PERFECT Camping Base In ALSACE, FRANCE | Caravan Vlogs from Mac & Sarah

PERFECT Camping Base In ALSACE, FRANCE | Caravan Vlogs from Mac & Sarah

Welcome to Camping Ricky, our base while we explore the beautiful Alsas region of France. [Music] [Music] We are here in our caravan for seven nights and we’ve got a packed itinerary of things to do in the local area. And actually, this site is perfectly located for all of them. We’re going to be making a separate video of all of our adventures exploring the Alsace. So, make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss that. But in this short video, we wanted to give you an overview of this site because we really think it deserves a spot on your itinerary if you’re coming to this region of France. Located in one of the most picturesque corners of eastern France, just a stones throw from the German border, Camping Rickir sits in the heart of the Alsas wine region. Surrounded by rolling vineyards just a short drive or even a scenic walk from the stunning medieval village of Rickir, this campsite is the perfect base for exploring the Alsas wine route and the many storybook villages that dot the landscape. From charming towns like Egisine, Kulmar and Rubile to scenic ruins of castles perched at top the hills, there’s no shortage of things to explore. Camping Rick is definitely not a holiday village kind of campsite. There are no pools, entertainment, or organized activities that might be typical of some European campsites. The site instead describes itself as an old-fashioned, simple, familyrun campsite that is all about nature, peace, and relaxation. [Music] In this video, we’ll give you a full tour of the campsite and highlight some of the best nearby things to do. So, whether you’re a wine lover, history buff, or outdoor enthusiast, this might be a great spot for you. Let’s take a look around. And we apologize in advance for any pronunciation errors. [Music] When you arrive on site, there is a really handy, easy pull-in to park up in while you go and check in at reception. It is really easy to access and plenty of space. Access is controlled by security barriers with a code required to get in and out. If you arrive after 10 p.m. or you’re out enjoying yourself until after 10 p.m., you’ll need to park outside because the barriers are closed. So, it’s a nice secure site. They have a couple of electric vehicle charging points outside. Outside the front of the site is a very large motor home gray waste emptying point. There’s no water here, so you would need to do that inside. But this being bigger than the one inside means that a bigger rig can get onto that nice and easily and empty their gray waste. There are visiting food vendors that come every evening from about 5:30 and a couple of nights a week. There’s also wine tasting on site. Now, we haven’t managed to find anything from the food vendors that have been vegetarian. Although the pizza that was here last night smelt delicious and they had veggie options. We had just already planned our dinner for that evening and kind of wish we hadn’t because the pizzas that we saw coming out looked really really good. [Music] This is a seating area for the food trucks and the wine tasting. And bonus, there’s a nice shady tree and a covered area as well for when it is sunny and you fancy a little bit of shade. There’s also a vending machine if you fancy a snack and some camping fridges that you can rent per day from reception. Reception is open from 8 until 12:00, closed for lunch until 2:00, but then open again until 8:00 p.m. They speak really good English. They’re really helpful. So, if your high school French is as bad as ours, then you’ll be fine. Also, of course, you can order your fresh pastries for collection the next morning. It’s a really dog friendly site, and reception even has a dog parking area. This is the main toilet and shower block. There are four rooms and in each room are cubicles with a shower and a sink. And there’s also an accessible shower area and a familyfriendly shower area in each of the rooms. Now, it seems like at one point in time they were male and female. Now they are mixed sex. So, if that is something that doesn’t appeal to you, you may want to bear that in mind when considering this site. It is really nice though to have an individual cubicle with a sink and a shower in each one and we found them to be plentiful and really clean and modern. Around this side, you have the toilets which are male and female specific. There is also the chemical ling point and a washing up station. This is a very swish washing up station. This is where you chuck your rubbish and where you recycle all those empty wine bottles. There’s a variety of sizes of pitch. So, if you got a slightly larger motor home or outfit, then you can request a bigger pitch. [Music] This is our pitch, pitch number 37. And like the others, surrounded by hedges and got a lovely mature tree behind us as well for that allimportant shade. What’s really nice is this doesn’t feel cramped. We’ve stayed on some sites that feel a little bit hemmed in, but this is lovely and spacious. [Music] Now, we are just using our Aqua Roll and Waste Master, but on each pitch there is a tap and a connection for gray waste as well. So, you can treat this as a service pitch. And of course there’s the electricity on the same bolard as well. The view from site is of vineyards and lush green mountains. The closest town is Rick Vir which you can cycle to. It took us about 10 minutes. Part of that is uphill and you could probably walk it although we haven’t done that yet. And it is a really easy straightforward drive. And in Rickir itself there’s lots of restaurants and bars and things like that. So a really good location. