Soultz-Haut-Rhin travel guide

Visit Soultz-Haut-Rhin (Grand-Est, France)

Soultz-Haut-Rhin is in the Haut-Rhin department of the Alsace region. It is a pleasant small town about 20 kilometres south of Colmar in the rolling vineyards and wooded hills at the edge of the Vosges region, and even if it is not a major tourist destination you will enjoy a visit when you are in this part of Alsace.

Dating from the 7th century, Soultz-Haut-Rhin has quite a different feel to many of the Alsace towns and villages as not many of its houses are half-timbered: rather, the rich wine growers that developed the town preferred to build in stone.

Exploring Soultz-Haut-Rhin

Start your visit in the main square in the town, the Place de la Republique, where you can see the Town Hall: this building is noteworthy for the red stone tower and two staircases in the centre of the facade. The Soultz-Haut-Rhin tourist office is also on this square in a 16th century building with a two-storey oriel window.

As you explore you will discover that the old town in Soultz-Haut-Rhin contains a good number of houses dating from the 16th to 17th centuries, many incorporating elements of the renaissance style* and often painted in different pastel colours (although not so much in the Place de la Republique which was largely rebuilt in the 19th century).

* Note: typical features of this style include towers on the outside of houses that incorporate the internal staircase and 'oriel' windows: these are windows in wood or stone surroundings that protrude from the main building and have 2-5 sections (not unlike those called bay windows in more recent buildings).

The principal highlights in the town centre also include:

- the Church of Saint-Maurice with its lovely sundial and belltower was built in the 13th-15th centuries. Take a look also at the carving of the Last Judgement above the door before entering the church. Inside you can see some notable frescoes from the 14th-15th centuries, an organ by the renowned organ designer Silbermann and also several statues and reliefs from the 16th century.

- Bucheneck castle is an attractive, well proportioned castle (more of a manor house than a castle really) set in gardens on the River Rimbach that now contains a small museum with artefacts explaining the history of Soultz-Haut-Rhin.

Among other sights of interest are the attractive little Place Sainte-Claire, the Commanderie de Saint-Jean and the half timbered houses in Rue des Sœurs

Local highlights

For reasons of tourism the local area is marketed as Guebwiller-Soultz and includes a wide range of outdoor activities, small architectural highlights, and scenic beauty. A couple of the most interesting buildings are the Collegiale at Lautenbach and the castle at Buhl.

The local Tourist office at Soultz-Haut-Rhin can provide details of numerous walks and cycle routes, nearby villages on the Alsace Route des Vins and ideas for exploring the Florival Valley and Vosges mountains.

Other notable highlights in the vicinity of Soultz include the village of Guebwiller, the abbey in a pretty wooded valley at Murbach and the impressive biosphere development at Ungersheim.

You can find more travel ideas in the Haut-Rhin guide and the Alsace guide.