One of our favorite European cities, Strasbourg, was stop #2 on our Christmas market circuit. Strasbourg’s Christmas market tradition is one of the oldest in Europe, having started in the twelfth century(!)
It just wouldn’t have been right to miss seeing the 300 chalets spilling across squares and streets in the beautiful UNESCO-listed city center! The entire city is transformed with 9 themed market squares, concerts, exhibitions and a festive vibe that you just don’t get in the smaller Christmas market towns and villages.
Here are some tips to make your visit incredible.
The oldest and most historic Christmas market is at Place Broglie. The food options here are amazing, with everything from fresh pretzels, spaetzle, sausage, crepes and Christmas cookies galore for sale. This market is among the liveliest in the city, which means it can get really crowded.
The markets at Place des Meuniers and Place du marche-des-Poissons showcase tasty local products, such as local wines, craft beer, truffles and the award-winning Bredele cookies.
The Place Kleber is where you’ll find the tallest decorated Christmas tree in Europe. It’s more than 100 feet tall and decorated with more than four miles of lights.
If it’s a clear day when you’re there, you can climb the 332 steps to the platform on the roof of the cathedral and see all the way to the Black Forest in addition to looking over the beautiful architecture and Christmas chalets of the city.
This town hosts over 2 million visitors during the 4 weeks of “market season”, so it gets crowded, especially on Saturdays. Go early on a weekday if you can.
There are street musicians and people dressed in period costumes who wander through the crowd
Important: If doing a day trip to Strasbourg, like us, or another city via train, make sure you check for rail strikes in the day leading up to your trip. Rail strikes are rather common in France and can certainly force a change your in plans. It happened to us and we ended up being in Strasbourg on a Saturday with huge crowds. Worldinparis.com is a great site to get latest information about transportation strikes in France. You can also check our SCNF that national rail company, but don’t forget check on the regional TER providers which can have strikes just in their regions.
