When to go to the Vosges?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with real weather records
Best time: June to July, September to October and January to February (snow)
At a glance
Why go to the Vosges?
The Vosges are a walker's mountain range. No glaciers or rock faces, but 20,000 kilometres of trails waymarked by the Club Vosgien since 1872, rounded summits known as ballons strung along the ridge line, a lake in every glacial cirque and a farm inn every five kilometres.
You can walk for three hours or three days, sleep in a mountain hut or a hotel with a spa, and see the Black Forest and the Alps from the same summit. The range has two faces: the gentler Lorraine side, with Gérardmer, La Bresse and their lakes, and the steeper Alsace side, which drops down to the vineyards and the half-timbered villages of Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Munster.
It is a destination for families, with short walks to the lakes, swimming at Gérardmer and Longemer, adventure parks and summer toboggan runs; for hikers, with the crossing of the Crêtes on the GR5 and the vertiginous trails of the Hohneck; for history lovers, between the Hartmannswillerkopf, the Struthof camp and the forts of the Maginot Line; and for food lovers, with Munster cheese, the repas marcaire and the wines of Alsace thirty minutes away. Winter adds downhill skiing at La Bresse and Gérardmer, cross-country at the Champ du Feu and snowshoeing everywhere, at prices that bear no comparison with the Alps.
Map of the Vosges: what is where?
The map shows the 6 places covered in this guide, to picture the distances and plan your route.
- Hohneck and Route des Crêtes
- Lake Gérardmer
- Lac Blanc
- Grand Ballon
- Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle
- Munster Valley farm inns
How much does a trip to the Vosges cost?
| Style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | €45-70 per day | dormitory in a mountain hut or camping, market shopping and picnics on the ridges, free hikes, lakes and Hartmannswillerkopf, a repas marcaire every other day. |
| Comfort | €100-140 per day | three-star hotel in Gérardmer or Munster, one restaurant a day, Haut-Koenigsbourg, e-bike hire, a dinner at a farm inn. |
| Premium | €220 and up per day | spa hotel facing Lake Gérardmer, gourmet restaurants, a paraglider or hot-air balloon flight over the ballons, a mountain guide for a day of ice climbing in winter. The Vosges are one of the cheapest mountain ranges in France; prices rise mainly during the February school holidays and in August. |
Is the Vosges safe?
The Vosges are a medium-altitude range, but the weather changes fast: thick fog on the ridges within minutes, violent afternoon storms in summer, strong winds on the Grand Ballon. Take a waterproof jacket, a Club Vosgien map and water. The Sentier des Roches and the vertiginous trails of the Hohneck are closed in winter and not recommended in rain; several serious accidents happen there every year. The snow cornices on the ridges are dangerous from December to April. Ticks are very common from May to October across the whole range, with a real risk of Lyme disease and, more rarely, tick-borne encephalitis in southern Alsace. Swimming is limited to the supervised beaches of Gérardmer and Longemer and the equipped lakes; the high-altitude lakes are cold and deep. Finally, the Hartmannswillerkopf battlefield still has unstable trenches and shelters, so stay on the waymarked paths.
What to see and do in the Vosges
- Hohneck and the Route des Crêtes
- Lake Gérardmer
- Lac Blanc
- Sentier des Roches
- Grand Ballon
- Hartmannswillerkopf
- Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle
- Munster Valley and its farm inns
Hohneck and the Route des Crêtes
The Route des Crêtes was built by the French army between 1915 and 1918 to link the positions on the Vosges front, from the Col du Bonhomme to the Vieil-Armand, while staying sheltered from German fire on the Lorraine side. At 73 kilometres long, it crosses the Col de la Schlucht (1,139 m), skirts the Hohneck (1,363 m), runs through the Markstein and peaks at the Col du Grand Ballon before dropping down to Cernay. The Hohneck, the third-highest summit in the range, is the most spectacular: its eastern face, planed by glaciers, falls away in steep cirques to the Munster and Wormsa valleys, with the Schiessrothried and Fischboedle lakes at the bottom. The chaumes around it, high pastures cleared by the marcaires since the Middle Ages, shelter subalpine flora unique in France at this altitude, protected by the Frankenthal-Missheimle nature reserve. In winter, the Hohneck's snow cornices are dangerous and the road closes between the Schlucht and the Markstein; in summer, the summit can be reached by a road that stops a few hundred metres short of the top, which explains the Sunday crowds.
