Last verified: September 22, 2026. Every 2026 date, opening hour and shuttle price below was read on the town’s own Christmas site or tourist office page on that date. Strasbourg had not set its 2026 dates yet, so I give its 2025 dates and will update this page when the city publishes.
The Alsace Christmas markets drew more than 4.6 million visits to Strasbourg and Colmar alone last winter (France 3 Grand Est, 2026; ICI Alsace, 2026). On one Saturday in December 2024, Strasbourg counted 313,000 people in a single day (France 3 Grand Est, 2025).
That’s the problem nobody plans around. Most guides tell you which villages are prettiest. The markets are one of the best things to do in France, but the famous villages keep short hours, and three of them are shut before Christmas week.
So I went looking for the day to go. Colmar’s tourist office publishes a crowd forecast for ten markets around Colmar, as a grid of two-hour squares. Counting the closed ones, the grid holds 2,562 squares, and I read every one. Below are the 2026 dates for ten towns, the quiet days, and a route that doesn’t need a car.
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Key Takeaways
- Colmar runs November 23 to December 29, 2026. Most villages open November 27.
- Go on a weekday. Colmar’s own forecast rates Wednesday mornings light and every Advent Saturday afternoon very high.
- Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Ribeauvillé all close by December 20.
- Strasbourg drew 3.05 million visitors in 2025 (France 3 Grand Est).
Table of Contents
When Do the Alsace Christmas Markets Open in 2026?
In 2026, the Alsace Christmas markets open in waves. Mulhouse and Sélestat start on November 20 (their tourist offices), Colmar on November 23, and most wine villages on November 27 (Noël à Colmar, 2026). Closing dates spread from December 13 to December 31, so the week you pick decides which markets you’ll see.
Here are the ten I’d plan around, with each town’s own 2026 dates.
| Town | 2026 dates | Days open | Christmas Day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strasbourg | Not yet set (2025: Nov 26 to Dec 24) | Daily | Closed in 2025 |
| Colmar | Nov 23 to Dec 29 | Daily | Open, 10:00 to 20:00 |
| Mulhouse | Nov 20 to Dec 27 | Daily | Check before you go |
| Sélestat | Nov 20 to Dec 27 | Daily | Check before you go |
| Obernai | Nov 27 to Dec 31 | Daily | Closed |
| Eguisheim | Nov 27 to Dec 30 | Daily, shut Dec 24 to 26 | Closed |
| Turckheim | Nov 27 to Dec 30 | Daily | Closed |
| Riquewihr | Nov 27 to Dec 20 | Daily | Closed for the season |
| Kaysersberg | Nov 27 to Dec 20 | Fri to Sun only | Closed for the season |
| Ribeauvillé | Dec 5 to 6, Dec 12 to 13 | Two weekends | Closed for the season |
Sources for the table: Noël à Colmar for Colmar and its villages, the Mulhouse tourist office, Sélestat Tourisme and the Obernai tourist office, all read September 22, 2026.
What about Strasbourg? The city sets its dates each autumn, and as of September 22 its Christmas site said the programme was “still being finalised” (Noël à Strasbourg, 2026). In 2025 it ran from Wednesday November 26 to Wednesday December 24, 11:30 to 21:00, with a 14:00 start on the first day and an 18:00 close on Christmas Eve (France 3 Grand Est, 2025). You’ll see other 2026 dates online. They’re guesses.
The chart shows the catch. The three villages everyone photographs keep the shortest hours. Kaysersberg opens just 12 days, four Friday-to-Sunday weekends. Riquewihr shuts on December 20. Ribeauvillé’s medieval market runs four days. Arrive on December 21 and you’ll find all three dark.
So when can you see everything? Every market on the list is open at once only on the weekends of December 5 to 6 and 12 to 13, which are also among the busiest days. The practical answer is to see the villages first and leave Colmar and Strasbourg for later.
Which Days Are Quietest at the Alsace Christmas Markets?
Colmar’s tourist office forecasts Wednesday as the quietest day of 2026, averaging 1.5 on its four-level scale, and Saturday the busiest at 3.6 (Noël à Colmar attendance forecast, 2026). That gap is more than two full levels. The simplest crowd advice for the Alsace Christmas markets is to trade your Saturday for a Wednesday.
The forecast is built from 2024 attendance and shown as coloured squares, one per two-hour slot, with no summary. I read every square for Colmar on September 22 and averaged them by weekday and time of day. Here’s what came out.
Mornings are empty. From 10:00 to noon, every weekday averages 1.0 to 1.3, and Monday to Thursday the markets don’t open until 11:00 anyway (Noël à Colmar, 2026). On weekdays the peak is 16:00 to 18:00, when the lights come on and the day-trippers are still in town. After 18:00 it drops again as coaches leave. Weekends are different: full from noon.
The calendar matters as much as the clock. The first three days, November 23 to 25, are forecast light in every slot. So are most slots from December 14 to 16. The worst run is December 19 to 22, which is also when French school holidays begin, on December 19.
This is the tourist office’s projection from past attendance, not a live count. Weather and a strong weekend can shift it. But the pattern is the same one Strasbourg saw in practice. Its record day was a Saturday, December 14, 2024, with 313,000 visitors (France 3 Grand Est, 2025).
Strasbourg or Colmar: Where Should You Stay?
Strasbourg and Colmar sit 31 minutes apart by regional train on average, 26 on the fastest, with 42 trains a day and fares from €6 (SNCF Connect, 2026). That makes the choice of base less about distance and more about what you’ll do on the other days.
My answer is Colmar. The Christmas shuttles to Kaysersberg, Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé, Eguisheim and Turckheim all leave from Colmar station. Strasbourg then becomes an easy day trip. If you only have one day and want the big one, flip it.
