COMPLETE GUIDE FOR VISITING THE STRASBOURG AND COLMAR EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS MARKETS
I have wanted to visit a European Christmas Market for a very long time but traveling during the school year has always held me back due to my kids’ schedule. But, last year we found a way to make a quick trip happen and I’m going to share all the details with you so you can do it too!
The hardest part about planning our trip was narrowing down what country we would go to. There are popular Christmas markets all over Europe. Germany, Austria, Belgium and France all kept popping up in our searches. We ended up settling on Strasbourg and the Alsace Region of France which is known as the Capital of Christmas and is home to one of the oldest Christmas Markets in Europe.
CHRISTMAS MARKETS - 2023 DATES
Christmas Markets are open every day and are free to enter. For lowest crowds, plan to visit Monday - Wednesday.
Strasbourg - Christmas Markets have been held in Strasbourg since 1570 making them the oldest in France. Dates for 2023 are from November 24th - December 24th.
Open every day from 11am-8pm
Colmar Christmas Markets: Dates for 2023: November 23th - December 29th.
Monday - Thursday: 10a-7p
Friday - Sunday: 10a-8p
Route de Vins Christmas Markets - dates vary, check this site for most updated information.
Turckheim - For a fun experience, take the Round of the Night Watchman Tour.
HOW TO GET HERE
Strasbourg, France is located about 2 hours east of Paris via high speed train. We flew into Paris and hopped on the train right inside the airport. We factored in possible flight delays, eating after landing, walking through the terminal and maybe even getting lost into the time we pre booked our train for. We ended up booking a time about 2-3 hours after we landed. I highly recommend doing it that way. We were never pressed or stressed about missing our train.
We booked our train on RailEurope. A one-way seat in First Class was €56. Make sure you choose the high speed train that gets there in two hours. There is a bistro car with hot food and coffee if you don’t have time to eat after your red eye flight. The further out you book, the less expensive your ticket will be. For all train travel in Europe, we follow the advice from Seat61.
Another option would be to fly into Frankfurt and take the train to Strasbourg (under two hours).
WHERE TO STAY
Because we were working around work and school schedules, we planned two nights in Colmar, one night in Strasbourg and one night in Paris. It was perfect! Did you know Paris has Christmas markets too?
The view of the Colmar train station from our room
Colmar - We stayed two nights in Colmar at the Grand Hotel Bristol. This is our second stay at this property. Rooms are a great size. I recommend paying for the full breakfast. We get our money's worth in cappuccinos when we travel. This hotel is directly in front of the Colmar train station. If you are not renting a car it couldn’t be easier.
Strasbourg - We stayed just one night in Strasbourg at the Hotel du Corbeau. The hotel is in a great location, just a three minute walk to the Strasbourg Cathedral and several markets.
GETTING AROUND
We booked a rental car from National Car Rental. The office is in the Strasbourg train station as you exit and the car lot was just a block or so away. We rented a car because we were driving to Colmar and wanted to visit all the markets surrounding Colmar along the Route de Vins. If you are not comfortable driving (a stickshift) in Europe, it’s possible to take a train right from Strasbourg to Colmar and just use the seasonal Christmas shuttle to all the markets. Colmar is about an hour's scenic drive from Strasbourg.
We returned our rental car for our stay in Strasbourg. I’m so glad we did. The traffic was terrible. You can hop on the tram from the train station and it will get you within a 5-7 minute walk of your hotel if you stay in the historic city center. I highly recommend against having a rental car in Strasbourg. You just don’t need one.
COLMAR
The Colmar Christmas Market shuttle picks up and drops off in front of the Colmar Train Station. If you prefer to walk or the shuttle lines are long, the markets and historic Colmar are just a 10 minute walk. If you are staying in the historic area, you’ll be able to walk to all of the markets.
If you plan to visit the surrounding medieval villages along the Route de Vins you can also hop on a shuttle in front of the Colmar train station. Make sure that you get an updated schedule as the shuttle does not go to every town every single day. Click here for the most updated information.
As you can imagine, the crowds can be quite heavy, especially on the weekends. The villages along the wine route are very small and parking lots fill up very quickly. We arrived at our first village, Eguisheim (probably the most popular) an hour before the markets opened and the parking lots were full and cars were lined up and down every road. As the day wore on and we were Christmas Market “hopping”, parking became more and more difficult to find. There are pay stations at every parking lot in each town we visited that take credit cards or euros. Plan to arrive 1-2 hours before the first market opens for easier parking. Pro Tip: Take a photo of your license plate, you have to enter it every time you pay for parking.
