Christmas In Alsace

The Alsace region boarders Germany & Switzerland and is known internationally for their Christmas markets. The villages in this region are storybook villages. Strasbourg is nicknamed the "Capital of Christmas" and has one of the oldest European Christmas markets, Christkindelsmärik. Strasbourg is one of, if not the most popular Christmas market welcoming over 2.3 million people each year to stroll through 13 markets in the Old Town with over 300 stalls. We visited Strasbourg and Colmar the week after Christmas and it was perfect timing for our family. 

The Christmas market in Strasbourg ends Christmas Eve each year yet the Christmas decorations stay up until January 6th (Epiphany). While we are loving the Christmas markets, navigating three children under the age of 6 in shoulder-to-shoulder crowds was not appealing. Visiting the week after Christmas was so enjoyable. We arrived in Strasbourg, dropped off our bags at the hotel and headed straight back to the train station to hop on a train to Colmar. 

Colmar is 30 minutes by train and it was the last day of their Christmas market. Stepping out of the train station, we were welcomed with decorated Christmas trees surrounding the main fountain. It was a short walk to the Old Town and it felt like we were walking into the set of Beauty and the Beast. We instantly fell in love with the village.  While one of the smaller markets with 180 stalls, the decorations are so festive and it is very much geared towards children. We wandered each market, rode as many rides as possible, drank our last vin chaud of the season and of course found a Ferris Wheel!

Saturday morning, we set out to explore Strasbourg! We started our walk in Le Petit France immediately being lured into a fromagerie by the fromager serving free samples. Who can turn down free fromage samples? We walked away with deux fromages! The streets were decorated with lights everywhere and we could not wait for evening to come so we could experience it. We wondered through the winding streets to find ourselves at Cathedrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg. The Cathedral is a stunning work of Gothic art. We walked along the river enjoying the gorgeous afternoon and crossed over the Pont du Corbeau into the weekend bronante. It took all my willpower not to walk away with vintage champagne glasses. We winded our way to Place Kelber where one of the tallest Christmas trees in the world is displayed. Think taller and slimmer than the tree at Rockefeller. We ended the afternoon with Pizza & a much needed nap! 

As the sun started to set, we made our way back to Le Petit France to enjoy an evening with Christmas lights. Brian made the kids a homemade scavenger hunt list on a napkin to entertain them while we walked the entire village for the second time. Points were earned for spotting Christmas trees, Santa's, star's, reindeer, Christmas wreaths, candy canes & gingerbread men. Lights were strung from building to building, incredible Christmas chandlers hung from intersections, angels, teddy bears and nutcrackers scaled the buildings and window displays were some of the best we've seen. The only thing missing was snow! We circled the village and ended at Place Kebler watching the Christmas tree light show. Back at the hotel, the kids polished off ice cream in their Christmas jammies.    

The entire evening was magical and we were completely immersed in the Christmas spirit Strasbourg merits each year. We loved being able to experience the joy of the Christmas Capital of the World. We will find our way back to the Christmas Markets!