Écomusée d’Alsace is one of those places in Alsace that allow you to step into a world from several decades or even several hundred years ago. It is not a typical museum with several buildings standing next to one another. On a huge site in the town of Ungersheim, an entire traditional Alsatian village has been recreated – with characteristic half-timbered houses, farms, craft workshops, a school, an inn, a church, barns, a mill and other buildings.
Many of them have not stood here from the beginning. They were dismantled in their original locations, transported here and then reassembled, beam by beam. Thanks to this, Écomusée d’Alsace has become the largest open-air museum in France. Today, the collection includes around 80 buildings representing the rural architecture of Alsace, while the museum grounds cover as much as 97 hectares.
This is a particularly interesting place for anyone who, while travelling through this part of France, wants to see more than the historic centres of Strasbourg, Colmar or Mulhouse. Here, you can discover the everyday life of the people of Alsace, traditional crafts, old farming practices, cuisine, architecture and customs.
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Where is Écomusée d’Alsace and how do you get there?
Écomusée d’Alsace is located in the town of Ungersheim, in the southern part of Alsace, between Mulhouse and Colmar (France). The exact address is:
Écomusée d’Alsace
Chemin du Grosswald
68190 Ungersheim
France
The location is very convenient if you are exploring southern Alsace. By car, it takes around 20 minutes to get here from Mulhouse, around 30 minutes from Colmar, around 40 minutes from Belfort and about an hour from Strasbourg. The open-air museum can easily be combined with other attractions in the region.
If you are planning to spend several days in Alsace, a good idea would be to combine Écomusée d’Alsace with a visit to Mulhouse, Colmar or the Alsace Wine Route. Right next door you will also find the Little Prince Theme Park – an ideal place for the youngest visitors!
The most convenient way to get here is by car. The museum is located outside the larger cities, but it has a large, free car park for visitors. You can also come here by bicycle. The area is well prepared for cycling, and there is a free, covered bicycle parking area on the museum grounds.
There is also an option to travel here by train. The nearest station is Bollwiller. From the station, you can walk to the museum in around 30 minutes or cycle there in about 10 minutes.
Écomusée d’Alsace – practical information
Opening hours
Before your visit, it is worth checking the opening calendar. Écomusée does not operate in exactly the same way throughout the year – the season is divided into a summer and winter period. The peak season falls in July and August, when the site is open every day (except Mondays) from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. During the remaining warmer months (April–October), the open-air museum welcomes visitors from Friday to Sunday, as well as during occasional events. In November, the open-air museum is closed, while in December it is open on weekends and during the period between Christmas and New Year. It is best to check the website and confirm the specific date.
You can also find the schedule of special events organised at the open-air museum on the website.
How much does a ticket cost?
For the 2026 season, prices are as follows:
- adult – €16.50,
- reduced ticket – €14,
- child aged 4 to 17 – €11,
- children up to 3 years old – free,
- family ticket 2+2 – €50.
Annual passes are also available: €57 for an adult, €38 for a child and €172 for a family. The ticket includes not only admission to the open-air museum, but also access to the activities organised throughout the day. And this is important information – don’t come here just to look at the buildings. A large part of what makes Écomusée d’Alsace so appealing is precisely the fact that the museum is alive.
History of Écomusée d’Alsace – how was France’s largest open-air museum created?
The history of the museum is almost as interesting as its exhibition. The idea of creating Écomusée d’Alsace emerged at a time when many traditional Alsatian buildings were beginning to disappear. Old farms, houses and workshops no longer fitted into a changing world. Some were demolished, while others fell into disrepair. The creators of the open-air museum decided to save these buildings in an unusual way.
Instead of preserving them solely through documentation, they began dismantling them piece by piece and rebuilding them in a new location. Between 1980 and 1984, 19 buildings representing different types of traditional Alsatian architecture were reconstructed on the site of the future museum. On 1 June 1984, Écomusée d’Alsace was opened to the public.
