Alsace in 3 days

Its 142-metre pink sandstone spire made it the world's tallest building until the 19th century, and the astronomical clock inside parades its automata daily.

The old tanners' and millers' quarter holds Strasbourg's finest half-timbered houses along the Ill, ending at the Covered Bridges and the Vauban Dam.

A mountain fortress at 757 metres, restored under Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose armoury, drawbridge and medieval garden recreate life in a 15th-century castle.

170 km from Marlenheim to Thann through some 70 wine villages, where riesling, gewurztraminer and pinot gris are tasted in the growers' own cellars.

Inside its 13th-century walls, the main street climbs between ochre, red and green houses to the Dolder, the gate tower that symbolises the village.

A 13th-century Dominican convent housing Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece, the high point of Rhineland painting, plus a modern wing by Herzog & de Meuron.

Former market gardeners' and fishermen's houses line the Lauch, and flat-bottomed boats glide under the flowered bridges of the Quai de la Poissonnerie.

Once voted France's favourite village, it winds in concentric lanes around an octagonal castle, with storks nesting on the roofs in spring.