option). The owner of the animal must be insured and undertake to scrupulously respect a few rules which are also common sense: It is necessary to bring the dog’s basket, blankets and bowls. Under no circumstances should the dog climb/sleep on a bed, sofa or armchair, nor remain alone in the apartment (dogs are allowed in most restaurants). The dog must not cause any nuisance that would disturb the occupants of neighboring apartments. A supplement of EUR 10 / night / dog is requested.

On the other hand, we regret not being able to accommodate cats in any of our apartments.

For any other questions, visit our page dedicated to staying with a doggie or call us on +33 (0)608033752

Breakfast and meals

At the Remparts de Riquewihr, we do not offer catering (rental in self-catering formula). Our apartments are equipped with a kitchen so you can prepare your own meals. An excellent bakery, a grocery store and around thirty restaurants are accessible in the village of Riquewihr, less than 5 minutes away on foot. And of course, it is possible to have breakfast with one of our hotel friends.

About cancellation insurance and policy

Many of our guests who come from far away plan their trip several months, even a year or more, in advance. This sometimes involves planning a complex tour with accommodation, events and transportation… To satisfy these travelers who plan well in advance, it is absolutely necessary for us and for them to work with a reliable schedule. A hotel that has many rooms can afford to be relatively flexible when it comes to cancellations. Unfortunately this is not our case and it is easy to understand why. Our lodgings cannot be rented overnight for the same evening or the next day. Each of them is unique, is reserved for itself and cannot be replaced by another. We can’t afford to risk having our vacation rentals tied up for weeks and months, turning down requests and ending up with someone who changes their mind as the trip approaches. This is why we require a non-refundable deposit payment of 30% upon reservation and payment of the balance 30 days before the start of the stay.

Of course, we understand that daily life can be subject to unforeseen circumstances. We therefore strongly recommend travel/cancellation insurance. But no insurance will cover a change of mind by the customer. In this case, and as the law says (article L 114-1 of the last paragraph of the Consumer Code): “everyone can withdraw from their commitment, the consumer losing the deposit, the professional returning double”.

Where to take out cancellation/travel insurance?

Payments made with certain bank cards include travel/cancellation insurance (Visa Premier, Mastercard Gold, American Express and higher, check with your credit card company). If you have one of these cards, we highly recommend using it for your travel expenses. If your credit card does not include insurance, then you also have the possibility of taking out extremely comprehensive insurance online. The cost is quite inexpensive because we have a privileged partnership with them. They are also used to deal with our guests from abroad.:
https://www.albinet.fr/en/travel-insurance/cancellation-travel-insurance-tenants-liability/?a=642229

Our holiday apartments in Riquewihr, Alsace

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