Colmar Christmas Markets — 3 nights

What does a Colmar Christmas market break include, and what does it cost?

Three nights in the old town from £429 per person, covering return flights from London, the Novotel Suites Colmar Centre or similar 4★, cabin baggage and full ATOL protection under licence 10713. Rooms are room only — breakfast, meals and market spending are not included, and neither is travel insurance. Regional UK departures are available at a supplement. Colmar has six small markets within ten minutes’ walk of each other, which is why three nights is enough to see it properly and see it twice.

Colmar or Strasbourg for a first Alsace Christmas?

These are the two names on every Alsace market list, and they offer different trips.

Colmar is the one that looks like the pictures. If you have seen an image of an Alsace Christmas — timbered houses in faded colours, a canal, lights reflected in the water — you have almost certainly seen Colmar. Strasbourg is the bigger occasion. Prefer both? We run a four-night twin-city version and the towns are only half an hour apart.

What you will actually see

Six markets sit in squares across the medieval centre, and the whole thing is small enough to walk end to end in fifteen minutes. That compactness is the point of Colmar: you are not choosing which market to visit, you are wandering between all of them in an evening.

Little Venice is the quarter everyone comes for. Canals, flower boxes, timbered houses in sherbet pinks, greens and ochres, all lit for the season. It is the most photographed corner of Alsace in December and it deserves to be. Go once in daylight to see the colours and again after dark to see why people fly in for it.

The rest of the old town is more of the same at a lower intensity — cobbled lanes, painted facades, a market in every square that opens up. Colmar is unusual among market towns in that the setting is as much of the draw as the stalls.

The food is Alsace rather than German: vin chaud, bredele biscuits by the bag, mannele brioche, and winstubs serving tarte flambée and choucroute when you need to sit down indoors.

Is three nights the right length?

For Colmar alone, yes, and here is the honest reasoning. The town is small. You can see all six markets in an afternoon, and you will want to see them again after dark, which is the whole of day one. Day two is Little Venice properly, the museums if the weather turns, and a long evening. Day three is for the things you noticed and meant to go back to.

A fourth night in Colmar alone starts to stretch. If you have four nights available, the better use is the twin-city version that adds Strasbourg — same region, half an hour away, an entirely different scale of market.

Two nights would work at a push but gives you one full day, and in December that is one afternoon of daylight.

When do the markets run?

Most European Christmas markets open in the last week of November and close on 23 or 24 December. Colmar follows that pattern, and official dates are published closer to the season, so we confirm the exact dates for your departure at enquiry.

Midweek is noticeably better than the weekend. Colmar is small, and a December Saturday fills it. A Tuesday-to-Friday trip costs the same and gives you room to move around Little Venice with a camera.

December daylight runs from about eight in the morning to half past four. The markets are an evening event — the lights start to work from around four o’clock, and that is when Colmar becomes the place in the photographs.

What changes your price?

• Departure airport. The price is from London, with Heathrow and Gatwick at no supplement. Regional UK departures carry a supplement confirmed at enquiry.
• Dates. November and December are held at the same lead-in price on the package, so the month itself is not a lever. Weekends and the days closest to Christmas sell first and hold their price.
• Hotel and room grade. The Novotel Suites is 4★ and central. Larger rooms, upgraded categories and alternative properties, including smaller independent hotels in the old town, are quoted individually.
• Nights. Extra nights at either end are priced on request.
• Baggage. Cabin baggage is included; hold luggage is an extra and worth considering if you plan to buy.

Who this holiday suits

• Couples and friends after a short, pretty, low-effort festive break.
• Photographers. Little Venice after dark is the reason most people come.
• Anyone who finds large markets overwhelming — Colmar is busy but human-scale.
• Travellers who want the Alsace experience without moving hotels.
• First-time Christmas market visitors, because it is easy and there is nothing to plan.

Who might prefer something else

• Prefer the biggest markets? Colmar is a town, not a city. Strasbourg, Nuremberg or Dresden give you scale.
• Want a lot to do beyond the markets? Three nights in a small town in December is deliberately quiet. A larger city will suit you better.
• Prefer breakfast included? This is room only. Ask and we will price a bed-and-breakfast version.
• Want snow? Alsace is low-lying and often simply cold and grey. Salzburg and Innsbruck are the Alpine alternatives.
• If four nights is what you have, add Strasbourg rather than stretching Colmar — the twin-city trip is the better use of the time.
• Not sure this is the one? Browse our other city breaks and tell us what appeals.

Ways to upgrade

All quoted at enquiry against your dates.

• A higher room category or a larger room
• A smaller independent hotel inside the old town
• Bed and breakfast in place of room only
• Hold luggage
• Extra nights, or Strasbourg added as a second base
• A private transfer rather than the standard arrangement

Getting there

Flights are from London, with Heathrow and Gatwick at no supplement and regional departures available at a cost confirmed at enquiry. Alsace sits on the German border and routings vary by date, so we book whichever works best for yours.

Colmar itself needs no transport at all. The old town is compact and pedestrianised, the hotel is inside it, and every market is a short walk. Strasbourg is about half an hour away by train if you want a day trip.

Entry requirements for UK travellers

Checked against GOV.UK foreign travel advice on 17 September 2026.

France is in the Schengen area, so British passport holders need no visa for stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Your passport must have been issued within the last 10 years of your arrival date and be valid at least three months after you leave. A passport renewed early before October 2018 may carry months that no longer count, which is the detail that catches people out.

The biometric Entry/Exit System is rolling out across the EU, replacing stamps with fingerprints and a photograph on your first crossing. It is free, the record lasts three years, and the only practical effect is extra time at the border the first time. ETIAS is not currently required.

Practicalities worth knowing

France uses the euro. Cards work in shops, hotels and restaurants, but a good number of market chalets — especially the food and vin chaud stalls — take cash only. Bring some notes.

Vin chaud comes with a deposit on the mug, refundable when you hand it back. Most people keep the mug, which is roughly the intention.

December in Colmar is cold and often damp rather than snowy, and you will be outdoors in the evening for hours. Waterproof boots and a hat are worth more than anything you can buy when you arrive.

Booking and protection

This trip is covered by our ATOL licence 10713 and we hold IATA accreditation 91285611. One UK consultant handles your booking from enquiry to return.

Colmar is one of the best-known market towns in Europe and it is small, which is a difficult combination for availability. Weekends in December go first and midweek dates are both cheaper to find and better to be there for.