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Half-timbered houses hung with Christmas lights above an evening crowd in a narrow street in Colmar

Sample journey · 5–7 days

Alsace in Advent: markets, lights and half-timbered lanes

Strasbourg, Colmar, Riquewihr, Kaysersberg, Eguisheim & Haut-Kœnigsbourg

Photo: Jametlene Reskp / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

For most of the year Alsace is wine country with flower-filled windows. In the weeks of Advent it changes: Christmas markets open in Strasbourg's old town, in Colmar and in the small wine villages, greenery and lights hang from the half-timbered houses, and the streets smell of mulled wine, cinnamon and freshly baked bredele, the small Alsatian biscuits. Strasbourg's market by the cathedral goes back several centuries, and every village along the Wine Route dresses up in its own way.

This route is designed so the markets are more than a crowd: we travel on weekdays, see Strasbourg in the mornings and evenings, and reach the villages before the day visitors arrive. The journey is short and easy, so it suits families with children and couples who want a few days before Christmas. The stays, a cosy hotel in an old town or a house among the vines with a fireplace, are chosen so you can walk to the market in the evening.

The route

The journey

  1. Strasbourg
  2. Colmar
  3. Riquewihr
  4. Kaysersberg
  5. Eguisheim
  6. Haut-Kœnigsbourg
  7. Strasbourg
  1. An evening crowd beneath the illuminated Christkindelsmärik arch at Strasbourg's Christmas market

    01Days 1–3 · Strasbourg

    A market in the cathedral's shadow

    Two nights in Strasbourg's old town, on the Grande Île ringed by the river Ill. The first evening, Place Broglie, home for centuries to the Christkindelsmärik, and the great tree on Place Kléber. The next morning, while it's still quiet, the cathedral: the red sandstone facade, the astronomical clock whose figures move each day around midday and, for those who want and are able, the stairs to the viewing platform. In the afternoon, the Petite France quarter with its half-timbered millers' and tanners' houses, the covered bridges and a short glass-roofed boat trip on the river. For children, pretzels, hot chocolate and market stalls full of wooden toys. In the evenings we return to the smaller market squares, where it's less crowded.

  2. A painted house front with Christmas wreaths, a star and lit shop windows in Colmar

    02Days 3–4 · Colmar

    Canals beneath the lights

    From Strasbourg the train takes about half an hour to Colmar, home for three nights. Several small markets run at once in the old town, each in its own square, so an evening easily becomes a stroll from one to the next. In the Petite Venise quarter the coloured houses stand right at the water's edge and lights glow on the canal; there's usually a market here just for children. In the daytime, the Unterlinden Museum, where a former convent holds the Isenheim Altarpiece, one of the most powerful works of the Northern Renaissance. Dinner is Alsatian: choucroute, flammekueche or a baeckeoffe stew in an earthenware pot, with an Alsace Riesling or Pinot Gris alongside.

  3. People walking a cobbled street between half-timbered houses decorated for Christmas in Riquewihr on a winter day

    03Days 4–5 · Riquewihr, Kaysersberg & Eguisheim

    Three villages on the Wine Route

    Two days among the wine villages, just 15–25 minutes' drive from Colmar. Riquewihr has medieval walls, the tall Dolder tower and a main street that smells of gingerbread every winter. Kaysersberg, birthplace of the doctor and philosopher Albert Schweitzer, lies beneath its ruined castle, and its market settles among the old houses and a stone bridge over the stream. Eguisheim is built in concentric rings around its castle, so you simply walk its lanes in circles. Mornings here are quiet; in the afternoon, especially at weekends, the coaches arrive, so we visit early and spend the afternoon by a fire or tasting with a family winemaker. For children, Christmas village toys and hot apple juice.

  4. Haut-Kœnigsbourg castle on a wooded Vosges hilltop, seen from the air on a clear day

    04Days 5–6 · Haut-Kœnigsbourg & the Vosges

    A castle above the Rhine plain

    Your last day in Colmar can go to the Vosges: if there's been snow, a short walk or a snowshoe outing on the higher hills; if not, forest trails and a warm lunch at a mountain farm. The next morning, about half an hour's drive to Haut-Kœnigsbourg, standing on a wooded slope at more than 700 metres. Rebuilt in the early twentieth century, the castle shows what a medieval fortress felt like, with its armoury, kitchen and walls from which, on a clear day, you can see the Rhine plain and the Black Forest. For children it is often the highlight of the trip. Then about an hour to Strasbourg, stopping at Obernai, another small town with its own market.

  5. Strasbourg riverside houses and bare trees reflected in a quiet canal

    05Days 6–7 · Strasbourg

    A last evening by the Ill

    The final night is in Strasbourg again, this time in a quieter quarter by the river. The afternoon is for whatever you missed: the museums of the Palais Rohan, the Neustadt district built under German rule in the late nineteenth century and now on UNESCO's list with the old town, or last purchases of bredele, gingerbread and hand-made decorations for the tree. In the evening, dinner in a winstub, a traditional Alsatian tavern with wood-panelled walls, and afterwards one last walk through the quieter market squares near the cathedral, at their best once the day visitors have gone. The next morning, the high-speed train from Strasbourg reaches Paris in about two hours, or you fly from one of the nearby airports; the journey connects easily with flights from Lithuania.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    Strasbourg's market

    One of Europe's oldest Christmas markets, at its calmest in the early morning and late evening.

  2. 02

    The Isenheim Altarpiece

    A powerful Renaissance masterpiece in a former convent in Colmar.

  3. 03

    Wine villages in the morning

    Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Eguisheim before the day visitors arrive.

  4. 04

    Haut-Kœnigsbourg

    A medieval fortress on its hill, looking over the Rhine plain: children's favourite day.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • With young children

    The whole trip can be based in one place, a house among the vines near Colmar, with Strasbourg as a day by train, so there's no packing and unpacking.

  • For two

    For couples, more time in the wine villages: a house with a fireplace, a tasting with a family winemaker and dinner in a small village restaurant, best booked ahead.

  • Outside Advent

    The same route works beautifully in autumn, at harvest time, or in spring when the window boxes bloom, with fewer people and easier stays.

  • With Burgundy or the Black Forest

    The journey can continue across the Rhine into Germany's Black Forest or, outside winter, south-west to Burgundy and Champagne.

Practical considerations

  • The Christmas markets usually run from roughly late November to 24 December, with a few staying open until the end of December; exact dates are announced each year, so we check them before you travel.
  • Strasbourg is very busy at weekends and in mid-December; security checks and traffic restrictions may apply in the old town, so we choose weekdays, a stay within the old town and getting around on foot.
  • Winter in Alsace is usually cold and damp, with short days, and snow in the Vosges varies from year to year; warm boots and layers are essential.
  • Stays during Advent, especially in Strasbourg and Colmar, book up very early, so it's worth starting to plan in summer.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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