Lake Gérardmer
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Lake Gérardmer formed at the end of the last ice age, when a moraine dammed the Jamagne valley: 116 hectares, 2.2 kilometres long, 38 metres deep, at an altitude of 660 metres. The town that shares its name is the leading tourist resort in the Vosges, endowed as early as 1875 with France's first tourist office, then called the Comité des Promenades. Burned by the Germans in November 1944, it was rebuilt in a graceless style, but the lake, the forests and the heights of the Saut des Cuves and the Kertoff have kept their charm as a mountain health resort. The walk around the lake (6 km) leads to the beaches, the landing stages for launches and pedalos, sailing and water-skiing; trails climb in an hour to the wilder neighbouring lakes of Longemer and Retournemer. Gérardmer is lively all year round: an international fantasy film festival in January, the Daffodil Festival every other year in April, downhill skiing on 40 km of slopes at La Mauselaine, and a cheese and berry market twice a week.
Lac Blanc
The Lac Blanc fills a glacial cirque at 1,055 metres, carved out below the ridge of the Gazon du Faing, in the commune of Orbey. Its name comes from the pale quartz sand that lines its shores and gives it a milky tint, in contrast to the Lac Noir, 100 metres lower, with its bed of dark granite. With 29 hectares and a depth of 72 metres, it is one of the deepest in the range; a penstock linked it to the Lac Noir for a pumped-storage power station that ran until 2002. The Rocher Hans, a granite spur topped by a statue of the Virgin, towers over the eastern shore and serves as the setting for climbing routes and, in winter, an ice-climbing school. Club Vosgien trails climb to the chaumes of the Gazon du Faing (1,306 m) and the Tanet nature reserve, with its peat bogs and dwarf beeches twisted by the wind, and the view from the ridge takes in both lakes, the Orbey valley, the Alsace plain and the Black Forest. The Lac Blanc resort, below, offers downhill and cross-country skiing in winter, and downhill mountain biking, a rail toboggan and an adventure park in summer.
Grand Ballon
The Grand Ballon, or Ballon de Guebwiller, is the roof of the Vosges at 1,424 metres. The summit, a grassy dome above the forest, carries three landmarks visible from afar: the white ball of the civil aviation radar installed in 1997, the Diables Bleus monument, erected in 1927 in memory of the Chasseurs Alpins of the Great War, and a viewpoint indicator that identifies, on a clear day, the Black Forest, the Jura, the Bernese Oberland and Mont Blanc, 230 kilometres away. The 360-degree panorama covers the Alsace plain as far as Basel and Strasbourg, which makes the summit one of the Alsatians' favourite places for sunrise or for watching the 14 July fireworks from above. The GR5 crosses the summit on its way down from the Markstein towards the Vieil-Armand and Thann. In winter, the Grand Ballon gets huge amounts of snow and the summit path, along a windswept ridge, is done on snowshoes; in summer, the neighbouring farm inns of the Haag and the Judenhut serve repas marcaire with a view.
Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle
Haut-Koenigsbourg is first mentioned in 1147, when it belonged to the Hohenstaufens, and from its 757-metre spur it controlled the wine, wheat and salt routes of the Alsace plain. Rebuilt by the Thiersteins at the end of the 15th century to withstand artillery, it was burned by the Swedes in 1633 and abandoned for more than two centuries. In 1899, the town of Sélestat gave it to Emperor Wilhelm II, who entrusted the Berlin architect Bodo Ebhardt with a complete restoration, finished in 1908: a castle intended as a portrait of a 15th-century mountain fortress, with its towers, drawbridge, state rooms with earthenware stoves, arms collection and medieval garden, but which above all expresses the imperial will to anchor Alsace in the Germanic world. A French monument since 1919, it is now managed by the European Collectivity of Alsace and receives more than 500,000 visitors a year. Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion was filmed here in 1937. From the great bastion, the view stretches over the Rhine plain, the Black Forest and, to the south, as far as the Alps.
