Strasbourg, France, is home to one of the most spectacular Christmas markets in Europe.
The city is fittingly referred to as the ‘Capitale de Noël’ (Christmas capital).
Getting there
Strasbourg is only a two-hour drive from where we live in Germany. It’s an easy drive, but during the Christmas seaon, traffic and parking within the city can get crazy. Allow yourself extra time for parking; it took us a good 25 minutes or so to locate a garage with open spaces.
We navigated to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg (the beautiful cathedral around which most of the market is centered) and paid attention to nearby parking garage signs to try to get a good spot not too far away.
Cathédrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg
The Strasbourg Cathedral is stunning. Christmas market booths surround its entirety, so you have the pleasure of perusing through gifts, food and Glühwein (called Vin Chaud here) stands while admiring the 15th century Gothic architecture.
Strasbourg holds a spot in my top favorite Christmas markets because of the many various ornaments. Booth after booth is filled with beautiful, handcrafted ornaments. Hearts, reindeers, bells, wooden carvings, angels and so many other delightful creations for your tree! I always go a little bit crazy with my ornament shopping in Strasbourg.
Christmas Market
Once you finish the booths around the cathedral, you aren’t finished! Be sure to grab a map from the info stand showing you where the other markets are located. They are all within walking distance and all worth visiting, especially the one with the gigantic Christmas tree, shown below.
You can spend several hours wandering the beautifully decorated streets admiring all of the lights, shopping from many booths and enjoying several mugs of Glühwein.
Unlike most of the markets in Germany, Strasbourg gives out plastic mugs for the Glühwein. However, you can find the ceramic mugs if you search. There are a couple of booths that have them; just be prepared to pay €4 or more to keep the glass.
If you love Christmas markets, you need to pay a visit to this charming city during Christmas-time. You will not regret it!
