Colmar Christmas Market: Dates, Chalets and Unforgettable Stays
Part of our Alsace travel guide
Colmar in December looks like somebody built a town specifically to be photographed at Christmas and then, as an afterthought, let people live in it. Half-timbered houses in mustard, rust and sage. Canals with lights strung across them. Chalets selling bredele biscuits and mulled wine on five or six squares within a ten-minute walk of each other. The town has leaned into this, and the Colmar Christmas market now runs for a month, draws well over a million visitors, and fills every hotel within thirty kilometres.
That last part is the problem. Colmar is a town of 70,000 people and it is not built for the crowds it attracts on a December Saturday. The market is worth seeing. It is also worth seeing properly, which means knowing which days to avoid, which squares do what, where the chalets end and the tourist tat begins, and where to sleep when the old town sold out in September.
The dates shift every year by a few days. The pattern does not.
Key Takeaways
- The markets open in the last week of November and run to just after Christmas, with the exact dates published on the official site each autumn. Check them before booking anything.
- Five or six separate markets, each with a character. Place des Dominicains for the lights, Place Jeanne d’Arc for food, Petite Venise for children, the Koïfhus for actual craftsmen.
- Weekdays before mid-December are calm. Saturdays and the week before Christmas are not. Evenings after seven are the best hour for lights and the worst for space.
- Book a hotel in the old town by September or accept staying in Strasbourg, Mulhouse or a wine village and training in.
- Colmar is thirty minutes from Strasbourg by train. The two markets are different and both fit a long weekend.
Colmar Christmas Market Dates and Opening Hours
The markets have historically opened on the last Friday or Saturday of November and closed in the days after Christmas, with the closing date drifting later in recent years. Chalets open around ten in the morning and close around seven on weekdays, later on Fridays, Saturdays and the days before Christmas. The illuminations switch on at dusk, which in December in Alsace means half past four.
Entry is free to all the markets. The town publishes the exact calendar on its Noël à Colmar website each year, usually in early autumn, and that page is the only one worth trusting for the specific dates. Blogs, including this one, cannot predict the day the chalets open twelve months ahead.
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the Days After
The markets close early on 24 December and are closed on 25 December. They reopen on the 26th and run for a few more days, which is quieter and often the best time to see the town with the lights still up. New Year is not part of the market; the chalets are gone by then.
Saint Nicolas and the Advent Weekends
The 6th of December is Saint Nicolas, when bakeries sell mannele, the little brioche men, and children’s events cluster around Petite Venise. The four Advent weekends are the busiest days of the whole month, in ascending order, with the weekend before Christmas the worst. A Tuesday in the first week of December and a Saturday in the third are different experiences of the same town.
The Markets and Their Chalets
Colmar does not have one Christmas market. It has several, spread across the old town’s squares, each run as a distinct space with its own theme. Walking between them is the point. The route from the Dominicains to Petite Venise takes fifteen minutes without stops and two hours with them.
Place des Dominicains
The showpiece. Around sixty chalets against the Gothic walls of the Dominican church, with the heaviest illuminations in town and the stalls most visitors photograph. Decorations, ornaments, Alsatian pottery, vin chaud. It is the most crowded market and the one to see first, at dusk, before the evening crush.
Place de l’Ancienne Douane and the Koïfhus
The square in front of the old customs house holds a market of regional crafts and food around the Schwendi fountain. Inside the Koïfhus itself, the oldest public building in Colmar, is the artisan market: thirty or so makers selling pottery, glass, wood and textiles that were made by the person behind the table. This is where to buy a gift that was not also for sale in Strasbourg.
Place Jeanne d’Arc
The gourmet market. Foie gras, Munster, bredele by the hundred gram, pain d’épices, Alsatian wines by the glass and the bottle. The stalls here are run by producers rather than resellers, and the quality is a step above the other squares. Eat lunch here.
Petite Venise
The children’s market sits on the Place des Six Montagnes Noires at the edge of the canal district, with a carousel, a mailbox for letters to Father Christmas, and the flat-bottomed boats offering short illuminated trips along the Lauch. The canal-side houses here are the ones on every postcard, and the Little Venice canal guide covers the walk in any season.
Place de la Cathédrale and the Newer Spaces
The square around the Collégiale Saint-Martin has carried a market in recent years, and the town occasionally adds or moves one, so expect the layout to differ slightly from older photographs. The map on the official site shows the current year’s arrangement. Follow that rather than a blog from three winters ago.
What to Eat and Drink at the Colmar Christmas Market
Alsace takes December food seriously and the markets reflect it. Vin chaud is the default, red or white, around four euros with a deposit on the ceramic mug that doubles as a souvenir. Beyond that: tarte flambée from a wood oven, bretzels, kougelhopf, pain d’épices soft enough to eat without dunking, and bredele, the small spiced biscuits that every Alsatian family bakes in a dozen shapes.
Munster cheese appears everywhere and should be tried at least once, ideally warm. The Christmas beers from the local brewers are a lesser-known pleasure; the Alsace craft breweries guide covers who makes them. Sit-down restaurants in the old town fill from noon on market days, so book or eat early.
Where to Stay in Colmar for the Christmas Market
The honest answer is that where to stay is decided by when the booking was made. Old-town hotels in December sell out by late summer and charge two to three times their spring rates. The choice is between paying that, booking early enough to have the choice, or staying outside Colmar and taking the train in.
