On its fairy-tale perch above vineyards and hills, the turreted red-sandstone Château du Haut Kœnigsbourg is worth a detour for the wraparound panorama from its ramparts, taking in the Vosges, the Black Forest and, on cloud-free days, the Alps. Audioguides delve into the turbulent 900-year history of the castle, which makes a very medieval impression despite having been reconstructed, with German imperial pomposity, by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1908.
Shutterstock / Sergey Berestetsky
Château du Haut Kœnigsbourg
Alsace
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
29.65 MILES
Nothing prepares you for your first glimpse of Strasbourg's Cathédrale Notre-Dame, completed in all its Gothic grandeur in 1439. The lace-fine facade…
29.33 MILES
With its lacy spires, cheeky gargoyles and intricate entrance portal, Freiburg’s 11th-century minster cuts an impressive figure above the central market…
-
29.63 MILES
Hailed as a ‘Versailles in miniature’, this opulent 18th-century residence is loaded with treasures. The basement Musée Archéologique takes you from the…
-
29.51 MILES
History seeps through the twisting lanes and cafe-rimmed plazas of Grande Île, Strasbourg's Unesco World Heritage–listed island bordered by the River Ill…
-
11.73 MILES
Gathered around a Gothic-style Dominican cloister, this revamped museum hides a prized medieval stone statue collection, late-15th-century prints by…
-
4.04 MILES
France’s oldest winegrowers’ cooperative, which brings together 40 vintners, was founded in 1895. The huge, contemporary building contains a viniculture…
29.28 MILES
Criss-crossed by narrow lanes, canals and locks, Petite France is where artisans plied their trades in the Middle Ages. The half-timbered houses,…
12.11 MILES
If you see just one thing in Colmar, make it the Little Venice quarter. Canal connection aside, it doesn’t resemble Venice in the slightest, but it's…
Nearby Alsace attractions
1.62 MILES
Kids love to feed popcorn (special monkey popcorn, of course) to the free-roaming Barbary macaques and their cheeky infants at this 2.4-hectare woodland…
3.12 MILES
A stroll through the cobbled streets of the well-preserved medieval centre takes in the early Gothic church; the wall-mounted sundial, dating from 1711;…
3.94 MILES
Standing proud above the centre of Ribeauvillé, across from 64 Grand’Rue, this town hall is fronted by a Renaissance fountain.
3.95 MILES
Along the main street that threads through the old town, keep an eye out for the 17th-century Pfifferhüs, which once housed the town’s fife-playing…
3.96 MILES
Along the main street that threads through the old town is the 17th-century Pfifferhüs, which once housed the town’s fife-playing minstrels.
4.04 MILES
France’s oldest winegrowers’ cooperative, which brings together 40 vintners, was founded in 1895. The huge, contemporary building contains a viniculture…