Exploring Strasbourg Christmas Markets: France’s Most Festive City
Strasbourg France has been dubbed Europe’s Captial of Christmas so Caleb and I were so excited to visit after seeing all the beautiful photos on Instagram and it did not dissapoint!
While there were some parts of the Strasbourg Christmas markets that we felt were over-commercialized, and we didn’t love that was one of most expensive markets we visited on our 2 month Christmas market trip, Caleb and I still loved visiting the beautiful city!
In this guide to Strasbourg’s Christmas markets, we’ll share all the markets to visit, how to navigate them, the best foods to eat, as well as some practical tips and guidance!
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Here’s a video with some scenes from the markets to get the vibe!
✔️ Quick Info:
📅 Opening Dates: November 27 to December 24, 2024.
⏰ Best time to go: late afternoon to just after sunset on weekdays.
🍴 Must eat: Bretzel with lardons and cheese and Choucroute Garnie
🏨 Where to stay: We stayed at City Access Strasbourg and loved it, and it’s proximity to markets. It’s not fancy, but its clean and a good price for Strasbourg.
💴 Paying: card is accepted most places. Bring Euros just in case.
Christmas markets covered in this guide: Place Benjamin Zix, Village de l’Avent, La Marche Off, Place St-Thomas, Place Gutenberg, Place De La Cathedrale, Place Du Chateau, Place Du Temp Neuf, Place Kleber, Place Broglie, Palais Rohan
The Christmas Markets and Locations Around Strasbourg
These are all the Christmas markets we visited around Strasbourg in order. We planned them out in a way that made sense, so you can just follow them along as we did. We visited them on a Monday, so know that things would be busier than we describe if you go on a weekend, which we recommend avoiding.
Place Benjamin Zix: the quaintest market
This was one of the cutest markets and one of our favorites! It’s a little market on the water in Petit France, with unique and hand-crafted goods and some mass-produced ornaments. There is not much food – just soup and pretzels. The whole square smelled like the best spicy and sweet Vin chaud, so we had to get some, and it was the best mulled wine we’ve had!
Les Irreductibles Petits Producteurs D’Alsace (Village de l’Avent on Square Louise-Weiss): for artisanal foodie treats
You have to go through a little archway inside Petit, France, to get to this adorable, super local market. In the center were tiny christmas trees with wooden ornaments that kids had drawn to decorate! We saw mostly local artisans like wines, jams, meats, and even a mushroom specialist. What that is, we don’t know, but it’s there for you.
This market isn’t super decorated, but man, it feels local and not super busy! We got to taste a lot of samples of local food and came home with a bunch of small, unique flavored jams!
La Marche Off (on Place Grimmeissen): for sustainable, unique goods
Honestly, this one isn’t our favorite because it really lacked that magical christmas feeling with all the stalls being made of shopping containers. It’s focused on upcycled wares, so if that’s your thing, go for it. We’ll just be drinking mulled wine under a christmas tree elsewhere.
Place St-Thomas: a small market with an authentic vibe
Right in front of, you guessed it, the St-Thomas Church, this market is one of the most gorgeous and felt so Christmasy! We loved just walking through the stalls because they were super lit up and decorated. The smell of crepes, cheese, ham, and spiced vin chaud filled the air, and there was so much food there.
We tried the baguette flambee with lardons, ham, creme fraiche, and muenster cheese, and it made us wonder how French stay thin and how we can buy that gene.
Place Gutenberg: nothing to see here
Honestly? This is a skipper. It’s like 3 stalls and just sells some Vin Chaud and mass-produced ornaments made in China. BYE.
Place De La Cathedrale: for a gorgeous setting
While we usually don’t love touristy markets (except the beautiful ones in Prague!), Caleb and I were big fans of this one because of the gorgeous location in front of the Notre Dame of Strasbourg. Lit up at night? Your eyeballs won’t believe what they are seeing. Unreal.
This is one of the bigger markets, and it was not too busy at 2pm on a Monday, but it was INSANE when we went back at 4 pm. It does help that it’s pretty spread out, so you don’t feel like you’re going to get hit with a selfie stick at every turn. It’s pretty touristy, and all the wares are mass-produced, so we wouldn’t recommend shopping here.
TAYLOR’S TIP: This was the ONLY place we saw some glass mugs, not just plastic ones, if you’re collecting them! If you use then plastic ones, they have some cool little return bins on the market outskirts that allow you to donate your deposit to charity!
The famous Maison Kammerzell is right around the corner if you want an Instagram photo!
NOTE: This is the market on the front side of the cathedral, and the left, if you’re staring at the cathedral to the left, is the Place de Chateau
Place Du Chateau: for the best eats
This market is on the right side of the cathedral, but honestly? They all kinda blend together and look like one mega market. It looks the same as Place Cathedral; it kind of just blends in.
They are pretty similar, but Place Du Chateau has way better food, in our opinion. It’s the only place we saw a traditional Breton Crepe stall, and we had one with ham and cheese. EPIC.
TAYLOR’S TIP: You can go up the cathedral on this side of the market, but we did not cause the line was crazy!
You can go up the cathedral on this side of the market, but we did not cause the line was crazy!
Place Du Temp Neuf (Le Marche Du Carre D’Or): for unique gifts and treats
To get here, follow the lit-up signs on the top of the streets that say “Carre D’Or” and walk down the pretty Rue Des Orfevres from the cathedral. It’s very small, just a tiny circle and totally local finds here like jams, cool gold bookmarks, bredele and some sweet bretzels.