Although the Christmas shuttle is convenient, we saw very, very long shuttle lines in the villages with people waiting to return to Colmar. It was very cold and I’m sure the lines in the evening were at least 30-45 minutes long. Keep this in mind if you don’t plan to rent a car.
There is a train from Colmar to Turkheim that could save you time both driving and waiting in shuttle lines as an alternative to visiting one of the villages. Plus, you can take the train one evening to take the Night Watchman tour!
One of the tallest Christmas trees in Europe can be found in Strasbourg
STRASBOURG
All of the Christmas Markets are within a 5-15 minute walk in Strasbourg. Strasbourg is very walkable and during the Christmas Market season, no cars are allowed on the island from 11am to 8p.m (exceptions are made if you have a car and are staying at a hotel on the island). And for Christmas markets that you feel are a little further, then hop on the Tram. You can purchase a 24 hr unlimited ride pass for less than $5 when you arrive. Take a peek at this interactive Christmas Market map in Strasbourg to see how close everything is.
CHRISTMAS MARKETS IN AND AROUND COLMAR
The gorgeous town of Eguisheim feels like a Disney movie
There are six Christmas Markets sprinkled all along the pedestrian streets in the historic center of Colmar. We parked at one end and just meandered through from stall to stall. In addition to numerous crafts and gift stalls, there are food and drink vendors and rides for the kids and adults. Our favorite time was spent in the Petite Venice area.
In addition to the Markets in Colmar, each of the tiny medieval villages along the Route de Vins (Wine Route) hosts beautiful Christmas Markets. If you have plenty of time, try to visit as many as you can. Our favorites are Eguisheim, Kaysersberg and Riquewhir. The drive through the mountains and villages is stunning. We could spend an entire day just driving this route.
We spent the morning exploring Petite Venise in Colmar
We visited super early one morning and although most chalets and stalls weren’t open, we had beautiful Colmar to ourselves. I highly recommend walking around Petite Venice in the morning as well as in the early evening.
For the latest Christmas Market information in Colmar and the Alsace region, click here.
CHRISTMAS MARKETS IN STRASBOURG
The Strasbourg Cathedral stands as a stunning backdrop to the chalets at one of the Christmas Markets in Strasbourg
In Strasbourg there are ten markets throughout town, all of them within a 5-15 minute walk from each other. We were given a Christmas Market map when we checked into our hotel and I highly recommend grabbing one too when you check in. You’ll find the markets dotted along the main route as you’re walking. Our favorite markets were the one near the Cathedral, the one near the large Christmas tree (Kleber) and the ones in Petite France. This neighborhood cannot be missed!
TIPS FOR VISITING
Bring cash - while many stalls took credit cards, we found that most preferred cash for smaller purchases and many food and drink vendors only took cash.
Winter daylight hours - Keep in mind that in the winter time it starts getting dark around 5pm. So plan your days around this. We enjoyed the quietness of the markets in the early morning when the crowds arrived and we loved seeing everything lit up in the evening.
Dress warm. It’s cold. Plan to spend several hours in twenty to thirty degree temperatures. We definitely did not dress warm enough. Europeans were wearing knee length coats and snow boots. Make sure you pack a winter coat with a hat, warm scarf, ski cap and thick wool socks. Wearing an underlayer like this will go a long way towards keeping you warm
Gloves - although we brought gloves, we kept having to take them off to take pictures and videos. I recommend finding a pair of touch gloves or fingerless gloves to remedy this. I would really try these on because some of the ones online are not thick enough to keep your fingers from getting cold. If your fingers are frozen you will not be able to spend much time outside.
Dining - restaurants in Colmar (and many in France) are not open all day so please plan your meals around their opening times. Most restaurants close from 3-7pm. So if you normally eat around 5-6pm, plan ahead and eat a late lunch so you don’t get hangry. We found there were more options open during the mid-afternoon in Strasbourg.
Avoid week-ends if at all possible. The best days to attend are Monday - Wednesday. We were shocked at the difference in crowds between Thursday and Saturday.
Collect a cup - Mulled wine (vin chaud or gluhwein) - is a warm spiced wine sold at all of the markets we visited. If you are not a wine drinker, they also sell hot cocoa which I found to be hit or miss. It’s a popular thing to get a cup at each market you visit as a souvenir. If you’re not interested in collecting cups, you can get 2€ back if you return it.
