Strasbourg & Colmar Christmas Markets — 4 Nights, Twin City

What does the Strasbourg and Colmar trip include, and what does it cost?

Four nights across the two best-known Christmas market towns in Alsace, from £449 per person. That covers return flights from London, four nights split between the Hotel Hannong in Strasbourg and the Novotel Suites Colmar Centre or similar 4★ properties, cabin baggage, the connection between the two cities, and full ATOL protection under licence 10713. Rooms are room only — breakfast is not included and neither are meals, market spending or travel insurance. Regional UK departures are available at a supplement, and your exact price is confirmed when you enquire.

Strasbourg and Colmar together, or one of them?

The two towns are about half an hour apart by regional train, which is why this pairing exists at all. You are not losing a day to travel — you are losing part of a morning. That changes the arithmetic completely compared with most twin-city trips.

Doing both is the point. Strasbourg gives you the size and the sense of occasion; Colmar gives you the version people picture when they imagine an Alsace Christmas. Seeing one without the other leaves you with half the story, and at half an hour apart there is no good reason to choose.

What you will actually see

In Strasbourg, the Christkindelsmärik spreads across the Grande Île, the island at the heart of the old town, with the largest concentration around Place Broglie and the cathedral square. The cathedral itself is the thing that stops people in the street — pink Vosges sandstone, floodlit, and for a few centuries the tallest building in the world. The Grande Île is UNESCO World Heritage listed, so the setting is not incidental to the market; it is most of why the market feels the way it does.

In Colmar, six markets sit in squares across the medieval centre, none of them more than ten minutes’ walk from the next. The quarter known as Little Venice — canals, flower boxes, timbered houses in faded sherbet colours — is lit for the season and is the single most photographed corner of Alsace in December. Colmar is small enough that you can see all six markets in an afternoon and then see them again after dark, which is when they are worth seeing.

Both towns run on Alsace food and drink rather than the German model: vin chaud rather than glühwein, bredele biscuits by the bagful, mannele brioche figures, tarte flambée and choucroute in the winstubs.

How do the two halves of the trip work?

You fly into Strasbourg or the region, stay in one town, then move to the other by train partway through. Four nights splits naturally as two and two, though we can weight it either way — more nights in Strasbourg if you want the restaurants and the scale, more in Colmar if you want the quiet.

The connection between the two cities is included in the package, which matters more than it sounds. It means the journey is our responsibility rather than something you arrange on a platform in December with luggage.

Both hotels are central. In Strasbourg the Hannong sits a short walk from the Grande Île; in Colmar the Novotel Suites is inside the old town. On a four-night winter trip, being able to walk back to your room in ten minutes is worth more than any other hotel feature.

When do the markets run?

Most European Christmas markets open in the last week of November and close on 23 or 24 December, and the Alsace markets follow that pattern. Official 2026 dates for Strasbourg had not been published at the time of writing, so we confirm the exact dates for your chosen departure when you enquire rather than print something that may move.

Within the season, the difference between a weekday and a weekend is substantial. Strasbourg in particular fills up on Saturdays, and the streets around the cathedral can become genuinely difficult to move through. A Tuesday-to-Saturday trip sees both towns at their best and costs the same.

December daylight in Alsace runs roughly from eight in the morning to half past four in the afternoon. That is not a drawback — the markets are an evening event, and the lights start to earn their keep from about four o’clock.

What changes your price?

• Departure airport. The price is from London, with Heathrow and Gatwick carrying no supplement. Regional UK departures are available at a supplement confirmed at enquiry.
• Dates. November and December are held at the same lead-in price on the package, so the month is not the lever here that it is on a summer holiday. Weekends and the days closest to Christmas are the first to sell.
• Hotel and room grade. Both properties are 4★ as standard, named or similar. Larger rooms, upgraded categories and different hotels are quoted individually.
• How the nights split. Two and two is standard; weighting it three and one either way is priced on request.
• Baggage. Cabin baggage is included. Hold luggage is an extra, and worth considering if you intend to bring anything home from the markets.

Who this holiday suits

• Couples and friends who want the atmosphere of a European Christmas without a long flight or a long stay.
• Anyone who has done one German market and wants to see how France does it — the food and drink are genuinely different.
• Photographers. Colmar in particular is the reason Alsace appears on every Christmas market list going.
• Travellers who like the idea of two places but not the effort. Half an hour by train is as easy as a twin-centre gets.
• Families with older children who will walk and will eat.

Who might prefer something else

• Want the biggest, most traditional German markets? Nuremberg and Dresden are the ones to see, not these.
• If crowds are the problem, Strasbourg at a weekend in December is among the busiest market towns in Europe. A single-city trip to somewhere quieter will suit you better.
• Want breakfast included? The package is room only. Say so at enquiry and we will price a bed-and-breakfast alternative.
• If you would rather not move hotels, the Colmar or Strasbourg single-city breaks do the same thing from one base.
• If you need guaranteed snow, Alsace is low-lying and often simply cold and grey. The Alpine markets at Salzburg and Innsbruck are the better bet.
• Comparing options? You can see all our multi-centre holidays side by side.

Ways to upgrade

All quoted at enquiry against your dates.

• A higher room category or a larger room at either hotel
• A different property in either town, including smaller independent hotels
• Hold luggage, if you plan to shop
• Extra nights at either end, or a third Alsace town added to the route
• A weighted split — three nights in one town rather than two and two
• Bed and breakfast in place of room only

Getting there

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

Once you are there, everything is walkable. Both old towns are compact and largely pedestrianised, and the train between them takes about half an hour. You will not need a taxi at any point, which is just as well in December.

Entry requirements for UK travellers

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

France is in the Schengen area. 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 for at least three months after you leave. The 10-year rule catches people out — a passport renewed early before October 2018 may carry extra months that no longer count.

The EU’s biometric Entry/Exit System is being rolled out, replacing passport stamping with fingerprints and a photograph on your first crossing. It is free and the record lasts three years. Allow extra time at the border the first time. ETIAS is not currently required and is not mentioned in GOV.UK advice, so ignore any site trying to sell you one.

Practicalities worth knowing

France uses the euro, and cards are accepted almost everywhere — but market chalets are the exception, and a number of the smaller food and vin chaud stalls are cash only. Carry some.

Vin chaud is usually served with a deposit on the mug, refunded when you return it or kept if you would rather take the mug home. Most people take the mug home.

December in Alsace is cold rather than freezing, often damp, and you will be outdoors in the evening for hours at a time. Proper boots and a hat make more difference to this trip than anything you can buy on arrival.

Booking and protection

Every element of this trip is covered by our ATOL licence 10713, and we hold IATA accreditation 91285611. You deal with one UK consultant from enquiry to return, and the connection between Strasbourg and Colmar sits on the same booking as your flights — so if anything moves, rearranging it is our job rather than yours.

Christmas market dates sell in a narrow window. Weekends in the first three weeks of December go first, and the closer to Christmas the tighter it gets.