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Christmas in Colmar is an actual fairytale. The town itself is filled with colorful half-timbered homes and is straight out of a storybook, and when decorated for Christmas the magic increases tenfold. Colmar, and other nearby Alsace towns, are rumored to be the inspiration for Belle’s hometown in Beauty & the Beast! The Alsace region is the perfect Christmas Market trip, and Colmar is a can’t miss while you’re in the region.
I visited last year and have put together my guide on everything you need to know for visiting Colmar at Christmas in 2025 here!
Colmar Christmas Market Overview
Disclaimer: This article contains some links where I earn commission through booking. There is no extra cost to you, and I only recommend things I’ve used and love or places I’ve stayed and enjoyed!
Colmar Christmas Market Locations & Map
Colmar is small and can easily be explored in a day, but it does have several different markets spread throughout the Old Town. In this area basically every street is decorated, and almost every street and square has stalls selling food, drinks and Christmas souvenirs. The markets all sort of blend into one another throughout the Old Town. Here is the full list:
- Place Jeanne d’Arc Market
- Gourmet Market – Place de la Cathédrale
- Place des Dominicains Market
- Place de l’Ancienne Douane Market
- Place des 6 Montagnes Noires Market Little Venice
- Indoor Market – Ancienne Douane
Place Jeanne d’Arc Market
One of the main markets right along Colmar’s main street, Grand Rue. This is one of the most picturesque areas of Colmar. If you wander down Grand Rue towards Vieille ville de Colmar this is one of the prettiest (and most popular areas of Colmar! It’s also really stunning at sunrise and sunset.
At the end of Grand Rue before Vieille ville de Colmar you’ll find some of the most picturesque parts of Colmar, the pink gingerbread house, the square featuring Belle’s facades. Try to go early to get pictures without the crowds!
Gourmet Market – Place de la Cathédrale
If you’re looking for some of the best food in Colmar, head to the Gourmet Market – Place de la Cathédrale. This is home to so many food options. It’s also where the ferris wheel and some of the rides are for the kids. You’ll find the Gourmet Market in the main tent, serving real food – french onion soups, full meal, champagne bars & more. Outside you’ll find more stalls with quicker bites – pretzels, beer, tarte flambée & more.
Place des Dominicains Market
Another one of the main markets in Colmar is the square around the Dominican Church. This area is super picturesque and filled with tons of stalls selling souvenirs and some food!
Place de l’Ancienne Douane Market
Not far from Place Jeanne d’Arc is Place de l’Ancienne Douane Market, the two squares are connected by Grand Rue and this is one of the prettiest parts of Colmar to explore. I recommend visiting both during the day and at night, because both are stunning!
Place des 6 Montagnes Noires Market Little Venice
The Little Venice area of Colmar is an absolute postcard. The little boats floating down the canals with the colorful houses in the backdrop. I’ve loved exploring this area! There is another Christmas Market in this area at Place des 6 Montagnes Noires Market Little Venice & I recommend heading to the southernmost point of Old Town Colmar to explore!
Indoor Market – Ancienne Douane
Colmar’s indoor market is worth a stop, while not the most picturesque this is a good spot to warm up and foodie heaven with tons of great stands and sit down food options. I opted for a pizza since I’d been in France for about 7 days at this point and was looking for something a little different in terms of food, but there were so many great options!
Colmar Christmas Markets Dates & Hours 2025
Dates:
Nov 25, 2025- Dec 29, 2025
Times:
for all markets except the gourmet market
Mon-Thurs: 11AM-7PM
Fri – Sun: 10AM-8PM
Special times:
- Dec 24: 11AM-5PM
- Dec 25: 11AM-7PM
- Dec 26: 11AM-8PM
the groumet market stays open later and is open daily from 11am-10PM, it also stays open a few days longer until the beginning of January.
What to Eat at Colmar Christmas Markets
The Alsace region of France is home to tons of good food. This region sits on the French German border and its gastronomy is influenced by both cultures!
- Tarte Flambée – similar to a flatbread pizza, the traditional topping are cheese, cream and ham/bacon, but you can get different varieties
- Choucroute – Sauerkraut topped with various sausages and meats
- Galette de Pomme de Terre – potatoe pancakes topped with cheese!
- Bredele – fun shaped Christmas biscuits coming in various flavors – vanilla, almond, cinammon, chocolate, etc. Buy a mixed bag!
- Mannele – butter brioche cookies shaped like little humans!
