From the gare SNCF it's a ten-minute walk down avenue de la République to the tourist office on place d'Unterlinden (April–June, Sept & Oct Mon–Sat 9am–6pm, Sun & hols 10am–2pm; July & Aug Mon–Sat 9am–7pm, Sun 9.30am–2pm; Nov–March Mon–Sat 9am–noon & 2–6pm, Sun 10am–2pm; tel 03.89.20.68.92, www.ot-colmar.fr). Besides selling Club Vosgien Hiking maps and a booklet of day walks in the hills behind the town, they'll also give you details of the buses to the towns and villages of the Route du Vin, which leave from outside the gare SNCF. Bikes can be rented from La Cyclothéque, 31 route d'Ingersheim (Mon 2–6.30pm, Tues–Sat 8am–noon & 2–6.30pm; tel 03.89.79.14.18), Cycles Geiswiller, 6 bd du Champ de Mars (Tues–Fri 8.30am–noon & 2–6.30pm, Sat 8.30–noon & 2–6pm; tel 03.89.41.30.59), and Cycles Mayer, 6 rue du Pont-Rouge (Tues–Sat 8.30am–noon & 2–6.30pm; tel 03.89.79.12.47).Accommodation is not as overpriced as you might expect, with a number of reasonable hotels very close to the gare SNCF. Try the quiet and comfortable Hôtel Colbert, 2 rue des Trois-Épis, parallel to av de la République (tel 03.89.41.31.05, fax 03.89.23.66.75; €40–55), or La Chaumière, 74 av de la République (tel 03.89.41.08.99; €30–40). For more luxury, there's the Grand Hôtel Bristol, 7 place de la Gare, directly opposite the station exit (tel 03.89.23.59.59, www.grand-hotel-bristol.fr; €70–85), a relic of the grand old prewar days of tourism, now comfortably refurbished and part of a chain. There are also two hostels: the central Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, 17 rue Camille-Schlumberger (tel 03.89.41.26.87, fax 03.89.23.20.16), two streets over from av de la République; and the HI hostel, Auberge de Jeunesse Mittelhardt, at 2 rue Pasteur (tel 03.89.80.57.39, fax 03.89.80.76.16); take bus #4 from the station or rue d'Unterlinden, stop "Lycée Technique". This place gets very busy in summer with lots of teenagers. The nearest campsite, Camping Colmar-Horbourg-Wihr, is 2km from the centre of town on Route de Neuf-Brisach (tel 03.89.41.15.94; closed Jan & Feb); take bus #1 from the station, direction "Wihr", stop "Plage de l'Ill". You could also ask at the tourist office for a list of recommended chambres d'hôtes (guesthouses) and fermes-auberges (farms with guest rooms) in and near the city.
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