Colmar

Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin in Alsace, the third-largest in the region after Strasbourg and Mulhouse, and the seat of its department’s prefecture. First mentioned in the ninth century, it grew into an important medieval trading town within the Holy Roman Empire, and the timber-framed houses along its canals are what remain of that. It sits on the Alsace wine route with vineyards immediately outside the town, and its position at the foot of the Vosges makes it a base as much as a destination.