- Alsace Wine – Alsace is a famous wine region and it’s defintely worth tasting some local wines while visiting!
- Vin Chaud – Also known as mulled wine, this is a must try at any Christmas Market!
Other Alsace Christmas Markets Near Colmar
Alsace is the perfect region for exploring several markets nearby without having to travel too far. This region is home to a series of picturesque towns and larger cities that feature excellent Christmas Markets. You can choose to rent a car, although you’ll have to figure out parking it does offer more flexibility. I opted to take trains and ubers (which were easily acessible) around this region. See my Alsace Christmas Market Itinerary here!
the smaller towns of Riquewihr , Ribeauvillé & Eguisheim all have small Christmas markets, I recommend visting more for the towns themselves than to see the markets themselves!
- Strasbourg – Stunning Strasbourg (also called the “Capitol of Christmas” is the main city in the region and definitely worth a visit when in Colmar. Strasbourg is much bigger and you need at least 2 days to really explore all the markets. It’s only 30 minutes from Colmar by train. See my full Strasbourg Christmas Market Guide.
- Riquewihr – my favorite of the many picturesque towns in Alsace, charming Riquewihr is a 20 minute drive from Colmar and is worth spending a few hours to half day visiting. I recommend combining it with a stop in Ribeauvillé (see below)
- Ribeauvillé – 10 minutes from Riquewihr is the equally charming Ribeauvillé. This tiny town can also be explored very quickly, but is so worth a stop.
- Eguisheim – another small picturesque town 12 minutes from Colmar is Eguisheim. I recommend taking a morning to explore this small postcard town before the crowds!
- Obernai – Obernai had some of my favorite markets. This town is a bit bigger than the other small towns nearby, but smaller than Colmar or Strasbourg. This was one of the prettiest places I visited. I’d spend at least a half day there as you need a bit more time to really explore. It’s an hour from Colmar. but only 40 minute from Strasbourg
- Mulhouse – Mulhouse was truthfully my least favorite of the bunch as I found the town the least picturesque, but it can be worth a stop if you have extra time!
- Basel, Switzerland – I absolutely LOVED Basel, and it was the perfect stop for me as I was flying home from Zurich. Basel is only 45 minutes via train from Colmar. I highly recommend stopping here if you have time!
Tips for Visiting Colmar Christmas Markets
- Colmar is small and the markets are extremely popular. The weekend was crazy, you really could barely move (see photo above) but Monday andTuesday were much more manageable. If you do have to visit on a weekend try to get out as early as possible
- You need restaurant reservations. Places get crowded and almost every restaurants had signs saying completely full, reservation only
- Most places accepted card, but it’s good to have cash just in case and for smaller purchases
- The cups that mulled wine are served in are reusable. You pay a 1-2 euro deposit for a cup, you can return it at any stall and get money back or you can keep it as a souvenir!
- You can see Colmar in one day, but it’s also a great place to base yourself for exploring Alsace and spending a bit more time there is worth it if you have time!
Where to Stay in Colmar
I opted to stay in Old Town Colmar, which I loved and highly recommend if you can swing it and don’t mind some crowds! You could also opt to stay in Strasbourg and visit Colmar as a day trip, but I am happy I had early mornings and late nights to explore Colmar after the day trippers had gone and before they had arrived!
Le Colombier Colmar France
I loved my stay right in the heart of Colmar at Le Colombier. They have the main hotel and across the street they have the Le Colombier Suites. Staying at either gives you full access to the hotel amenities (breakfast, outdoor patio, bar, etc) It’s right in Little Venice and it was the perfect place to stay!
Getting to Colmar
Flying
To fly to Colmar the closest airport is Strasbourg, France. Alternatively, you could also fly to Basel, Switzerland- EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg. The two airports are basically equidistant from Colmar! View flights.
By Train or Car
From Either Strasbourg or Basel you can grab the train to Colmar. The same trainline runs from Basel through the Alsace Region (including Colmar) to Strasbourg. The train runs regularly and makes it really easy to get around the region. You could also rent a car, but I found getting around with trains/Uber to be totally fine and removed the hassle or renting a car and figuring out parking!. View train times!
Colmar Christmas Market Overall Rating
4 of 15
Colmar was stunning and one of my favorite Christmas Markets (4th of the 15 I visited) I loved Colmar itself and how stunning it was, but one of the things that made it so close to the top of my list is how accessible it is to explore other areas, like the storybook towns of Alsace, stunning Strasbourg and charming Basel. It really is the perfect Christmas trip!
