Chatenois

Outdoor Festivals, Wine Tasting and
Scenic Mountain Hiking

Talking about Chatenois is somewhat difficult without mentioning Scherwiller...

Because the two villages have formed a sort of partnership (not to mention that they are less than 2 miles away from each other) although they are separate villages.

That's a half an hour walk if you're planning on taking the train to Scherwiller.

Chatenois is a beautiful but quiet little village unless you happen to show up for one of their festivals (and there are quite a few from May until December for such a small village).

And between the two villages, you'll find 15 wine makers to try out plus 10 restaurants so it may be a small village but you could easily spend the day here wine tasting, hiking and eating great food!

Hopefully you'll find everything that you need to know about Chatenois and Alsace…

But if you don't find what you're looking for…ask me a question about your Alsace vacation here!

Alsace Daytrips from Chatenois

If you choose to stay in Chatenois, you'll have your peace and quiet, but you'll still be very near some very well known and popular attractions in Alsace.

Chatenois doesn't have a train stop, but it is a part of the regional Alsace train system and there is a shuttle that will take you from the Selestat train station to Chatenois.

It is in coordination with the train schedule and there are shuttles running every hour from morning until evening.

And Selestat is not far away at all which is a good thing if you're planning on using the train and bus systems in Alsace because the Selestat train station is where you can catch the shuttle to Haut Koenigsbourg, Volerie des Aigles, Montagne des Singes and Cigoland.

Distances given are the approximate distances from the center of Chatenois.

Villages with a * have a train stop or train station.

Kintzheim

1 mile/2 km

Kintzheim (not Kientzheim) is a pretty little wine road village in Alsace, but your kids probably aren't going to let you sit around and taste wine until you've taken them to Monkey Mountain (Montagne des Singes), the Birds of Prey show (Volerie des Aigles) and Cigoland which are just ten minutes away. And while you're at the Birds of Prey show you can tour the 13th century Kintzheim castle.

Birds of Prey Show

2 miles/3 km

Watching large birds of prey inside the courtyard of a ruined castle (that you can explore either before or after the show) is a great idea for older children (over 10). The younger ones are usually a little scared. It's all in French, but you don't need much translation for this show and it's very close to Monkey Mountain!

Scherwiller*

2 miles/3 km

Scherwiller is known for its Riesling, so if you're a fan, you'll want to stop by. Speaking of which, Scherwiller has a train station so you can drink to your heart's content! And you can make a 45 minute walk to two castles, the Ortenbourg and Ramstein from the village.

Selestat*

4 miles/6 km

Selestat is a small town or a very large village in Alsace that's famous for its 15th century library which contains 70,000 books and documents from the 7th to 16th century and was a part of the medieval Latin School founded in Selestat in 1441. But it's also a beautiful town to wander around in on your Alsace vacation. Check out the Tuesday morning market if you have time...

Monkey Mountain

4 miles/6 km

If you're travelling with kids of any age, here's something fun for them...feeding monkeys at a monkey sanctuary near Haut Koenigsbourg! It's a great way to spend a few hours of your Alsace vacation. Then you can head on over to the Birds of Prey Show nearby.

Dambach la Ville*

5 miles/8 km

Dambach la Ville is the sort of Alsace wine village where you can walk around anywhere and see something really beautiful, medieval city walls and gates, beautiful old homes and a very interesting chapel. And there is a train station, so you can try one of the 30 wine producers in Dambach la Ville without renting a car!

Haut Koenigsbourg

6 miles/10 km

The Haut Koenigsbourg castle was originally built in 1147 in the Vosges mountains. Like many castles it was enlarged a number of times and updated to deal with changes in warfare. But like most castles in Alsace, it was severely damaged in the Thirty Years War in the 1600s, but it was also fully restored in the 1900s. Haut Koenigsbourg will give you a very clear picture of life in a medieval castle in Alsace.

Bergheim

6 miles/10 km

Bergheim is a quiet little village on the Alsatian Wine Road just past Ribeauville. One of the most amazing things about Bergheim is how it was managed to preserve almost ALL of its medieval city walls. You can walk around the village and see them for yourself before or after trying some of the local wine and food.

Ribeauvillé

8 miles/13 km

If you've already started researching where to go in Alsace, you've probably heard of Ribeauvillé. It's a beautiful wine road village with lots of medieval buildings, restaurants, shops and wine. I think Ribeauvillé is a great place to visit, although I have no idea why it is more popular than other wine road villages that are just as beautiful. There are also three castles above Ribeauvillé that you can hike up to and back in three hours if you're interested...

Hunawihr

9 miles/15 km

If you find yourself in Riquewihr or that area of the Wine Road in Alsace and you want to get away from the crowds, head over to Hunawihr. It's right next door to Riquewihr and it's beautiful and quiet. You'll find great wine and scenery in a quiet and peaceful setting.

Where to Stay in Chatenois

Hotel Dontenville

If you love hotels with a lot of Alsatian charm and decor, you'll love the Hotel Dontenville. It's a cute little two star hotel with only 13 rooms, but with a lot of character for a reasonable price. The hotel restaurant is also good. Breakfast, WiFi and parking available.

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