Colmar Christmas Market: The Perfect Day Trip From Strasbourg (2026)

02/10/202618/10/2026wareontheglobe Leave a comment

Peach-colored and half-timbered buildings decorated with Christmas garlands in Colmar's old town

Dan and I got engaged in Colmar, France in October 2016. Located in the Alsace region in France (only 30 minutes from the German border via car), Colmar is a picture perfect European town, the town Disney is said to have based Belle’s village on (seriously, you cannot deny this). It is also, arguably, the most magical Christmas town in Alsace. Colmar hosts six absolutely adorable Christmas markets every holiday season. We finally visited in early December 2025 as a day trip from Strasbourg, as part of our first trip to the European Christmas markets. This post shares everything about Colmar’s Christmas markets.

Aerial view of Colmar's half-timbered houses and canal from the Ferris wheel

Beautiful Colmar from the Ferris Wheel.

Colmar Christmas Market 2026: Quick Answers

Dates: November 23 to December 29, 2026. The Gourmet Market and Place Rapp Christmas fair stay open through January 3, 2027.
Hours: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM Monday to Thursday, and 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Friday to Sunday.
Cost to enter: Free. All six markets and the Place Rapp Christmas fair are free to enter.
Train from Strasbourg: About 30 minutes. We paid 30 euro per person round trip, second class, buying tickets the same day.
How long to spend: About five hours. We arrived around 11:00 AM and left around 4:00 PM.
Best day to visit: A weekday. Our Monday visit was busy but never overwhelming.
Mulled wine cup deposit: 2 euro (2025), refundable at any stall in Colmar.

Is a day trip to Colmar worth it?

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A Long Weekend Exploring the Lovely Alsace from Colmar, France!

06/12/201606/12/2016wareontheglobe 2 Comments

Colmar, Alsace!

This post is all about my long weekend in Colmar, Alsace! For those unfamiliar with the region, Alsace is the Germanic region of France lying on France’s Eastern border next to Germany. Throughout history the Alsace has switched off between French and German rule and as a result, the Alsace retains its own culture, food and even language that is not quite French but not quite German, either. In any case, I have been wanting to visit Alsace for years! Actually since college, when a French professor that I didn’t particularly like went on and on and on about her time in Strasbourg (Alsace’s capital). I always envisioned staying in Strasbourg, the biggest city in Alsace and home of European Union offices, but in planning my trip I kept reading about Colmar, the picturesque town a short train ride from Strasbourg.

Since the first part of my trip consisted of two large cities (Stuttgart and Munich, Germany), I opted to stay in Colmar over Strasbourg, and it was the perfect decision for my trip (although Strasbourg is pretty fabulous, too). I mean, look at these canals lined with timber-framed buildings, which were everywhere (!):

COLMAR, ALSACE!

TIMBER-LINED HOUSES!

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An Afternoon Wine Tasting in Medoc, France!

13/09/201613/09/2016wareontheglobe 1 Comment

Médoc is one of the most famous Bordeaux wine regions, possibly only second in fame to St. Émilion. Médoc is located northwest of Bordeaux, on the left bank of the Gironde River, and Médoc is further separated into many sub regions (it gets very technical)! In short (you could talk about this forever), each sub region has a specific terroir – a French word describing the air, sun, rain, soil, etc. in that specific region that gives grapes grown there a particular taste. On our visit, we visited two châteaux, one in the Listrac-Médoc and one in Margaux. Both châteauxs specialized in bold red wines, with lots of cabernet sauvignon grapes!

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All You Need To Know About Day Tripping to St. Emilion Without A Tour Guide!

08/09/201608/09/2016wareontheglobe 10 Comments

I will start off by disclosing that this is a companion piece to my recent post My Day in St. Émilion Without A Tour Company! You will see some of the same pictures and read some of the same facts, but this post is meant to provide a more detailed guide to exploring and planning St. Émilion without a tour guide! As I have mentioned before, St. Émilion is an absolutely stunning medieval French town located 40 minutes outside of Bordeaux. St. Émilion is known for two things: its robust red wines and its well preserved, medieval old town. As you can imagine, both of those draw big crowds and St. Émilion is hugely popular with tourists, especially the upscale crowd! Think lots of swanky hotels, numerous Michelin starred restaurants, and some of the best red wines that can be found…

St. Emilion vines.

St. Emilion, France. Simply gorgeous.

The cutest buildings in St. Emilion!

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My Day In St. Emilion Without a Tour Company!

01/09/201601/09/2016wareontheglobe 5 Comments

As you may know from reading my Wine Cruising to Sauternes post, there are, to many tourists surprise, no vineyards or wine châteaux in the city of Bordeaux! All of the châteaux that make the famous “Bordeaux wine” are located in designated areas around Bordeaux. St. Émilion is one of those areas and in my opinion, is the easiest and best Bordeaux wine region to visit on your own (i.e. without joining a tour) from Bordeaux!

St. Emilion vineyards

St. Émilion is world renowned for its full-bodied red wines. But St. Émilion is also an extremely well preserved medieval town that is complete with a unique system underground passageways, wine cellars and even an underground church! As you can imagine, St. Émilion is a very popular day trip from Bordeaux and all of the tour companies offer day trips to St. Émilion from Bordeaux, starting €80,00/person and going up from there. However, St. Émilion is easily accessible from Bordeaux by train on your own, so that is what we did. St. Émilion was my favorite day trip out of Bordeaux and a “must do” for anyone in the area!

Medieval St. Emilion

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