← Marathon de Colmar·2 nights

The Munster Valley: Two Nights in the Vosges

An alternative two nights away from the wine route, trading vineyard villages for a flat valley floor town famous for its cheese, with the steeper Vosges walking held back for whoever has recovered enough to want it.

Duration2 nights
TransitRegional train from Colmar to Munster, roughly 30-40 minutes, with onward local connections toward Metzeral
DepartsColmar station

After the Marathon de Colmar: The Munster Valley

The Route: Colmar → Munster → Metzeral → Colmar Logistics: Regional train from Colmar to Munster, with a short onward local connection to Metzeral at the head of the valley. Marathon Month: September Duration: 2 nights

Colmar station ──(30-40 mins regional train)──> Munster ──(~15 mins local)──> Metzeral ──(return)──> Colmar

Marathon de Colmar finishes at Place Rapp after a route built almost entirely around the Wine Route's villages, and the Munster valley is a genuinely different kind of extension from any of them, trading vineyard terraces for the forested foothills of the Vosges. September in the Munster valley falls during the working end of the dairy season, when the region's namesake cheese, Munster AOC, is still being made in the valley's mountain farms before herds start moving down for winter, though the exact timing of any single farm's schedule varies and is worth confirming locally rather than assuming. The regional train from Colmar to Munster takes roughly 30 to 40 minutes, with a short onward local connection continuing up the valley toward Metzeral.

Night One: Munster

Munster itself sits on the flat floor of the valley that shares its name, and that flatness is the point for the first day after a marathon: the town's central streets, arranged around the Protestant church and a market square, involve no meaningful gradient, and a slow loop of the centre covers most of what there is to see without demanding more than tired legs can give. The valley's cheese-making history is visible rather than just told: several dairy producers around the town sell Munster AOC directly, and tasting a wedge bought that morning against one from a supermarket back home is as close as a visitor gets to understanding what the appellation actually protects.

For a place to stay, the Hôtel Verte Vallée, a spa hotel on the edge of Munster with pool and treatment facilities, suits a first night when recovery matters more than sightseeing; its own grounds are flat and geared toward exactly this kind of stay. A second, simpler option can be found among the family-run auberges along the valley floor near the church, worth checking directly for current availability rather than booking a specific address sight unseen. For dinner, one of the valley's ferme-auberges, working farms that also serve meals, is the destination worth seeking out over a standard restaurant: tourte à la viande, a meat pie traditional to the Vosges, and tarte au munster, a savoury tart built around the local cheese, are the dishes to look for on a menu that changes little from one farm kitchen to the next.

Night Two: Metzeral and the Valley's Edge

Metzeral sits further up the valley, at the point where the flat floor starts giving way to the forested slopes proper, and it works better as a base for anyone ready to test the legs a little rather than keep resting them entirely. Lac de Fischboedle, a small glacial lake reached by a forest track from near Metzeral, is the valley's best-known short walk, but the approach involves a genuine, sustained climb rather than a flat stroll, and is better saved for whoever feels fully recovered by the second day than attempted on legs still carrying marathon fatigue. For anyone not ready for that climb, the valley floor around Metzeral itself offers the same flat, easy walking as Munster, with fewer visitors and quieter streets.

Accommodation options in Metzeral are more limited than in Munster itself; checking current availability directly before travelling is more reliable than relying on a named address here, since the village is considerably smaller. Returning to stay a second night in Munster and taking Metzeral as a day trip works just as well logistically, given how short the local connection between the two is.

Getting Home

Return to Colmar by the same regional line, a journey of roughly 30 to 40 minutes from Munster. From Colmar station, direct SNCF trains reach Strasbourg in 27 to 40 minutes, connecting to Strasbourg Airport (SXB) via the shuttle bus and short rail link from Strasbourg-Ville station, a combined journey of around 20 to 25 minutes. Check the regional timetable before planning a same-day departure, since Vosges valley services run less frequently than the main Colmar-Strasbourg line.