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] there. SAS wine route is a 170 km route stretching through this beautiful wine country and it passes through 70 towns and villages on the way. So plenty to see and do. And the campsite in Rick is really centrally located to explore the whole route. We probably haven’t gone more than 20 or 30 minutes in either direction to all of the places that we’ve wanted to see. So, it is a really well-lo campsite to explore this fantastic area. [Music] Each evening at Camping Rickwid, there is a visiting food vendor from about 5:30 to 8:30. Today, we are in luck because it is a local wine producer and they are doing a free wine tasting probably in the hope that you’re going to purchase a few bottles. So, we’re very excited to head over there, taste some delicious wine, perhaps purchase a couple of bottles, too. [Music] Okay. Well, we have some wine to taste. We asked for um a wine that was not too sweet, not too dry, and we have gone for a pino. Oh, that’s really lovely. Kind of an appleley taste to it. Um, I’m not really a wine connoisseur, so I don’t know how to do all the describing words when it comes to wine, but it tastes very, very nice. We picked a couple of wines with the help of the proprietor of the vineyard who recommended the pino grease, which we both very much enjoyed. We would have shown you a little bit more of the tasting, but we actually got chatting to a couple from Chelenham and stood there gassing instead while we were tasting. Let’s get this box open. so that we can get one of these wines in the cooler to chill, which is going to be tricky because it’s about 32° and I feel like my eyeballs are sweating. There we go. Let’s get this baby in the fridge. Hopefully get it chilled in time to enjoy with some dinner. Look at that fridge. It’s all full of fruit and vegetables and healthy things. Really healthy. It does. Get the get the wine in there. Okay. Going to put that in the freezer. Give it a head start. Yeah, definitely. Now, quick question. Mac, do we have a cork screw? We do have a corkcrew. If you watch one of our earlier videos, the Little Hampton video, you will know that we left home without a corkcrew. We tried everything. We tried putting a screw in the thing and pulling it out. I don’t even know how we got in it in the end, but where there is a will, there is a way. But thankfully we do have a core screw. Yes. So the weather has been lovely every single day that we’ve been here. Um and it’s been promising to cool down a little bit after some rain. And some rain has arrived and uh can confirm it is wet. And unfortunately we have a little river running through our pitch. So [Music] Uh to cut my pastries, please. Yes. Uh 37. Wonderful. Okay. Thank you. Have a great day. Bye-bye. Byebye. Pastry delivery. [Music] Ooh, pastries. Delicious. Now, I think I may have overordered. I got a bit carried away. Um, we had originally ordered a couple of pano shakal, but the pano raisin sounded good as well. So, we have got four massive pastries here, but that’s okay cuz we got another day of adventuring. So, I think we could do with the fuel. And I think we should start a campaign for British campsites to do pastry orders every morning because definitely the only campsite in the UK that we’ve stayed at that does that has been Back of Beyond. Yeah, that’s right. Um, but if if you guys know any, please let us know in the comments because we’ll build an itinerary around that. Yeah. Around campsites that do pastries in the mornings. Coffee? Yes, please. Okay. Fresh coffee, madame. How lovely. And your starter. Seems like a crazy amount of food, doesn’t it? Well, this is this is fruit. And it’s very healthy. So, it’s all healthy. And the during our time here, it’s actually been really really hot, hasn’t it? So, it’s been really warm. Yeah. Which has been lovely. Um, but today is a little bit cooler and got to say it feels quite pleasant. It does. Quite refreshing. It rained like a I don’t know what yesterday like the heavens had opened. Like we were in the Bible. Um, and it’s really clear the air out. And there’s a beautiful view of the mountains this morning. And that is where we’re headed. