Colmar is one of the most festive places to visit in Europe during the Christmas season. This small city is stunning year-round, with its colorful half-timbered houses, decorated storefronts, and cobblestoned streets. Add in twinkling lights, Christmas trees, garlands, and stalls selling mulled wine and holiday gifts, and you have one of Europe’s best destinations during the Christmas season.
Strasbourg is a much larger city, and with that comes a city vibe. Strasbourg lacks the small charm appeal of Colmar, but it is still a gorgeous place to visit in December. The decorations on the buildings are very elaborate and seeing them is one of the big highlights of being in Strasbourg at Christmas.
This guide covers Strasbourg and Colmar at Christmas, with information on both Christmas markets. To plan your time, don’t miss our guide about How to Spend One Day in Colmar. This was written during our first visit to Colmar, but it also works well in December.
Our European Christmas Market Experiences: We’ve been exploring Christmas markets across Europe for years, including London, Vienna, Prague, Wrocław, and all over Germany (see our full guide to Europe’s Christmas markets for the complete list). Kara and I visited Strasbourg and Colmar on our first Christmas market road trip through Germany, adding a few days onto a trip that was mostly focused on Bavaria. We’d heard great things about Strasbourg’s Christmas market, and after a wonderful summer visit to Colmar a few years earlier, we couldn’t resist detouring into France to see both at Christmas. All photos in this guide are our own.
Colmar Christmas Market: In Photos
All of these photos of Colmar were taken on our visit in December 2024.
We spent one night in Colmar, which gave us plenty of time to see it both during the daytime and in the evening. Colmar is jaw-dropping in the evening, once the sun sets and the lights come on, so if you can plan your visit to be here after sunset, you’ll be in for a real treat. By the way, sunset is right around 5 pm in December.
Colmar Christmas Market
Open: November 23 to December 29, 2026
Hours: Monday through Thursday 11 am to 7 pm; Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 10 am to 8 pm; reduced hours December 24, 25, 26
Website: noel-colmar.com
Our visit to the Colmar Christmas Market was on Friday, December 13 to Saturday, December 14, one of the busiest times to visit the market. If you can time your visit to avoid a weekend, you will miss the worst of the crowds.
There are multiple markets spread out across town. These range from small, gourmet food markets to larger markets with a Ferris wheel and rides for kids. The noel-colmar.com website has excellent guides on the Colmar Christmas market, with maps, information on where to park, and even market attendance forecasts. It also has information about the markets in the nearby Alsatian towns.
We visited Colmar after spending about 11 days in Germany. In Colmar, for sale are the typical homemade crafts and sweet treats you see throughout Germany, but we saw quite a bit of gourmet food and Alsatian wine in the Colmar markets. It was a nice change, not only to try some different foods, but to shop for a wider variety of gifts.
One day is just enough time to explore Colmar’s Christmas markets and see a few sights in Colmar. If you spend multiple days in Colmar, you can use it as home base to explore other Alsatian towns or visit the Ravenna Gorge Christmas Market.
Where to Stay in Colmar
The first time we visited Colmar, we stayed at Reflets Sur La Lauch Apartments. This amazing small property is located on Little Venice, so it has an excellent location. We had a two-bedroom apartment that had a kitchen, a living room, one and half bathrooms, and a washing machine. The views from our room were incredible. If you look on Booking.com, we stayed in the “loft.”
On our visit in December, we stayed at Le SCANDINAVE Centre Ville/2 chambres + Terrasse. This two-bedroom apartment is located just outside of the city center. It took about 10 minutes to walk to the heart of Colmar, so it still has a good location. I chose this property because it has parking, and I knew that arriving in Colmar on a Friday evening, parking would be a disaster. It was a good choice and worked perfectly for our one night stay.
Other places to consider are the Colmar Hotel (mid-range highly rated property located just outside of the city center), James Boutique Hotel Colmar Centre (mid-range boutique property), and Paul & Pia (budget hotel with a great location).
Our Colmar Guides
One Perfect Day in Colmar: Things to Know on Your First Visit
Pinterest Facebook Flipboard Colmar is a picture-perfect town located in the Alsace region of France. This small town, with its colorful, half-timbered houses, overflowing flower pots, and bustling street cafes, looks like it has been plucked right out of a fairy tale. With one day in Colmar, you have just enough time to explore the […]
10 Fairytale Towns to Visit on the Alsace Wine Route
When I first saw photos of the town of Colmar, it immediately got added to our travel wish list. With its colorful buildings, bouquets of flowers, and scenic streets, it looked like it was plucked right out of a fairy tale. With a little more research, I was thrilled to learn that Colmar is just […]
Strasbourg Christmas Market in Photos
Open: November 26 to December 24, 2026
Hours: Monday through Thursday 11 am to 8 pm; Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 11 am to 9 pm; reduced hours December 24
Website: noel.strasbourg.eu
The Strasbourg Christmas Market is one of the most popular in Europe. It even has the nickname “Capital of Christmas,” and it’s the oldest Christmas market in France, dating back to 1570.
This was one of the busiest Christmas markets we visited in all of Europe. Tour buses arrive in droves, flooding the streets with visitors. Even midday on a Friday, this was a very, very busy place.
Kara and I spent a few hours here, exploring the different sections of the market and taking photos. The market is spread across a dozen or so squares throughout the city center, each with its own theme, so there’s a lot of ground to cover if you want to see it all.
We’ve actually been to Strasbourg twice. The first time was on a summer visit years earlier, when we climbed to the top of Strasbourg Cathedral. It’s a tough climb, but the view over the city is fantastic and worth the effort. Petite France, the half-timbered old tanners’ quarter along the canals, is another highlight worth seeking out, especially once it’s lit up in the evening at Christmas.
After our visit to Germany, we did not love the overall vibe here at Christmas. It felt touristy and very busy, and honestly, we couldn’t wait to leave. Colmar also feels touristy and busy, but the overall setting of Colmar is amazing, so it’s still worth seeing, in my opinion.
So, if you have limited time in the Alsace region of France, prioritize Colmar and some of the smaller Alsatian towns such as Eguisheim and Riquewihr, and put Strasbourg farther down on your must-see list. But if Strasbourg is already part of your trip, the Christmas market is worth working into your visit.
European Christmas Markets
We have been to quite a few Christmas markets throughout Europe. Don’t miss our detailed guides to the markets in France, Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, and England 🎄 ↓
Plan Your Trip to Strasbourg and Colmar
- Planning your full trip to France? →Our France Travel Guide covers itineraries for Paris, the French Riviera, and more.
- Want to see more Christmas markets across Europe? → Our guide to Europe’s Christmas Markets covers our favorites in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and England.
- Visiting Colmar outside of the holiday season? → Our One Perfect Day in Colmar guide covers the best sights, restaurants, and things to do.
- Want to explore beyond Strasbourg and Colmar? → Our 10 Fairytale Towns on the Alsace Wine Route guide covers the best small towns in the region.
- Planning a longer trip to the area? → Our 3 Days in the Alsace itinerary covers how to spend a few days exploring the wine route.
If you have any questions about what it is like to visit Colmar at Christmas, or if you want to share your experience, let us know in the comment section below.
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