This region is ripe for rediscovery by your clients.

Alsace is about to get very popular very fast. It’s on the new route of the high-speed TGV East train, which made its debut on June 10. The region’s biggest town, Strasbourg, recently merited a full-page story in the travel section of “The New York Times” that called the city “red hot.” A number of tour operators are working on Alsace itineraries for next year. And it’s no wonder. This region with so much to offer is suddenly much more accessible.

In a nation famed for cuisine, Alsace has a reputation for its gastronomy. It invented foie gras and transformed German sauerkraut into the transcendent Alsatian choucroute. Everyone in Paris dines at brasseries, which are traditionally Alsatian. When in Alsace, however, diners head to the informal winstubs for local specialties.

Modern Alsatian chefs don’t restrict themselves to traditional fare. Today Alsace has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other region in France. “Don’t expect to lose weight in Alsace,” says Philippe Blanck, an Alsatian winegrower. Indeed, Alsace is famed for its wines, which have been gaining respect and visibility in the U.S. lately, and are hugely popular in France. It has continued the tradition of labeling wines by the grape and making each wine out of only one grape variety.

In addition to great food and wine, Alsace offers something that travelers increasingly say they want: authenticity. The exquisite villages along the wine road are not stage sets – real families live in them. And the vintner giving the wine tasting is often the owner, grower and winemaker of a centuries-old family winery.

Alsace has had a turbulent past, finding itself in the middle of the Thirty Years War and changing nationality numerous times over the course of recorded history. In modern times, it was alternately French and German four times in one century. Today Alsace is a symbol of European peace: It is one of the capitals of the European Union, with the European Parliament, Council of Europe and European Court of Human Rights housed in Strasbourg. Many people still think of Alsace as hyphenated with Lorraine, its neighbor across the Vosges Mountains, but they are actually separate regions. Alsace is a long, narrow corridor just 118 miles long and 30 miles wide, bordered by the Rhine on one side and the Vosges Mountains on the other.

Alsace’s unique French-German flavor comes through in the old half-timbered houses that line the cobblestone streets of the villages along the wine road. The melding of cultures also comes through in the place names, which sound more German than French. And every Christmas season, it shows in one of the region’s highlights: the German-style Christmas Markets. A wealth of these markets as well as towns crammed with Christmas decorations make December a magical time to visit Alsace.

Ecotourists, a growing market, have made biking and walking tours very popular in Alsace. Clients interested in “green” travel will find two national parks: the Ballons des Vosges Nature Park in the south, with the rounded Vosges peaks called “ballons” (balloons), forests, and Celtic and Roman ruins; and the Northern Vosges Regional Nature Park, a UNESCO world biosphere reserve, with forests, valleys and the fortifications of the Maginot Line. Local tour operators offer mountain biking, horseback riding, paragliding, hang gliding, ballooning and mountain climbing. In winter, there’s skiing for all skill levels in the Vosges Mountains. Barging is another popular way to see Alsace. “Demand for Alsace was so great this year that we added a second barge,” says Pamela Lassers of Abercrombie & Kent.

Alsace has 250 museums, including the Automobile Museum in Mulhouse (another TGV East stop) with 400 rare vintage and modern cars. It also has numerous ruined medieval castles, many built dramatically into mountain faces. One of the most-visited sites is Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle along the wine route, a restored and furnished fortress built on a high ridge with a spectacular view over Alsace, the Vosges and the Black Forest.

By far, however, Alsace’s top attraction is the Alsatian Wine Road, which winds through vineyards and antique villages with the Vosges Mountains as background. Sixty enticing villages line the way and nearly 400 wineries offer visits and tastings. At harvest time (September and October), workers hand-pick the grapes; from May through late October, there are constant wine festivals.