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] So, as Matt said, we are off into the mountains this morning. There is a hike you can do that takes in the ruins of three castles from the nearby town of Riverville, which is where we’re going to go. Meanwhile, here are a few things that you can see and do in the local area. But if you want to see a little bit more detail about what we got up to in our trip, then check out the separate video that we have made all about exploring the Alsaf. Whilst there is a wine shop, restaurant, cheese shop and bakery within walking distance of the site, Rick is the closest town to the campsite with its cobbled streets and colorful shutters. This town is packed with restaurants serving also bakeries for croissants in the morning and cheese shops for a taste of the local pungent cheeses. [Music] Just 3 mi away is VLE. It’s a bit bigger than Rick Vir. So, this is where you’ll find larger supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and shops. There was also a cheese bar, which looked amazing, and we were very disappointed that it was closed when we visited. At the heart of Rio Ville is its charming main street lined with half-timbered houses, fountains, cafes, and shops. It’s full of life and can get a bit busy with other tourists, but it’s perfect for a relaxed wander, even in the rain. [Music] Oh, and the castle off in the distance is one of about 80 that dot the landscape, so you can take your pick of which to visit. We visited a few, including a hike from Ruble to visit three ruined castles with sweeping views of the Alsas plains and the black forest in the distance. Of course, no trip to Alsace is complete without wine tasting. This region is famous for its white wine, and many of the wineries are small, familyowned, and really welcoming. Pop in for a tasting, book a vineyard and sell a tour, and maybe even bring a bottle or two home with you. Now, if you’re staying a few days, and we think you should, there are some amazing day trip options. We were too busy exploring everything that Alsas had to offer, but just across the border in Germany is the Black Forest for hiking and forest drives. Also, only an hour away is Europa Park, Germany’s biggest theme park, perfect for thrillsekers, kids, and everyone in between. So whether you’re here for the castles, the wine, the hikes, or the pretty villages, Brick is a great base camp for exploring this area. This area is really famous for stalks. And in fact, there’s a stalk rehab uh place a couple of villages over. And we were just sitting enjoying a cold glass of orange juice and a huge stalk flew right over our pitch and has landed in the nest which is just a couple of pitches over and looks like there are a couple of little babies in there too. I don’t know. I don’t know when I became interested in bird watching. That seems to be a thing now in my 40s. So that’s fun. One of the things that we like to do when we go away is find bars or restaurants that are a little bit off the beaten track and a little less obvious or touristy. And we happen to find a place just like that in Rick itself. It’s a craft brewery and they also do some food. And I am very very hungry. Me too. We have got the reservations and they’re in how many minutes? Uh in about 20 minutes we had Oh no. [Music] Now the brazerie that we’re headed for is only a 10-minute cycle from sight. So it’s nice and easy. Perfect for an afternoon like this. Awaiting us, we hope to find a cold beer and maybe a tart flat. [Music] It’s a good thing the camp is only a 10-minute cycle ride because Mac forgot all of our money. So, just had to cycle back to get it. So, I’m just hanging out here with my giant beer, drinking on my own. [Music] Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, come. You’re back. I’m back. It’s quicker going back to the campsite than it is coming here. Coming here is all uphill and it’s all downhill on the way back to the campsite. Did you Did you get the wallet? One of the things that attracted us to this place, apart from being super funky, is that it is also part of a craft brewery and they’ve got a lovely selection of beers. We have gone tonight for a lovely juicy IPA and it goes down very very nicely. They have a shop and they also have a another tap room in Rebel Vle which is just up the road from Rick. Um so we may have to swing by and stock up on some beers to take home. One of the things that also makes this place unique is its position right in the middle of these vineyards. One of the dishes we have been really excited to try is a regional specialty called tart flambe which is a really thin pastry base with a cream and bacon and onion sauce on top. Now obviously we’re vegetarian. We can’t have the bacon part of it. But our server has offered us the opportunity to try tart flambe minus the bacon. So that’s super. So, I’m having a goats cheese and Mac is having wild garlic. Wild garlic. And they sound amazing and I’m very hungry and looking forward to giving this a try. Well, our food has arrived and it smells incredible. It looks delicious. So, let’s give this a go. M. That is the lightest, crispiest kind of pastry I think I’ve ever had. And mine has wild garlic and cheese and cream and herbs. That’s really delicious. A really light flavor. The sort of thing that goes down really, really well on a