if you love Christmas and fairytales as much as I do, you are going to love this
video because today I'm taking you on a magical Christmas market road trip
through the Alsace region of France visiting some of the most incredible
Christmas markets in the world from the mega famous to the delightfully obscure.
Stay till the end for a map and detailed itinerary as well with insider tips you
don't want to miss. And if you're new around here, this mysterious voice is
Christina and I make videos all about Europe. Be sure to hit that subscribe
button for a new Europe video every week,
but for now join me for a magical Christmas road trip around Alsace. For this
trip I was joined by my two friends Sophie and Susanna. We began our journey
in Strasbourg, the largest city in Alsace and the official seat of the European
Parliament. We'd be coming back here at the end of our trip to properly explore
but for now it was time to hit the road. After some car rental drama we were well
on our way to our first stop: Obernai. Obernai is a quaint little town only
20 minutes from Strasbourg known as a haven for wine and beer production. We
booked a hotel right on the main square which meant glittering views right over
the Christmas market. We learned pretty quickly though that small-town markets
can close early so we spent the evening in the carby loving arms of a local
delicacy known as Tarte flambée before a prompt food coma. After a refreshing
Obernai-ght, we woke up ready to tackle our first Alsatian Christmas market.
Obernai, like many towns of the Alsace is a literal story book come to life
with half-timbered houses lining cobblestone streets and an endless
parade of Christmasy facades studded with garlands, baubles and teddy bears.
The Christmas market here is small but nonetheless spread out across the
prettiest corners of town including the main square Place du Marché. And
what I loved and would see time and time again in Alsace was the abundance of
helpful resources for tourists, with maps and programs always available for free.
But, with an itinerary like ours, there's no time to waste. As the crowds began to roll in,
we were off to explore Colmar. The best way I can describe Colmar to you is that
it's like the Disneyland of Christmas markets. With six markets to offer
visitors, Colmar is definitely one of the most popular and well-known Christmas
markets in Alsace, but just like Disneyland even with crowds it's still
possible to feel the magic. With facades decked out in teddy bears, frosty white
Christmas trees all around and half-timbered houses lining scenic
canals, it's tough to find a more magical backdrop for drinking mulled wine, At
Colmar's six different Christmas markets you'll find everything from local food
products and handicrafts to beautiful jewelry handmade by local artists. This
year Colmar even has a gourmet food market with nine food stalls churning out
gourmet dishes for all to enjoy.
After a good amount of time freaking out over the beauty of it all, it was time to
go onwards to our home for the next two nights:
the fairytale town of Eguisheim where we were renting a three-story timbered
dream house ripped straight from a storybook. Literally though this house
was illustrated in a storybook. After inhaling some truffle ravioli and plenty
of wine it was time for bed. The next morning though brought on a
whole new throng of adventures including a morning castle hike and a visit to our
most adorable next stop: Turckheim. There are a few things that make Turckheim a very
special Christmas destination. First of all it looks like this, second its
streets are literally filled with speakers that blast Christmas carols
consistently and of course it has perhaps the cutest Christmas market
stalls in all of Alsace. Painted whimsically to depict a real-life elf
village the Christmas market at Turckheim is like walking into Whoville. It's
a tiny market but an adorable one with its own special wishing well and a
famous advent calendar that puts on a special show every day of December
leading up to Christmas at 5:00 p.m. but because it wasn't yet
December we moved on to our next stop, the very difficult to pronounce Niedermorschwihr.
This tiny town was one I starred on Google Maps months ago and
while there's no Christmas market here it's still ridiculously cute and the
perfect place for a gratuitous photo shoot for all. After indulging our vanity
we continued on to Kaysersberg, translated to the kings mountain, one of the
best-known villages along the Alsatian wine route. The special thing about
Kaysersberg is that it doesn't just feel like a town with a Christmas market, it
feels like the entire town has been engulfed by Christmas, with magical
storefronts and displays sprinkled all around. Two main markets dominate
Kaysersberg, the authentic Christmas market and the farmers market of local
producers which - just going to say - is a great place to drink wine. And while
there's no more than 30 artisans selling their wares at this small market the
finds here are pretty unique from delicious smelling candles to origami
earrings.
