Christmas Markets

Strasbourg is the best in that area, if not all of France. Colmar is good, but smaller. I have not been to Basel but it is supposed to be good. If you're going to be in Paris I'll recommend Nancy and Trier, and Luxembourg, all of which are easy to hit by train and nice. I really liked Nancy last year; it's an easy city to get around, and very pretty. Trier has all the old Roman ruins and that always adds to the trip.

At the Colmar market, there are navettes (small buses) on weekends that do an all-day loop from Colmar to Eguisheim, Kayserberg and Ribeauville, all of which have markets of their own.

If you stay in Strasbourg and travel to Colmar, which is only 30 minutes by train, you can visit five different markets. Any more than this, and it would be overload and you'd likely remember none of it anyway.

The train between Colmar and Strasbourg is inexpensive and runs every 30 minutes all day.

I might do Strasbourg for two days, Colmar for one day and then a separate day for the three smaller village markets. I'm guessing you'll be Christmas market-ed out by then.

We just did this trip Dec. 2023. We stayed in Strasbourg the whole time and took a couple of day trips, one of which was to Basel. The market(s) in Basel were fine and I'm glad we went but...we were unable to buy anything as we did not have any Swiss Francs (we were there just for the day and did not want to take out currency we were not going to use again during our trip.) Markets in Basel only take cash, no credit cards. All other markets we visited took cards or cash. Strasbourg was just the most beautiful place during Christmas and the markets are everywhere. It's pretty magical. The other market we went to was in Gengenbach where, at 6pm each night, the have a "living" advent calendar. It's a big production and so, so charming. It also was an easy day trip from Strasbourg.

Appreciate the recommendations everyone!

I enjoyed the Colmar Xmas market the best. The city is super beautiful any time of the year, but at Xmas time, it's just a wonderland.

Strasbourg is all hype. It's very controlled and organized and sterile.

Paris is nothing worth mentioning. The main advantage is some decorations on some the big streets. Got into a little Xmas market in a park near the Shakespeare bookstore which was ok, but felt more like a garden party with hot wine..

I enjoyed a more authentic Xmas market experience in Rennes and Toulouse. Not very fancy, but it seemed that real families were out to celebrate.

The best Xmas markets are definitely in Vienna (maybe 25 of them), Prague, Budapest, Nuremberg.

We went mid December 2023 with 3 college age kids. We trained from CDG and based in Strasbourg for 3 nights and took day trips to Colmar and Basel. My husband and I loved Strasbourg and Colmar (so charming!) but the college age kids loved Basel - it is beautiful and modern which is a nice contrast to the other two locations. I don't know the age of your children but perhaps they would enjoy Basel.

If you base out of Strasbourg there are only a few places close (<2 hours); Colmar, Nancy, Heidelberg, Basel, & Freiburg. Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, and Saarbrucken are only so-so. That part of Europe is still mostly rural and forested. It's pretty, but there's not a lot of cities.

I was in Colmar and Strasbourg back in 2012. Strasbourg was large and sprawling. Colmar was smaller and much more kid-friendly. Many villages near Colmar have markets for more limited times and look to be delightful. It's possible to visit 2-3 in a single day trip from Colmar but I don't know if there are tours or special bus routes. Google "Noel en Alsace" for all the info. Renting a car is possible but I'd check on the likelihood of snow - the villages are in the hills. I visited in summer and driving was easy, but in winter . . .

Try to visit Monkey Mountain - it's great fun for the whole family, but especially for kids.

Great information and very helpful. It has verified some of the plans I made for sure. Staying Metz for three days and one day a train to Nancy (any info on the opening/closing times, have not seen yet). Then to Strasbourg for three days. One day, train to Basel and then maybe hit Mulhouse on the way back. Second day Obernai and Colmar and surrounding markets. Last day devoted to Strasbourg.

Then to Wiesbaden (lived and worked there for a couple years) to meet Family. Basing out of there and plan to hit Rüdesheim am Rhein and Mainz. Rest of the week; Heidelberg/Speyer; Worms; Rothenburg ob der Tauber and then Würzburg on the way back; and then Trier and the Mosel River area. Busy, but will be worth it I think.

Wanted to thank everyone for their recommendations. I've got most of my early December trip ready, just working on two spare days I have between Strausburg and heading back to Paris to end the trip. I was tempted to visit Besancon (my neighbor lived there and I have good recommendations), but lately I've been considering going down to Lucerne, since it only seems to be a couple of hours from Strausburg. Has anyone visited Lucerne and have any recommendations for a two winter visit?