Colmar, France: Self-Guided Walking Tour

Looking for things to do in Colmar? This Alsatian city is known for its historic buildings, museums, churches, sculptures and waterways, with a remarkably rich collection of places to explore on foot. As part of the Grand Est region in France, Colmar brings together medieval and Renaissance architecture, artistic heritage and reminders of its changing history. Neywo has a free audio guide for Colmar with 32 narrated places, available in 11 languages.

What to See in Colmar

The best way to discover Colmar is to walk between its landmarks, taking time to look closely at façades, courtyards, sculptures and interiors. These are some of the city’s most notable stops.

St Martin’s Church

The Collégiale Saint-Martin is one of Colmar’s major landmarks and is often called the city’s cathedral. The present building was begun in 1234 and completed in 1365, while archaeological discoveries have revealed two earlier churches beneath it: a Carolingian church built around the year 1000 and a later Romanesque church.

Its exterior combines different entrance styles, coloured roof tiles, polygonal columns and tall windows around the apse. The steeple is topped by a substantial 16th-century helmet roof, added after a fire in 1572.

Maison Adolph

On Cathedral Square, Maison Adolph is one of Colmar’s oldest buildings and a historic monument. Its architecture includes details associated with religious art, making it worth examining as you move through the square.

Maison Pfister

Maison Pfister is one of the most recognisable historic houses in Colmar. Built in 1537 on Merchants’ Street, it combines a yellow sandstone base with timber framing, a two-storey oriel window and a wooden loggia balcony.

Look up to see its octagonal turret with a bulbous roof. Arched arcades, mullioned windows, steep rooflines and carved stonework give the façade its distinctive medieval-and-Renaissance appearance.

Église des Dominicains

The Dominican Church is a Gothic church dating from the former Dominican monastery founded in 1277. Construction took place between 1289 and 1346. Inside, tall slender columns divide the nave, which has a flat ceiling, while the narrower choir contains one of Colmar’s best-known works of art.

Martin Schongauer’s Madonna im Rosenhag is displayed at the entrance to the choir. It was installed there in 1973 after being stolen from its previous location at the Martinsmünster in 1972.

Musée Bartholdi

The Musée Bartholdi occupies the birthplace of Auguste Bartholdi, the Colmar sculptor associated with the Statue of Liberty. The museum presents models and sketches for some of his major works, including the Statue of Liberty and the Lion of Belfort.

It also contains models linked to monuments in Colmar, such as the statue of Jean Roesselmann, the sculpture of General Rapp and the statue of Admiral Bruat. In the courtyard, look for Les grands Soutiens du monde, a monumental bronze sculpture dated 1902. The building’s 17th-century doors were registered as historical monuments in 1926.

Unterlinden Monastery and Museum

The Unterlinden monastery, or Couvent des Unterlinden, was a Dominican nuns’ monastery. Parts of its 13th-century buildings remain, and the Unterlinden Museum has occupied the site since the 19th century.

The museum opened in 1849 and is arranged around a Gothic cloister from the 13th century. Its collections include Rhenish medieval and Renaissance works, with a strong presence of Martin Schongauer through altarpieces, engravings and woodcuts. The former convent church houses the famous Isenheim Altarpiece. Modern and contemporary works are also part of the museum’s collections, and the complex was expanded by joining the historic buildings to a former public bath from 1906 in 2015.

Église Saint-Matthieu

Saint-Matthieu Church began as a Franciscan convent church, founded in 1292 and completed around 1335. The town council acquired it in 1543 and converted it into a hospital; in 1575, it was given to the Protestant community after the Lutheran Reformation.

The church’s pointed arches rest on octagonal columns, reflecting the simple, elegant style of the mendicant orders. Inside, the nave and remaining aisles have flat wooden ceilings painted in the 17th century, decorated with black vine motifs and carved faces. Its remarkable acoustics have also made it a venue for an international music festival.

