Colmar or Strasbourg Christmas Market: Which One

This question comes up in every trip plan, and it is usually asked the wrong way round. Colmar and Strasbourg are not two rival options separated by a long journey: they are half an hour apart on the same railway line, and most visitors can do both.

That said, if you really do have to pick one, or if you are deciding which town to sleep in, the differences are real and they are measurable. Here is the comparison for December specifically.

The comparison in one table

What actually decides it: your dates

This is the point almost no guide mentions, and on its own it settles a large share of cases. Strasbourg closes its chalets at 6pm on 24 December. Between Christmas and New Year there is no Christmas market in Strasbourg, only illuminations.

Colmar keeps going, with the main sites running to 29 December and the food market and the wheel until 3 January. If your trip falls in the week between the two holidays, there is no debate to have.

The same logic works at the other end. Colmar opens on 23 November in 2026, which is likely to be before Strasbourg, whose dates are still unpublished. For a very early trip, Colmar is the safe bet, and it is the only one of the two you can book a train for with confidence right now.

Size, in both directions

Strasbourg is 8 markets spread across the Grande Île, drawing several million visitors in under five weeks. The density is real, and the spread is what saves it: you can walk away from a packed square into a quiet one.

Colmar has 6 sites and around half the chalets in a far more compact centre. You cover it faster, and midweek it feels friendlier.

But do not believe the myth of the peaceful Colmar. Friday afternoons and December Saturdays are saturated there too, on a smaller footprint that concentrates people rather than absorbing them. The difference is the time slot you choose, not the town.

Our page on crowds and weather has the Strasbourg crowd table in full, and the Colmar market page covers what the six sites are like on the ground.

Booking pressure, which nobody factors in

There is a third variable behind the choice, and it decides more trips than either town's charm. In December, Strasbourg's hotels fill first and they fill hard, with occupancy approaching capacity on market weekends.

That has two consequences. If you are booking early, sleep in Strasbourg, because you have the choice and the city gives you more for the evening. If you are booking late and Strasbourg comes back sold out or absurd, do not give up on the trip: look at Colmar, which is generally a little less squeezed, and reverse the day.

The mistake is treating those as the same decision made twice. Which town you visit and which town you sleep in are separate questions, and the honest answer is often Strasbourg for one and whatever is available for the other.

Doing both, which is what we actually recommend

Sleep in Strasbourg, visit Colmar for the day. The train takes 26 to 35 minutes with departures every 30 minutes, and Colmar station is 15 to 20 minutes on foot from the old town.

Half a day is plenty for Colmar. Leave around 10am, arrive as the chalets open, come back in the late afternoon, and keep the Strasbourg illuminations for the evening. One hotel, two markets, and you do not pack twice.

The reverse works too, with one advantage worth knowing. Strasbourg fills up first in December, so if the city is sold out on your dates, looking at Colmar can rescue the whole trip.

One caution before you settle in for a second mulled wine: check the last train back for your own date. December evening timetables are not the summer ones, and the best hour at a Christmas market is the last one.

Our verdict, case by case

• One day, first visit: Strasbourg. The historic market, the cathedral and the tree on Place Kléber are the image you came for, and there is far more to do around them when the stalls shut.
• Between Christmas and New Year: Colmar, without hesitating. Strasbourg has packed up.
• A weekend, and you hate crowds: Colmar midweek, or Strasbourg aiming for the western squares and the last hour before closing.
• Two or three days: both. Sleep in Strasbourg, do Colmar as a half day by train.
• You want the villages too: route through Colmar, because that is where the Christmas shuttles to Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Ribeauvillé leave from. Our guide to Alsace Christmas markets from Strasbourg covers every connection.

Outside the market season the comparison changes completely, and the two towns are judged on museums, boats and walking rather than chalets. That version is in Strasbourg or Colmar, with things to do in Colmar for the day that actually works.

Sources: "La Magie de Noël à Colmar", official site (2026 dates and hours, car parks, shuttles, free transport days); Ouest-France and the local press (number of sites and chalets in Colmar, 2025 edition); City of Strasbourg municipal reports and DNA (visitor numbers, hotel occupancy); Fluo Grand Est and SNCF for the Strasbourg to Colmar rail link. Strasbourg's 2026 dates were not published when this page was written: it will be updated as soon as the municipal order is issued.