My husband and I are living in Paris right now, and we'd love to spend a long weekend somewhere within a 2-4 hour train trip in December. We're looking for a place that looks especially festive (white lights, holiday markets, pretty alpine or other small town) for our travel plans.
Any recommendations would be much appreciated. Oh, did I mention we're traveling with our toddler? So we're looking more for a walkable, nice town than for a romantic holiday getaway.
Thanks for any ideas!
Anyplace in Alsace (South of Strasburg)is a winner. Storybook, cute towns, such as Colmar will enchant you all. Near Mulhouse is the Ecomuseum which I think has special Christmas activities. When we lived in Europe we took our toddler to the Alsace area often and we all had a good time. Have fun!
Would you recommend Strasburg itself, or do you think venturing farther south into the Alsace and the smaller towns is a better bet?
Thanks!
Take TGV Est to Strasbourg or Karlsruhe and connect to Freiburg. There are plenty of romantic small towns in the black forrest that are easily accessible from Freiburg. But also the Xmas market of Freiburg is worthwhile...
Staufen im Breisgau is fantastic and very near Strasbourg and Freiburg. That will give you a great small town experience.
One thing to keep in mind about smaller towns around Christmas in Germany. Most of the smaller towns have their Christmas celebrations on one day only or maybe over a weekend. Make sure to check out the local tourist information website for their schedule. You don't want to get to, say, Dinkelsbuhl only to find out that the Christmas market was the weekend earlier (which is wonderful, BTW).
I fully second Jarrod on Staufen. Not only is it lovely and picturesque, it's also the town where Goethe's Faust supposedly took place. So if you read the book prior to your trip it might make the visit even more interesting and enjoyable. And as Jarrod mentioned in smaller towns the xmas market only takes place on one day or one weekend. In Staufen this year the Christmas market takes place on Dec 9th. The one in Freiburg is open from the last weekend in November until Dec 23rd.
Sorry, typo: Dec 8th is the Staufen Xmas market!!
While Strasbourg isn't exactly small village, it has enough delights at Christmas to thrill children of all ages. The streets are festively decorated, there are 3 Chritmas markets, an ice-skating rink adjacent to the cathedral, Petit France, all kinds of scheduled and impromptu musical offerings --- I love the city at any time, but their Noel festival is well worth checking out. And now only a little more than 2 hours from Paris by TGV. I'm not sure how good the local transportation is to the charming villages outside of Strasbourg, though.
Not sure if a 2 hr train ride would do it, but check out Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck. I love their Christmas markets!!!!