We ended the evening back at our cozy home base at the enchanting Eguisheim
Christmas market. The streets of Eguisheim are uniquely built in concentric circles
around the town's main square which makes exploration simple and lovely. This
market by night was one of my personal favorites: tiny but cozy and every bit as
magical as you imagine Christmas markets should be. The next morning though as the
crowds rolled in, it was time for us to roll out. Easier said than done because
the thing nobody tells you about staying in a charming half-timbered house on a
cobblestone lane is that inevitably you must depart from said cobblestone lane
and doing so can be low-key mission impossible. The next stop on our
itinerary was Thann, a small city with an equally small but lovely market. One of
their Christmas claims to fame is an event where Santa and his elves literally
abseil down the church tower to deliver treats for local children. While
we saw no flying Santa's we did see trees beautifully decorated by local
villages, an impressive church and one of the most delicious food revelations of
our trip: a Spaetzi box with cheesy spaetzle noodles covered in a creamy
sauce with mushrooms and bacon bits. The perfect to go snack and one I inhaled in
the car as we moved on to our next stop. One of our goals this trip was to
explore lesser-known markets in Alsace Thann was a great example of one that's a
bit more off the radar but filled with local charm... but the thing about seeking
out lesser-known markets is you're never quite sure where they might be, which is
how we first crashed a children's taekwondo recital before finding our
next stop. Oh yeah and this was after we had driven to a city in search of a
mysterious market that literally did not actually exist. But all the struggles
were worth it for the Kingersheim Christmas market, one of the most unique
Christmas markets in Alsace.
Everything in this market
is a tribute to recycling, upcycling and living an eco-friendly lifestyle. From
decorations made of upcycled bike wheels to all the vendors selling
incredible crafts made from repurposed materials. A vendor here even tipped us
off to get another amazing local market nearby so off we went.
The Pfastatt Christmas market is one that's often left off tourists radars.
After all it's only open for one week a year but if it's wholesome family fun
you're after this market is it. It even had a man hosting trivia about the
market. We continued with a bit of backtracking to see the blue Christmas
event at Guebwiller, so named for obvious reasons, before hitting our final
stop for the night: Mulhouse, a city famed for its textiles but perhaps
lesser-known than many of the other big cities in the Alsace region which is a
real shame if you ask me because the Christmas markets here are really
something special. One of the most unique features of this market is a Christmas
fabric that they roll out every year. This fabric is used to decorate the
market stalls, printed onto cups, represented in lighting fixtures and oh
yes you can even buy it by the meter. The centerpiece of this Christmas market is
of course the ferris wheel which provides amazing views over the city and
Church. after a few cups of vin chaud you might even find yourself brave enough to
hop on yourself.
The next day was a bit of a fail. We had no idea what the weekend rush would have
in store for us as we drove our way to Riquevir, known as one of the most
scenic Christmas markets in Alsace. The parking situation was so dire we even
spotted cars parking along the road two kilometers from the city centre so we
turned back and ran. Sadly this view was all we would get to see from Riquevir
this time but not to worry... In
Alsace you're never far from an
adorable village so onwards to Ribeauvillé, a
charming medieval town which hosts a medieval Christmas market two weekends
of the year. While this market wasn't on during our visit we were able to find
parking so that's already a win, plus the Christmas decorations were already all
up with unique elements that gave the market an undeniably cozy feel from
lanterns lining the trees and streets to cutesy cookie inspired cutouts suspended
all around. This was definitely an adorable place to get into the Christmas
spirit!
En route back to Strasbourg I begged my friends to take me to Sélestat,
a little-known town that I had read about which is widely regarded as the
birthplace of the Christmas tree. How could I not? Unfortunately Sunday was an
eerily quiet time to visit. Sélestat isn't known so much for its market
itself but rather its various displays devoted to the almighty Christmas tree.
In fact the Humanist museum here is where you'll find the oldest written record of
Christmas trees, a marvel we didn't get to see because everything was closed for
Sunday. Even the famed Christmas tree garden seemed to be closed in spite of
being announced as open daily and so defeated after a short stop, we were
onwards to our final destination of the road trip, fittingly the capital of
Christmas: Strasbourg. From the festive skating rink and giant Christmas tree at
Place Kléber to the market at Strasbourg's majestic Notre Dame Cathedral,
there's Christmas magic literally around every single corner in this amazing city.
The oldest market in Strasbourg can be found at Place Broglie dating back to the
mid 16th century. While definitely one of the busiest markets in Strasbourg
selling typical products like ornaments and lights, it's probably the best market
in the city to grab a bite especially when said bite is oozing with potato and
cheese. But anyway Strasburg also has a variety
of unique markets to offer besides the most famous ones. There's the OFF market,
an alternative market where you'll find unique goodies in stalls housed in
igloos and shipping containers. There's also the market at Place Gutenberg which
welcomes a new guest country every year. For 2019 the guests of honour were
Lebanon which meant plenty of amazing foods to try and even some low-key
partying. And of course my personal favorite the Alsatian delicacies market
along the water, where you can purchase local Alsatian food products like of
course wine. This is the perfect place to unwine-d with a glass of wine in hand or
two and maybe to bring some bottles home as well. What can I say?
I'm an easy sale! And with that the most magical road trip has come to an end.
Thank you for watching Smarties. If you like this video be sure to hit that like
button and let me know in the comments which market was your favorite and of
course subscribe to for more videos just like this one. Tntil next week - bye!