At the beginning, there were around 20 buildings here, and approximately 75,000 people visited the museum during its first year. The people of Alsace began donating further objects – furniture, clothing, documents, photographs and farm equipment. The collection therefore began to grow. Today, this is a huge museum that not only preserves buildings and objects, but also demonstrates old skills and traditional ways of life. As you explore the open-air museum,en, niech Was nie zdziwi przejeżdżający traktor, wóz konny czy gęsi, które właśnie udają się na kąpiel w stawie.
Why is Écomusée d’Alsace so unique?
The easiest way to describe it is to say that it is a village that has become a museum. Once inside Écomusée, you do not get the feeling that you are walking through a typical open-air museum. Roads, squares, farms, gardens, fields and buildings appear before us. We can enter many of the buildings, look inside, see the furnishings of old farms, workshops and stables.
Officially, the museum currently has 80 buildings representing rural Alsace, and each of them has its own interesting story. Some were residential homes, others were used for agriculture, while still others were connected with particular crafts. As a result, visiting the museum is not about moving from one display case to another. Instead, we are walking through a former Alsatian village.
Traditional architecture of Alsace
One of the reasons to visit Écomusée d’Alsace is the opportunity to discover traditional Alsatian architecture. The most characteristic buildings are, of course, the half-timbered houses. Their construction is based on a wooden framework, with the spaces between the beams filled with various materials. From the outside, the characteristic beams create geometric patterns. You can also learn quite a lot about the construction itself at the open-air museum.
A traditional Alsatian house, however, is much more than a beautiful façade. The layout of the rooms, the size of the farm, the way food was stored and the location of the stables all said a great deal about the status of the inhabitants, the type of work they did and local conditions. At the open-air museum, we can step inside and see what these houses looked like in everyday use. It is the interiors that often make an even greater impression than the façades themselves.
Place des Artisans – a place you cannot miss
One of the key points on the map of the open-air museum is Place des Artisans, or the artisans’ square.
Here you will find, among other things:
- a forge,
- a pottery workshop,
- a wheelwright’s workshop,
- a saddler’s workshop,
- a barber’s shop,
- a fisherman’s house,
- a winemaker’s house,
- a former pharmacy.
This is one of the best parts of the museum for anyone interested in traditional occupations. Here, you can see what the work of artisans looked like, what tools they used and how the objects that were once essential in every household were made. On some days, you can also meet artisans demonstrating traditional techniques.
The Winemaker’s House and Wine Traditions
It is impossible to talk about Alsace without mentioning wine. The region is one of France’s best-known wine-growing areas, and viticulture has influenced the lives of its inhabitants for centuries. At Écomusée, we can also see buildings connected with the work of winemakers. It is a good opportunity to remember that traditional Alsace was a region where different professions and activities were very closely connected to the local landscape. Vineyards, fields, orchards and farms formed a single system. You will also find a small vineyard within the open-air museum.
The Former School and Everyday Life
One of the more interesting elements of the open-air museum is also the opportunity to see what a former school looked like. Today, school is primarily associated with modern classrooms, computers and electronic teaching aids, and increasingly less often with a blackboard and chalk. Here, we can see a completely different world. Old desks, blackboards, textbooks and equipment show what education was like for children several decades or even more than a hundred years ago. On selected days, educational activities and history lessons are also organised.
The Church, the Tower and Other Buildings
Among the 80 buildings, you will find not only residential houses and workshops. One of the most distinctive structures is the Tour Forte, or defensive tower. It was rebuilt using fragments originating from the late-medieval city walls of Mulhouse. The work was completed in 1987. The tower rises above the open-air museum and offers a view over the entire site from above. It is a good landmark to use while exploring the museum. In addition to the tower, it is worth paying attention to the farms, barns, utility buildings, craftsmen’s houses and structures connected with the religious and social life of the former village. Inside the tower itself, also take a look at the ceiling – the painted beams immediately catch the eye and give the place a distinctive character.
