BR25 Picturesque villages and the wine region of Cleeboug

Leaving Soultz-sous-Forêts, the route winds through fields dotted with casemates and remnants of the Maginot Line. Once in Hunspach, classified as one of France's “most beautiful villages”, the visitor is seduced by its architectural homogeneity and white houses with curved windows. Then on to Wissembourg, “the pearl of Northern Alsace”, which has lived up to its reputation with its fortified enclosure, its Abbatiale Sts-Pierre-et-Paul and its Maison du Sel. The return journey takes in the Cleebourg vineyards, which guide the hiker through the heart of nature. A few villages further on, the route takes us to Merkwiller-Pechelbronn, the Mecca of the Alsatian oil industry, with the world's first oilfield established in 1770. The route then takes in the Sauer valley and Woerth, site of the terrible Battle of August 6, 1870 between the French and Germans, which is well documented in the museum of the same name. The tour also takes in Morsbronn-les-Bains, a spa with healing waters, and Walbourg on the edge of the Haguenau forest, home to the 1870-1945 Memorial Museum and the imposing St. Walburga Abbey. The tour also includes a final stop at Betschdorf, a famous pottery town, before returning to Soultz-sous-Forêts.