BERGHEIM, 3.5km northeast of Ribeauvillé, retains a good part of its old fortifications, with three towers still surviving – despite being one of the most beautiful Alsatian villages, it rarely attracts the attentions of the tour groups. Also within easy walking range of Ribeauvillé, this time to the south, the village of HUNAWIHR is another beguiling hamlet, with a fourteenth-century walled church standing out amid the green vines. Hunawihr is at the forefront of the Alsatian ecological movement aimed at protecting the stork – the cigogne – of the region, and there's a reserve for them plus otters and other fishing mammals to the east of the village, the Centre de Réintroduction des Cigognes et des Loutres (daily: April–June & Sept to mid-Nov 10am–noon & 2–6pm; July & Aug 10am–6pm; call to check show times, tel 03.89.73.72.62; €7.50).Lastly, nearer to the hub of Colmar are a couple of very busy tourist targets, which are best visited midweek or out of season. A couple of kilometres south of Hunawihr, the walled village of RIQUEWIHR is exceptionally well preserved, with plenty of medieval houses and a Château containing a postal museum, the Musée d'Histoire des PTT d'Alsace (April to mid-Nov daily except Tues 10am–noon & 2–6pm; €3); consequently it suffers more visitors per annum than any other village along the route. Alternate spellings:: bergeim, bergheime
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