Sophisticated Strasbourg  is Alsace’s capital and biggest city. A modern part of the city houses the European Capital buildings; half-timbered houses reflect in the winding canals of the La Petite France section; and a Gothic cathedral of pink sandstone dominates the historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A futuristic tram system connects all parts of the city. With the TGV East, Strasbourg is now a major crossroads for high-speed train travel to Germany and Luxembourg. The trip from Paris to Strasbourg is just two-and-a-half hours now by train.

The top hotel in the center of Strasbourg is the 72-room Hotel Regent Petite France, right on a canal in the lively Petite France section. Prices start from $229 per person double. Its sister property, the 47-room Hotel Regent Contades (from $161) is in the town center. The 153-room Sofitel Strasbourg, starting at $221, is in the historic center. In the EU government part of town opposite the convention center, there’s a 243-room Hilton (800-445-8667) priced from $134, and a 17-room Holiday Inn (800-465-4329) priced from $126. Recommended restaurants in Strasbourg include the Michelin two-star Au Crocodile and the one-star Serge and Co.

Also made more accessible by high-speed train is the small town of Colmar, a star of the wine road. The historic center is irresistible, with narrow cobblestone streets winding among medieval buildings. In the Petite Venise (Little Venice) district, which escaped damage in the wars, canals curve past the old pastel buildings.

Art lovers should take enough time in Colmar to see one of the masterpieces of the 16th century, the Isenheim altarpiece painted by Matthias Grunewald, in the Museum Unterlinden, a former 13th-century convent. There’s also a museum devoted to native son Bartholdi, who sculpted the Statue of Liberty, and several works by him around town. Colmar’s annual wine fair is held Aug. 10-19.

The 70-room Best Western Hotel Bristol, priced from $135, is considered the best in Colmar. The hotel is located right at the train station, about an eight-minute walk from the historic center, and features a Michelin two-star restaurant. Two hotels in the lively Petite Venise district are the 24-room Hotel Le Colombier located in a 14th-century house and starting at $107, and the 30-room Hostellerie le Marechal, priced from $129, housed in a series of 16th-century homes. The 18-room Maison des Tetes, priced from $123, is in the historic center of town. Its 17th-century facade is a town landmark, and its excellent restaurant is a must, whether or not clients stay there. The 128-room Hotel de l’Europe, starting at $182, is two miles outside town, on a main road. It has a spa, swimming pool, tennis courts and an excellent restaurant.

Colmar’s Michelin-starred restaurants include the one-star Au Fer Rouge (au-fer-rouge.com), the one-star Rendez-vous de Chasse at Grand Hotel Bristol and the one-star JY’s. One of the best restaurants in France is near Colmar: the three-star Auberge de l’Ill in Illhaeusern. The bucolic seven-room Hotel des Berges, adjacent to the restaurant, is priced from 350 euros.

The Alsatian wine road lends itself to independent car touring except for one thing – someone in the car will have to forgo the wine tastings. Booking a small group such as a family or a group of friends with a vehicle and driver is a better bet. The following tour operators can provide Alsace tours or barges this year.

Abercrombie & Kent (800-554-7094) is offering a six-night barge cruise on the 22-passenger Lorraine, priced from $1,990 per person double. The operator also offers a cruise on the new, purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible eight-passenger La Nouvelle Etoile, priced from $5,495 per person double. A&K’s Custom Tour Desk (ext. 817) also can develop an individualized Alsace tour for your clients.

France Vacations (800-332-5332), part of Central Holidays Travel Group, has hotel and rental car packages in Alsace, starting at three nights priced from $388 per person.

French Country Waterways (800-222-1236) features a six-night barge cruise on the eight-passenger Princess, priced from $5,395 per person double.

Insight Vacations (800-582-8380) offers a Christmas markets tour, “Germany and Alsace,” including eight nights with hotel, breakfast, four dinners and escorted coach tour, priced from $1,265 per person.

Virgin Vacations (888-658-4744) offers self-guided walking and biking tours in Alsace. A “Walk France: Alsace Wine Route” self-guided tour, including six nights with hotel, breakfast and four dinners, is priced from $1,799 per person.