Munster Valley and its farm inns
The Munster valley runs down from the Col de la Schlucht to Colmar over 30 kilometres, between the ridges of the Hohneck to the north and those of the Petit Ballon to the south. The Benedictine monks who founded Munster Abbey in the 7th century cleared the heights to graze their herds, giving rise to the chaumes, the marcaires (the high-pasture farmers, from the dialect word Malker, the one who milks) and Munster, a cheese with a washed orange rind, AOP since 1969, whose cumin version is the most Alsatian of all. The ferme-auberge, a status created in the 1970s to keep upland farms going, requires the farmer to serve his own produce: the repas marcaire lines up the valley's pork pie, smoked pork collar with sautéed potatoes, Munster or bargkass, and blueberry tart, for €20 to €28. Some thirty farm inns dot the heights, at the Schnepfenried, the Gaschney, the Petit Ballon or the Schlucht, some with dormitories for those crossing the Crêtes. The town of Munster has kept its Saturday market, its storks and the Parc de la Fecht; upstream, Metzeral and Mittlach are the starting points for climbs to the Hohneck via the Schiessrothried and the Fischboedle.
How many days, and which itinerary?
A long three-day weekend gives you a taste of the range from Gérardmer or Munster: a lake, a ridge, a farm inn. Five days cover the High Vosges from the Schlucht to the Grand Ballon, including the Hartmannswillerkopf. A week adds Haut-Koenigsbourg and the Alsace vineyards at the foot of the range, or a crossing on foot along the GR5.
🗺️ Day-by-day itinerary · 📓 Free printable Vosges guide (PDF) · 🌍 All of France
Weekend (3 days)
Day 1: arrive in Gérardmer, walk around the lake, swim, climb to the Saut des Cuves late in the day. Day 2: the Col de la Schlucht early in the morning, the Sentier des Roches and the Hohneck as a loop, repas marcaire at a farm inn on the chaumes, return via the Route des Crêtes and Lake Longemer. Day 3: La Bresse and the Lac des Corbeaux, or Kaysersberg on the Alsace side before the train.
4-5 days
Day 1: Gérardmer and its lake. Day 2: the Schlucht, the Sentier des Roches, the Hohneck, a night in a farm inn on the chaumes. Day 3: down into the Munster valley, a cheese dairy, then the Lac Blanc and the Gazon du Faing from Orbey. Day 4: the Route des Crêtes heading south, the Markstein, the Grand Ballon, sunset at the summit, a night at the pass. Day 5: the Hartmannswillerkopf in the morning, the trench trail and the Historial, then Thann and its collegiate church, returning via Mulhouse or Colmar.
One week
Days 1 to 5: the High Vosges as above. Day 6: Sélestat and Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle in the morning, the wine villages in the afternoon, Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr, Kaysersberg, a night at a winemaker's. Day 7: Mont Sainte-Odile and the Pagan Wall, or the Struthof camp and the Champ du Feu, then back to Strasbourg for the TGV.
Getting there and getting around
On the Lorraine side, the TGV from Paris-Est serves Remiremont in 3h with two direct trains a day, then a bus or a 25-minute drive to Gérardmer; Épinal, 2h20 from Paris, is the other gateway. On the Alsace side, the TGV takes 2h20 to Colmar and 1h50 to Strasbourg, and TER trains run up the Munster valley to Metzeral or serve Sélestat for Haut-Koenigsbourg.
Once there, a car is still the most practical way to follow the Route des Crêtes and string the passes together, but in summer free shuttles or ones costing €1-2 run between Gérardmer, the Schlucht and the Hohneck, and between Munster and the Gaschney or the Schnepfenried. Road cycling is a religion on the Vosges passes, and mountain bikers have downhill sites at the Lac Blanc, La Bresse and the Markstein.
Hikers follow the GR5 and the Club Vosgien trails, waymarked with coloured rectangles, diamonds and circles, whose maps are sold in every tourist office. In winter, chains or snow tyres are compulsory throughout the range.