Écomusée d’Alsace Is More Than Just Buildings
One of the things that most distinguishes Écomusée d’Alsace from many other open-air museums is its living exhibition. The museum organises daily activities. Depending on the day, you can, among other things, take a boat or tractor ride, meet artisans, take part in activities related to traditional occupations or see what traditional farm work looked like. This is precisely why it is worth checking the calendar before your visit.
In 2026, events have included Easter celebrations, the Spring Festival, events connected with traditional rural festivals, a village festival, events dedicated to wood and apples, as well as special Halloween and Christmas events. Visiting the open-air museum during one of these events can be a completely different experience from visiting on an ordinary day.
Animals at Écomusée d’Alsace
The open-air museum is also home to animals. On the museum grounds, you can see, among other things, farm animals associated with traditional village life. The museum’s official website states that around 60 animals can be seen here. For children, this is another reason to visit Écomusée.
The farm animals here are not simply decorative elements. They are part of the story of the traditional farm and show how strongly rural life once depended on them. During our visit, we encountered horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, donkeys, rabbits and many birds, such as geese, chickens and ducks.
Nature and Landscape
Another advantage of the museum is its size, and 97 hectares is really quite a lot. So we are not surrounded by buildings all the time. There are small fields, trees, gardens, orchards and other landscape features, such as ponds.
Thanks to this, Écomusée d’Alsace can also be treated as a place for a walk. It is worth allowing yourself plenty of time, as walking around the entire site definitely takes more than an hour. We spent around 3 hours there, and I now know that we could easily have stayed twice as long. It is best to set aside practically the entire day for Écomusée d’Alsace. Especially since the site itself is very large, and there are also activities, building interiors, workshops, animals, nature and the possibility of enjoying additional attractions. If you are visiting with children, it is even more worth avoiding planning too many other stops for that day.
Alsace Beyond Colmar and Strasbourg
Écomusée d’Alsace is a great option for anyone who wants to see a different side of Alsace, beyond its cities. Strasbourg impresses with its European history and monumental architecture. Colmar attracts visitors with its colourful houses and canals. Alsatian villages are famous for their fairytale-like half-timbered houses.
Behind all of this, however, there is also the history of ordinary people. Farmers, craftsmen, winemakers, fishermen, blacksmiths, potters and families living on small farms – and it is precisely this part of history that Écomusée d’Alsace brings to life.
Is it worth visiting?
Definitely. Especially if you are interested in open-air museums, architecture, the history of everyday life, traditional crafts or travelling with children.
The biggest advantage is the scale of the entire project. Around 80 buildings, 97 hectares of land, dozens of animals and daily activities mean that this is not a place you can simply “tick off” in half an hour. Écomusée d’Alsace is, in fact, a journey through time in its own right.
We can enter a house that is more than a hundred years old, see its furnishings, visit a blacksmith’s workshop, look inside a former school, watch a craftsman at work, walk through a garden, meet the animals and later relax among traditional Alsatian architecture.
Summary – France’s Largest Open-Air Museum Really Makes an Impression
Écomusée d’Alsace is a place that is difficult to compare with a typical museum. We can see houses where people actually lived, enter their kitchens, look into the stables, visit a craftsman’s workshop and walk along streets that resemble a former Alsatian village.
The greatest value of this place is the authenticity of its story. The buildings were saved from destruction and moved to the museum, while the furniture, clothing, tools and everyday objects collected inside them allow us to understand much better what life was like for the inhabitants of Alsace in the past.
This is not just the largest open-air museum in France. It is one of the best opportunities to see what real, traditional Alsace looked like – before it became one of France’s most popular tourist regions.
Écomusée d’Alsace – practical information at a glance
Where? Ungersheim, Alsace, France
Address: Chemin du Grosswald, 68190 Ungersheim
Distance from Mulhouse: around 20 minutes by car
Distance from Colmar: around 30 minutes
Distance from Strasbourg: around 1 hour
Adult ticket: €16.50
Child ticket aged 4–17: €11
Children up to 3 years old: free
Family ticket 2+2: €50
Number of buildings: around 80
Area: 97 hectares
Number of animals: around 60