The Synagogue of Colmar

Built between 1839 and 1842, the Synagogue of Colmar was inaugurated in September 1843. It served as the seat of the Israelite Consistory and the Grand Rabbinate of the Haut-Rhin region, and was protected as a French historical monument in 1984.

Its neo-Romanesque façade is built from local sandstone. A semicircular fanlight, pilasters, round-arched windows and Hebrew and French inscriptions frame the entrance. The building is particularly distinctive in Alsace because it has a small bell tower.

Champ-de-Mars and the statue of Admiral Bruat

Champ-de-Mars is a public park centred on the Bruat Fountain. Its statue of Admiral Armand Joseph Bruat was created by Auguste Bartholdi and erected in 1864.

The original fountain was destroyed in 1940. In 1958, the bronze statue was restored and placed on a new fountain designed by sculptor Choain and architect Porte. The four sea monsters from the original fountain were replaced by allegorical figures representing the parts of the world where Bruat travelled.

The statue of General Jean Rapp

At the centre of Rapp Square stands the Monument to General Jean Rapp, inaugurated in 1856. Rapp was a military officer born in Colmar who served under Napoleon Bonaparte.

The bronze figure shows him in full military attire. Reliefs and inscriptions on the stone pedestal commemorate his bravery and strategic contributions during campaigns including Austerlitz and Essling.

The Toy Museum of Colmar

The Toy Museum occupies a former neighbourhood cinema and opened in 1993. Across three levels, more than a thousand toys trace changing ideas of play.

The exhibits include early teddy bears, vintage cars, Playmobil sets, robots, construction toys, dolls and mechanical and electronic toys. A model railway network covers the second floor, with miniature landscapes, towns and functioning trains. The museum also includes a play area with board games and puzzles, as well as puppet shows, temporary exhibitions and workshops.

Musée Hansi

The Musée Hansi explores the work of Jean-Jacques Waltz, known as Hansi. Its interior recreates an Alsatian village with cobbled alleys and timber-framed façades, echoing the scenes found in his illustrations.

The displays follow his artistic development through drawings, watercolours, wartime caricatures and promotional posters. Hand-painted ceramics and textiles add to the collection, while interactive displays make the museum accessible to both children and adults.

The Statue of Liberty in Colmar

A 12-metre copy of the Statue of Liberty stands at the entrance to Colmar. The Statue de la Liberté was installed in 2004 to commemorate the centenary of Auguste Bartholdi’s death.

Unlike the original, it is made from composite materials designed to resemble the famous monument rather than copper that has developed a green patina. Its connection with Bartholdi makes it a fitting landmark for the sculptor’s birthplace.

Le petit vigneron and the Covered Market

Le petit vigneron, or the Little Winemaker, is a bronze fountain statue created by Bartholdi. The figure shows a boy holding a vessel above his head, with a bronze dog at his feet. The original dates from 1869; the statue in Colmar is one of two copies.

Beside it stands the Covered Market in the former Fishmongers’ District, part of the area known as Little Venice. Designed by Louis-Michel Boltz, the 19th-century market is built on the banks of the Lauch River, with the water curving around the building.

Explore Colmar with a Self-Guided Audio Tour

Neywo offers three walking tours in Colmar, with no group and no schedule. Each story plays as you reach the place, at your own pace, so the app connects the history of each stop with what you are seeing around you.

The three walks are:

• The Unterlinden Museum and the northern old town: 2.56 km, 110 minutes and 12 narrated stops.
• Grand’Rue, Maison Pfister and the Bartholdi museum: 0.83 km, 83 minutes and 12 narrated stops.
• The Ultimate Colmar: Unterlinden to the synagogue: 1.69 km, 104 minutes and 10 narrated stops.

Together, the walks cover museums, churches, historic houses, public squares, monuments and the synagogue. Download Neywo’s free Colmar audio guide and explore the city’s history as you walk. If you are continuing through the region, you can also discover Strasbourg, Metz or Nancy.