Where to stay in the Vosges?
Budget: mountain huts and high-altitude farm inns offer dormitories at €15 to €25 a night, with half board around €45, the best way to experience the ridges. Campsites in Gérardmer, Xonrupt-Longemer, La Bresse and the Munster valley charge €20 to €30 a pitch, often beside a lake or river. Gérardmer and Munster also have two-star hotels and gîtes at €60-80 for a double.
Comfort: Gérardmer has a string of three- and four-star hotels with pools and spas, at €120 to €180 a room, around the lake and along Boulevard Kelsch. La Bresse and Xonrupt-Longemer have chalet hotels deep in the forest at €100-150. On the Alsace side, Munster, Orbey and the heights of the Lac Blanc offer family-run hotels with restaurants at €100-140, and the wine villages, Kaysersberg or Ribeauvillé, half-timbered houses turned into guesthouses.
Treat yourself: sleep in a farm inn on the chaumes, at the Schnepfenried, the Gaschney or near the Schlucht, to watch the sun set over the Alsace plain from the terrace, dine on a repas marcaire and wake up among Vosges cows with a sea of clouds beneath your feet. The comfort is simple, the night unforgettable. For something softer, Lake Longemer, quieter than Gérardmer, still has a few hotels right on the water's edge.
Our places to stay, stop by stop, at three budgets →
What to eat in the Vosges?
Munster is tasted as a raw-milk cheese in the valley's dairies, €8 to €12 each, young and mild or aged and powerful, with or without cumin; the Maison du Fromage in Gunsbach tells its story. The repas marcaire at the farm inns, pork pie, smoked collar, roïgabrageldi and blueberry tart, costs €20 to €28 and more than replaces dinner.
On the Lorraine side, Gérardmer and La Bresse sell fresh blueberries at the markets in July and August, brimbelle (bilberry) tart at the pastry shops, fir honey, smoked charcuterie and Vosges sweets flavoured with fir buds. The Confiserie des Hautes-Vosges in Plainfaing can be visited for free.
Trout from the lakes and streams appears on inn menus at €15-20. On the Alsace side, the vineyards begin at Kaysersberg and Turckheim, with cellars selling Riesling and Gewurztraminer from €8 a bottle and winstubs serving baeckeoffe and choucroute for €15 to €25.
The lunchtime set menu in a classic restaurant in Gérardmer or Munster costs around €20-30.
Entry requirements
Schengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
Rules change: check your own government's travel advice before you go.
Frequently asked questions about the Vosges
When is the best time to visit the Vosges?
June and September for hiking, with the chaumes in flower and then the bilberry bushes turning red, and fewer people; July and August for swimming in the lakes; January and February for skiing and snowshoeing. October brings the finest forests, but the Route des Crêtes can close from mid-November.
Can you visit the Vosges without a car?
Yes in summer, thanks to the ridge shuttles linking Gérardmer, the Schlucht and the Hohneck, and Munster with the chaumes. The train goes to Remiremont, Munster, Colmar and Sélestat. For a hiking holiday, sleep in farm inns on the ridges and walk from one to the next along the GR5.
What is the highest peak in the Vosges?
The Grand Ballon, at 1,424 metres, above Guebwiller. It is followed by the Storkenkopf (1,366 m) and the Hohneck (1,363 m). All three can be reached from the Route des Crêtes in under an hour's walk.
What is a repas marcaire?
The traditional menu of the Vosges farm inns: Munster valley pork pie, smoked pork collar served with roïgabrageldi (potatoes sautéed with onions), farmhouse Munster and blueberry tart, for €20 to €28. Book the day before, especially on Sundays.
Where can you swim in the Vosges?
In Lake Gérardmer (Plage de l'Union, supervised in July and August), Lake Longemer, the Kruth-Wildenstein and Lauch lakes on the Alsace side, and the equipped lakes in the valley. The water reaches 20 to 22°C in August. Swimming is forbidden in the Lac Blanc, the Lac Noir and the high-altitude lakes.
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