This April, I took a trip with my dog to Obernai, a small town located along the wine route in Alsace.
If you are traveling along the Alsace wine route with your dog, Obernai makes for a nice stopping point. I spent a couple of hours there with my dog and we had a good time exploring the town as well as a viewpoint.
However, if you are planning to spend more time in Alsace, I would recommend staying in Riquewihr as your base, because many different walking and hiking routes that connect different towns start from there. You can find my recommendation on where to stay in Riquewihr with your dog here.
THE ROUTE
This walk starts at the Charles de Gaulle parking in Obernai. I chose this parking lot because it is free of charge and large enough that you can probably find a free space. It is also near the train station, so if you are traveling to Obernai by train you can follow almost exactly this route too!
From the parking lot, we made our way directly into the city to see the main square. It was quite lovely, with lots of benches to sit down and have a lunch break on. Which is exactly what we did!
Don’t feel like you need to follow the route shown on the map exactly. Take your time exploring the town. It is a lovely place with lots of small shops and other things to discover.
We veered slightly off route and found the old city wall, for example. You never know what you will find behind the next corner!
Eventually though, we started making our way to the national memorial that can be seen from afar. It’s a huge cross sitting on top of a hill which was erected in memory of the lost or disappeared soldiers from the area during World War II.
Aside from being a historical monument, it also offers a wonderful view of the town below. However, before we get to enjoy the view, we first must conquer many steps to get up to the hill!
On that, I have good news and bad news.
The bad news: It is a lot of steps.
The good news: There are benches along the way.
The best news: If you really don’t fancy steps and don’t mind coming and going the same way, you can walk up the hill from the other side on winding roads instead.
I chose to approach from this side because next to this ascent to the hill is a large public park which was great for giving my dog a short break to play.
It was not the must fun climb up, but we made it to the top!
The views from above certainly make up for the exhaustion. And the memorial itself is also quite impressive.
For the way down, we chose going down the streets and get back into town that way.
In case that you fancy a longer walk: The Schenkenberg wine trail starts from the memorial. The wine trail of length 1.5km takes you through some beautiful vineyards, so why not explore that too while you’re there?
For us, we were just passing through Obernai, so we made our down directly instead. On that way we also came across the church of Saints Peter and Paul.
A nice way to end this trip to Obernai!
HOW LONG IT TAKES AND WHO IT’S FOR
Overall we spent around two hours in Obernai, but that includes having a sandwich break at the market square. For just the route without any stops, I would think that even one hour is enough.
The city itself is flat, so visiting Obernai is possible for everyone. If you want to go to the memorial on foot, you will have to climb and later descend a hill. However, there are also a few parking spaces directly at the memorial, so if you are not able to go uphill, you can take your car directly there and still enjoy the view!
THE BOTTOM LINE
Obernai makes for a nice stop along the Alsace wine route. I found it to be quite dog friendly since there is a large public park and the walk up to the memorial is nice for your pup too. I would try to visit during off-season times as much as possible though, as the narrow streets in the city can fill up quickly during high season.
A trip with my dog 