TAYLOR’S TIP: Make sure to look up. There are some half-timbered houses with a funny scene with hot pink pigs and stars
Place Kleber: for a huge Christmas tree
This is where you’ll find the famous Grand Sapin – the Great Christmas Tree. It’s the tallest decorated tree in Europe, and there is a pretty light show every hour from 11:30am to 9pm. We recommend going at night because the light show is a lot better then!
This market is just a 2-minute walk down the Rue de Dominicans from Place Du Temp Neuf and has a variety of handmade ornaments, jewelry, and mass-produced items. We particularly loved that they had some stalls where your money went to charity right at the start of the market.
We had 2 crepes from two different stalls that were literally so bad that we couldn’t untaste them for hours, and we had to throw them away. EAT AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Place Broglie: for a huge, touristy vibe
The oldest and most famous Christkindelsmarik in Strasbourg…
…And honestly? Kind of a letdown.
All the wares here are mass-produced and not with looking around. They had some unique mulled wine and some more German foods here, but this one just felt really touristy to us. We walked around for about 10 minutes and then left cause it was just so meh.
Palais Rohan (Le Quai Des Delices): best for romance
Oh, baby, this is the place to be at night, and we think it’s the most romantic Christmas market in Strasbourg! Oh, la la!
This market is GORGEOUS right on the water with orange-lit-up stars everywhere and the smells of this super-spiced white mulled wine that they ladle out of barrels wafting through the air along with the sounds of local musicians playing!
We got some local white wine from a local producer, Heyydman, who had a stall, sat on the water, and lived the good French life. 10/10 recommend!!!
Map Of The Christmas Markets
How to use the map: Use your computer mouse (or fingers) to zoom in or out. Click the arrow on the top left corner for the index. Click the star next to the map’s title to add it to your Google Maps account. To view the saved map on your smartphone or PC, open Google Maps, click the menu and go to ‘Your Places’/’Maps’. If you want to print the map or see it in a bigger window, click on ‘View larger map’ in the top right corner.”
Here’s a downloadable map for you!
Other Must-See Spots
Here are a couple of places outside the markets that I thought were really pretty or Instagram-worthy to check out:
- Rue des Moulins in Petit France was my favorite street in Strasbourg! You have to stroll down it at night.
- Rue des Hallebardes and the surrounding streets to see Baccarat crystal chandeliers and lots of decorations (especially on Rue Des Grandes Arcades)
- Rue des Orfèvres – this road is so stinking cute, but it was so crowded because of it. Just FYI. Don’t miss the side streets that shoot off it; they are equally cute, and we ran into fewer people on them!
- Restaurant Le Gruber (the famous teddy bear house.)
Want to have someone plan your entire day at the Christmas markets so you don’t miss any of the best stuff? Do an organized tour with a local!
>> click here to check prices, reviews and availability! <<
Or, if you want to tour multiple markets around the Alsace region without worrying about transport (we found it difficult!) then go on a public organized tour here, or a private organized tour here!
Regional Food To Try
You’ll find a lot of the usual Christmas food at the market in Strasbourg! But there is local food that is a mix of French and German flavors, and not trying them would be doing your mouth a huge disservice:
- Choucroute Garnie – what would happen if a drunk French person was hungry and put leftovers together. It’s saurkraut cooked in white wine and then tossed with pork, sausages, and sometimes little noodles. It’s SOOOOO good and has vegetables, so you feel like you’re being healthy and stuff.
- Vin chaud – French mulled wine. You don’t need a reason to drink more.
- Beignet – Deep fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar. You had veggies, so you deserve this.
- Tarte flambee – a bacon/onion/creme fraiche flatbread thing that will make you think we’ve been doing Pizza wrong forever.
- Bredele – little butter cookies that come in many shapes and flavors
TAYLOR’S TIP:
The bakery “Maison Alsacienne de Biscuiterie” in Strasbourg specializes in these and we had SO MANY there. We ended up buying a tin to take home and share with our family because they are that good. BONUS: they give free samples! You can also find them in stalls or at markets.
- Knacks – sausages made of beef and pork, usually served with sauerkraut.
- Bretzels – pretzels, usually with ham and cheese.
TAYLOR’S TIP:
we had a bretzel at the market and it was really not worth the calories – dry and bland. If you want the best one, go to the bakery called L’atelier 116 in Petite France and get one warmed up. I almost cried when I ate mine. We ate them twice a day. NO REGRETS.
- Pain d’epices – The Alsace region is known for gingerbread. You’ll see it in lots of varieties. The flavor is really good, but most of them were a little dry!
Tips To Know Before You Go
Book in advance
We did not book in advance and almost had to pay $500 a night! Strasbourg is called the capital of Christmas, and one of the best markets in the world. So, it’s popular!
Book NOW.
Don’t visit Colmar
Everyone goes to Colmar on a day trip, and it was my dream to do so.
It was the worst Christmas market ever, and you can read about my experience in that post.
Where to stay
In typical us fashion, we stayed at a mid-budget hotel. City Access Strasbourg was clean, decently sized, and walkable to all the markets (around 10-20 mins). The price was super reasonable for Strasbourg, and we totally recommend it!
>> Click here to check prices, reviews and availability <<
How We Can Help You Next:
These are just some of our tips for visiting the Christmas markets in Strasbourg, France…but we have tips that apply to Christmas markets all across Europe! We put them together in an ultimate guide to help you make the most of your Christmas market trip!
Or, read our honest review of Strasbourg at Christmas you can learn what to expect and if it’s even worth visiting!
So, what questions do you have about Strasbourg?
Other helpful Christmas market posts:
