Colmar in one day on foot: a walking itinerary
This Colmar one day itinerary is a walking route through the old town, from the Isenheim Altarpiece at the Musée Unterlinden in the north to the canals of Little Venice in the south. Nine stops, two museums, two churches, three Renaissance and medieval buildings, lunch in the covered market, and about 17 minutes of walking between them.
Two closing rules shape the day. The Musée Unterlinden closes on Tuesdays, and the Musée Bartholdi closes on Mondays, for all of January, and every day from 12:00 to 14:00. This plan is set for a Thursday (I used 22 October 2026), and every stop is open at the time it's listed. The weekday table further down covers the other days.
I built the day in Passage AI: nine stops in order, a time on each, then the Need tickets? scan. Hours and prices are checked against each venue's official site and the Colmar tourist office, linked below.
Last checked: Oct 2026. Hours and prices change. Open the linked official page before you go.
The day at a glance
| # | Stop | Time | Walk to next stop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Musée Unterlinden | 9:00 | about 2 min |
| 2 | Maison des Têtes | 11:00 | about 1 min |
| 3 | Église des Dominicains | 11:15 | about 2 min |
| 4 | Collégiale Saint-Martin | 11:50 | about 1 min |
| 5 | Maison Pfister | 12:20 | about 1 min |
| 6 | Koïfhus (old customs house) | 12:35 | about 2 min |
| 7 | Marché Couvert (lunch) | 12:50 | about 4 min |
| 8 | Musée Bartholdi | 14:15 | about 4 min |
| 9 | Little Venice (Quai de la Poissonnerie) | 15:30 |
Walk times in Passage AI are straight-line estimates between stops. Tap Directions and your phone's maps app opens with the street route.
Colmar one day itinerary, stop by stop
1. Musée Unterlinden, 9:00
Start at opening time. The museum sits in a convent of Dominican sisters founded around 1230; the name means "under the linden trees". Its centrepiece is the Isenheim Altarpiece (1512 to 1516) by Grünewald and Niclaus of Haguenau, shown in the medieval part of the museum alongside Martin Schongauer, Hans Holbein and Lucas Cranach. A modern wing by Herzog & de Meuron holds 20th-century work, Monet, Picasso and Dubuffet among it. (museum collection page)
Opening hours are Wednesday to Monday, 9:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:30. It's closed on Tuesdays and on 1 January, 1 May, 1 November and 25 December. (official hours) Admission is €14, or €17 with the audioguide. Ages 12 to 17 and students under 30 pay €9, and under-12s go free. (admission fees) The museum sells tickets online.
Two hours is enough for the altarpiece and the cloister. The tourist office is on the same square, Place Unterlinden, if you want a paper map.
2. Maison des Têtes, 11:00
A short walk down rue des Têtes. The house was built in 1609 for the merchant Anton Burger, and its façade carries more than a hundred carved heads and grotesque masks. The cooper on top of the gable is by Auguste Bartholdi (1902), made for the wine exchange that moved into the building in 1898. You see it from the street. (tourist office page)
3. Église des Dominicains, 11:15
Building started in 1283, and most of the church dates from the first half of the 14th century. Since 1973 it has housed Martin Schongauer's Virgin of the Rose Bush, which used to hang in Saint-Martin. Entry is paid, with under-12s free. (tourist office page)
The tourist office lists its hours as Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday 10:00 to 13:00 and 15:00 to 18:00, Wednesday 15:00 to 18:00, Friday and Saturday 10:00 to 18:00. Monday isn't listed, and the page shows no price or end of season, so check before you go. On a Thursday, an 11:15 arrival lands inside the morning opening.
On Thursdays the square outside, Place des Dominicains, also hosts a market all day. (city markets page)
4. Collégiale Saint-Martin, 11:50
Colmar's big Gothic church, built between 1235 and 1365. A fire in 1572 destroyed the top of the south tower, and the bulb-shaped lantern that replaced it three years later gives the church its outline. Locals call it the cathedral, though it was one only for about a decade, from 1790 to 1801. It's open Monday to Saturday 8:00 to 18:45 and Sunday 10:00 to 19:00, except during services. (tourist office page) Place de la Cathédrale has a Thursday market too.
5. Maison Pfister, 12:20
The tourist office calls this house one of the symbols of old Colmar. It was built in 1537 for a hatter, Ludwig Scherer, and it's the town's first Renaissance building: a two-storey corner oriel, a wooden gallery, an octagonal turret and painted scenes on the walls. The name comes from the Pfister family, who restored it and lived there from 1841 to 1892. You see it from the street. (tourist office page)
When you reach a stop, Passage AI's Guide opens a card like this with the story of the place. Tap Listen to hear it read aloud while you look up at the gallery.
6. Koïfhus, 12:35
The old customs house, finished in 1480, is the oldest public building in Colmar. Goods coming into the town were stored and taxed on the ground floor, and the deputies of the Decapolis, the league of ten Alsatian imperial towns, met upstairs. The glazed roof tiles date from the 1895 to 1898 restoration. It stands where Grand'Rue meets rue des Marchands. (tourist office page)
From here, walk south through the Tanners' quarter (rue des Tanneurs): tall half-timbered houses from the 17th and 18th centuries, where the top floors were left open to dry hides. (tourist office page)
7. Lunch at the Marché Couvert, 12:50
The covered market at 13 rue des Écoles is a brick and iron hall designed in 1865, with about twenty traders: fruit and vegetables, a butcher, cheese, bread and pastry, fish. (tourist office page) The market's own site lists restaurants among its traders, so you can eat there without booking anywhere.
Hours are Tuesday to Thursday 8:00 to 18:00, Friday 8:00 to 19:00, Saturday 8:00 to 17:00 and Sunday 10:00 to 14:00. It's closed on Mondays. (market's site)
Take your time here: the Bartholdi museum closes from 12:00 to 14:00, so lunch can run to about two o'clock.
8. Musée Bartholdi, 14:15
The birthplace of Auguste Bartholdi, the Colmar sculptor who designed the Statue of Liberty, at 30 rue des Marchands. (museum site)
It's open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 18:00, and the till closes 30 minutes before the museum does. It's closed on Mondays and for the whole of January (it reopens on 3 February), plus 1 May, 1 November, 25 December and 1 January. A full adult ticket is €5. (official hours and prices)
9. Little Venice, 15:30
The canal quarter, which the tourist office calls the "must" spot for photographers. The stop in Passage AI is the Quai de la Poissonnerie, which the canal boat tours also pass. (tourist office) The streets are public, so there's no closing time. Walk along the water and cross the bridges to look back along the canal.
If you want to see it from the water, flat-bottomed boats leave from below the Pont Saint-Pierre for a 25-minute tour. The tourist office lists €10 for adults and €5 for ages 4 to 10. The page doesn't show the season's dates, so check before you go. (boat tour page)
What Need tickets? flagged
Need tickets? scans every stop in the trip and sorts them by how likely you are to need a booking. It links you to the official ticket site. For this day it flagged two:
| Stop | Need tickets? said | Official site (Oct 2026) | My call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Musée Unterlinden | Likely | €14, online tickets sold; closed Tuesdays | Buy online if your date is fixed |
| Musée Bartholdi | Maybe | €5; closed Mondays and January | Pay at the museum's till |
It listed the other seven stops as lower priority or walk-in friendly. That matches the official pages: Saint-Martin is a working church, the Pfister and Têtes houses and the customs house are seen from the street, the market and Little Venice are public, and the Dominican church's page lists paid entry with no booking step.
Which day of the week works
| Day | What's closed on this route |
|---|---|
| Monday | Musée Bartholdi, Marché Couvert; Dominicans not listed |
| Tuesday | Musée Unterlinden |
| Wednesday | Dominicans open only 15:00 to 18:00 (swap it into the afternoon) |
| Thursday | Nothing. Outdoor markets on Place des Dominicains and Place de la Cathédrale |
| Friday, Saturday | Nothing; Dominicans open 10:00 to 18:00 straight |
| Sunday | Market closes at 14:00, so eat earlier; Saint-Martin opens at 10:00, closed to visits during services |
Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the easy days. Avoid January if the Bartholdi museum matters to you.
FAQ
Is one day enough for Colmar?
One day covers the old town on foot: the Unterlinden museum, the two big churches, the Pfister and Têtes houses, the customs house and Little Venice, with lunch in the covered market. Add a second day if you want the Alsace wine villages nearby.
How much walking is this Colmar itinerary?
About 17 minutes between stops in Passage AI's plan, measured as straight lines. The old town is compact, and the longest legs are two 4-minute walks: Koïfhus to the market, and the Bartholdi museum to Little Venice.
Which museums in Colmar are closed on Tuesday or Monday?
The Musée Unterlinden closes on Tuesdays. The Musée Bartholdi closes on Mondays and through January. The covered market is also closed on Mondays.
Do you need to book the Musée Unterlinden in advance?
The museum sells tickets online on its website. Its official pages don't say booking is required, so check before you go if you're visiting in a busy season. Admission is €14, or €17 with the audioguide.
Where should you eat lunch in Colmar on a walking day?
The Marché Couvert in Little Venice works well: it's on the route, opens all day Tuesday to Saturday, and its traders include restaurants. It's closed on Mondays and closes at 14:00 on Sundays.
How this was made: planned in Passage AI on 21 October 2026, facts checked against the official sites of the Musée Unterlinden, the Musée Bartholdi, the Marché Couvert, the City of Colmar and the Colmar tourist office, written by Edward.
Cover photo: Krzysztof Golik on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