gorgeous sunny evening like this. It’s delicious. The base is so light and crispy. There’s some delicious goats cheese on here which pairs perfectly with the honey. There’s dried figs and walnuts. This is very, very delicious. Now, because Mac had to cycle all the way back to the campsite to collect our wallet, I have given him a couple of slices of my goats cheese. But you wouldn’t be able to eat it all anyway. So, I feel it is a service that I am providing to complete the meal. Well, I feel like I’m doing you a service by giving you a couple of extra slices. We’re both helping each other out. That’s true love. That is. Now, a bonus of a tart flé, which is deliciously light, is that there is room for pudding also. And Sarah has gone for I just don’t know what. But it looks delicious. Look at that. I know. I have a pavlovver melie. Do you ever get the sense that you just ordered a dessert that was meant for like nine people? That’s kind of the vibe I’m getting from this. But it’s okay. And you get a coffee afterwards. And you get a coffee afterwards, which, you know, after two beers, obviously I need that. So, I’m going in. Let’s try my pavlova. [Music] Oh, that’s a perfect thing, actually. Really light and airy. And the um the berries are nice and tart. Tart. Tart. Tart. Tartlet. Tartlet. Tartlet. If you know the movie, comment below. TV series. [Music] Tortilelet from the friends in the TV series. No, this Oh, it is from Okay, we gave it away. I think we’ve just figured out that Sarah’s is the sort of thing that maybe two people might share. Oopsie. In my defense, I’m not entirely sure the menu makes it clear that this is a dessert for 29 people, unless gourand means enormous dessert. I’m going to Google that. Maybe it does. Well, Google Translate just tells me that it means gourmet cafe. So, it turns out if you give me a dessert that’s meant for 29 people, I’m going to try and eat it all. True story. There is a lovely Labrador sitting a couple of tables over. So, I am just uh learning a few essential phrases. I’m not saying it. I’m not going to ask him. An espresso in the evening. Beautiful. [Music] [Music] It’s our last night here at Camping Rickwear, which we’re really sad about because we’ve had such a lovely stay. But there’s some wine tasting on tonight. So, we’re going to go and see if maybe we can purchase a bottle of cold bubbly to toast our last night here at this campsite. Shall we try the Cremont Blanc? Hi, John. Is it possible to try the Cremon Blanc? We have got a couple of glasses of the Cremont Blanc to try, which is the regional sparkling wine. That is dry, crisp, delicious, and very refreshing. Could we please buy um two bottles of the Croman Blanc? Well, our last wine purchase of the stay here at Camping Rick is a couple of bottles of Croman Blanc. Sadly, they didn’t have any that were chilled, but we planned ahead for this very eventuality, and we have a bottle chilling in the fridge now. Well, we have our bottle of bubbly to toast our last night here at Camping Rick and we really hope you’ve enjoyed this short video. If you’ve got any recommendations of other campsites in the Alsas region, please do leave them in the comments below because we definitely will be interested in coming back. And don’t forget to check out our video of us exploring the Alsas region as well. Meanwhile, we hope you’ve enjoyed this video. Thanks so much for watching. See you next on the next one. Bye bye. Oh yeah, there we go. Lovely. Some nice bubbles. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Oh, yes. We come back here every year. But we thought we should. But meanwhile, oh my god, my mind literally just went a full itinerary of a of thing here in our caravan. Seven nights and we’ve got a packed. I’m going to nail it. Yeah. Nailed it to the Heat. Heat. [Music]

Hello friends, thanks for tuning in and welcome to a brand new video! If you’re here for caravan vlogs, we have you covered!

This week we’re at the PERFECT place to stay if you plan to explore the beautiful Alsace region of France, Camping Riquewihr!

Nestled in the heart of the Alsace wine region and on ‘La Route Des Vins’ this campsite could not be in a better location. Surrounded by picturesque vineyards and bathed in peace and tranquility it’s a perfect base not only for exploring but also slowing down and taking things easy.

It’s not a site packed with entertainment and activities, instead it embraces peace, quiet and nature. Just a short drive, cycle or walk to the simply beautiful medieval town of Riquewihr, you’ll never be far away from culture, delicious food and locally produced drinks. Honestly, we did not want to leave this stunning site.

We really hope you enjoy this video, please do leave us a comment, we love reading them and try to reply to as many as possible. Don’t forget to check out our other caravan vlogs for more of our adventures and site tours!

And if you want to check out the other videos in our Europe 2025 playlist, just follow this link.

Thanks for watching

All the best
Mac & Sarah

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