In the Old Town
Hostellerie Le Maréchal sits directly on the canal in Petite Venise, with the kind of rooms the postcards promise and prices to match. La Maison des Têtes is a Renaissance townhouse on the main shopping street with a starred restaurant. Hôtel Le Colombier is the quieter boutique option two streets back from the canals. Hôtel Saint-Martin, opposite the cathedral, is the sensible mid-range choice with the best position of the four. All are within five minutes of every market.
Near the Station
The Grand Hôtel Bristol faces the railway station, a ten-minute walk from the old town, and is the practical pick for anyone arriving by train and planning day trips to Strasbourg or the villages. Rates run lower than the centre and the walk in passes through the pleasant streets of the Quartier Sud.
Outside Colmar
When the town is full, three options work. Strasbourg, thirty minutes by train and with its own larger market, covered in the why visit Strasbourg guide. Mulhouse, twenty-five minutes south, cheaper and overlooked. Or one of the wine villages, Eguisheim, Riquewihr or Kaysersberg, which have their own weekend markets and need a car. The where to stay in Alsace guide weighs the villages against the towns.
When to Book
By September for the old town. By October for anywhere in Colmar. Later than that and the choice is Strasbourg, Mulhouse or a village with a car. Cancellation policies tighten in December, so book flexible rates where they exist.
Planning Your Visit
| When | Crowd Level | Best For | Avoid If |
| Weekday, first week of December | Low | Photographs, browsing, a calm first visit | You want atmosphere over space |
| Weekday evening, any week | Medium | Lights, vin chaud, the full effect | You dislike queues for food |
| Advent Saturday | Very high | Nothing in particular | You can choose any other day |
| 26 to 30 December | Low to medium | Lights still up, town relaxed | You need every chalet open |
How Long to Stay
Two nights cover Colmar’s markets properly, with an afternoon arrival, a full day and a second evening for the lights. Three allows a day trip to Strasbourg or the villages. The long weekend in Colmar guide builds the full itinerary around the town’s year-round sights, which December does not cancel: the Unterlinden Museum and the Isenheim Altarpiece in particular.
Day Trips to the Village Markets
Eguisheim, Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Ribeauvillé all run Christmas markets, most of them weekends only, and all of them are smaller and prettier than Colmar’s. Kaysersberg has repeatedly been voted the best in Alsace. A car is the practical way to reach them; buses exist but thin out on Sundays. The most beautiful villages in Alsace guide covers the lesser-known ones that do not have markets and are empty in December for that reason.
Getting to Colmar
TGV from Paris Gare de l’Est takes around two and a half hours, direct or with a change at Strasbourg. Basel airport is an hour by road. Strasbourg airport is forty-five minutes. The station is a ten-minute walk from the old town, and in December the town runs shuttle buses from park-and-ride car parks on the outskirts because the centre cannot absorb the cars. Use them. Parking in the old town during the market is a lost cause.
Dressing for It
December in Alsace is cold and often damp. Zero to five degrees in the daytime, below freezing in the evenings when the markets are at their best. Proper shoes for cobbles that have been wet since October. Gloves that allow a hand to hold a mug. The chalets offer no shelter when it rains, and it rains.
Beyond Colmar: The Alsace Christmas Route
Colmar is one stop on a region-wide season. Strasbourg’s market is the oldest in France and roughly three times the size. The villages between the two towns run their own on weekends. The whole of Alsace decorates itself from late November, and the trains between Strasbourg, Colmar and Mulhouse run every half hour, which makes a market-hopping long weekend straightforward without a car. The France in winter guide places Alsace alongside the country’s other cold-weather destinations for anyone deciding where to spend December.
Conclusion
The Colmar Christmas market earns its reputation, and it earns it most on a weekday evening in early December when the lights are on, the squares are full but not solid, and the vin chaud is still hot by the time you reach the canal. Check the dates on the official site, book the hotel before autumn, come midweek if there is any choice in the matter, and leave Saturday to the people who did not read this. The town will look the same. The experience will not.
Frequently Asked Questions
When Does the Colmar Christmas Market Open?
Historically in the last week of November, running to a few days after Christmas. Exact dates are published on the town’s official Noël à Colmar site each autumn and change slightly every year.
Is Entry to the Colmar Christmas Market Free?
Yes. All the markets are free to enter. Boat trips, the carousel and some events charge.
How Many Christmas Markets Are There in Colmar?
Five or six, depending on the year, spread across the old town’s squares: Place des Dominicains, Place de l’Ancienne Douane, the Koïfhus, Place Jeanne d’Arc, Petite Venise and in recent years Place de la Cathédrale.
Which Is Better, Colmar or Strasbourg at Christmas?
Strasbourg is bigger, older and busier. Colmar is smaller, prettier and easier to walk. They are thirty minutes apart by train and most visitors do both.
How Many Days Do You Need?
Two nights for Colmar alone. Three to add Strasbourg or the wine villages.
What Is the Best Day to Visit?
A weekday in the first two weeks of December, arriving mid-afternoon and staying into the evening for the lights. Advent Saturdays are the most crowded days of the year.
Where Should I Stay If Colmar Is Full?
Strasbourg or Mulhouse by train, or a wine village such as Eguisheim or Kaysersberg by car. All three put Colmar within half an hour.
Planning a trip to Alsace?
Compare hotels, guided tours, car hire and flights in one place.