Strasbourg’s market has run since 1570 (Noël à Strasbourg, history page, 2026) and now spreads across eight markets in the old center, from the cathedral square to the giant tree on Place Kléber (Noël à Strasbourg, 2026).
In 2025 it drew 3.05 million visitors, down from a record 3.4 million in 2024, and hotels ran close to 90 percent full over the market (France 3 Grand Est, 2026). Colmar drew 1.6 million, counted by phone geofencing (ICI Alsace, 2026).
Coming from Paris? The TGV reaches Strasbourg in about 1h47 (SNCF Connect, 2026) and Colmar in as little as 2h20, averaging 2h39 (SNCF Connect, 2026). A 90 percent full Strasbourg is also why I’d book beds before anything else. Your room costs more than every other line of this trip combined.
Can You Do the Markets Without a Car?
Yes, and it’s easier than driving. In 2026, Colmar’s Christmas shuttles run November 27 to December 20 from Colmar station, looping through Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé for €17 a day, with children under 12 free (Noël à Colmar shuttles, 2026). Tickets go on sale online only, from November 12 at noon.
The network has five lines. Know which one you need before you buy:
- Lines 1 and 2: Colmar, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé, in opposite directions. Friday to Sunday only. Hourly on Fridays, every 30 minutes at weekends. €17 a day.
- Line 3: Colmar to Eguisheim, daily. €8 Monday to Thursday, €17 Friday to Sunday.
- Lines 4 and 5: Turckheim and Munster, plus Neuf-Brisach on December 12 and 13 only. €10.
Lines 1 and 2 don’t run Monday to Thursday. For Kaysersberg that doesn’t matter, because its market isn’t open those days either. For Riquewihr it does, so a weekday visit there means driving or a regular Fluo coach.
Driving has its own costs. In 2025, the park-and-ride lots for Riquewihr (220 spaces, at the Naturoparc in Hunawihr) and Ribeauvillé (750 spaces, in Bergheim) charged €10 per car, shuttle included (Noël à Colmar, 2025). Colmar closes its center to vehicles during market hours, and Strasbourg does the same on the Grande Île.
For Sélestat, Obernai and Mulhouse, take the regional train from Strasbourg or Colmar. For villages off the rail line, the region’s Fluo coaches charge a flat €4 single for any distance through December 31, 2026 (TER Grand Est, 2026), the same fare I used on my Alsace wine route. New to the system? Here’s how French regional trains work.
Which Alsace Christmas Markets Are Worth It?
Colmar’s 2026 forecast rates 65 percent of Riquewihr’s opening hours as high or very high, against 4 percent in Turckheim (Noël à Colmar attendance forecast, 2026). Crowds track fame, not quality. Here’s how I’d rank the ten Alsace Christmas markets, and what each one is actually good for.
1. Colmar. Six markets in one old town (Noël à Colmar, 2026), open daily, and the only market on this list confirmed open on Christmas Day. It’s the best base and the best all-rounder. Its crowds sit in the middle: 39 percent of slots high or very high.
2. Strasbourg. The oldest and biggest, with eight markets and the giant tree on Place Kléber. Go on a weekday, arrive at opening, and leave by 16:00.
3. Eguisheim. A round village of concentric lanes, open daily, and calmer than its fame suggests at 29 percent high. Line 3 gets you there every day.
4. Riquewihr. Beautiful and packed. Is it worth the crush? Once, yes. It’s never forecast “light”, and it closes December 20, so go on a Friday morning if you can.
5. Kaysersberg. Weekends only, so its crowds are concentrated: 65 percent high or very high. Worth it if your trip includes a Friday.
6. Turckheim. The quietest of my ten in the forecast, light 75 percent of the time, and one stop out of Colmar on shuttle line 4. This is my Saturday plan.
7. Obernai. Forty-five chalets over five squares, open until December 31 (Obernai tourist office, 2026), south of Strasbourg on the regional line.
8. Sélestat. Its town archive holds a 1521 account-book entry that is the oldest written mention of a Christmas tree. It’s on show at the Humanist Library from November 21 to December 31, 2026 (Sélestat Tourisme, 2026).
9. Mulhouse. About 90 chalets on Place de la Réunion, decorated each year in a fabric printed for the market, a nod to the city’s textile past (Mulhouse tourist office, 2026).
10. Ribeauvillé. A costumed medieval market, four days only. It’s the most crowded in the forecast, 100 percent high or very high. Go for the spectacle, not the shopping.
What Does a Day at the Markets Cost?
Entry to every market is free. So where does the money go? Drink, transport and a bed. In December 2023, mulled wine in Strasbourg cost €4 for 25 cl or €5 for 33 cl, plus a €1 deposit on the cup, at the same price across the city (ICI Alsace, 2023). Expect a little more now.
Keep the cup or hand it back for your euro. Plenty of people take it home as the cheapest souvenir in town.
A car-free day in the villages comes to about €17 for the shuttle, a few mulled wines and lunch. Cheap, right? A day in Strasbourg from Colmar adds a return train, from €6 each way on SNCF Connect’s lowest fares. The bed is the real cost. With Strasbourg near 90 percent full, the price you see in October won’t be there in late November. I’d book the room the day you decide to go, then plan everything else around it.
Alsace towns charge a nightly tourist tax, which I’ve covered in my French tourist tax guide. And if you want the whole trip costed, here’s what a France trip really costs.
Before You Go: Security, Hours and Holidays
Strasbourg runs a full security operation. In 2025, more than 1,000 people a day worked on market security, the Grande Île was closed to cars during market hours, and drones watched crowd flow in real time (France 3 Grand Est, 2025). Pedestrians face random checks, and large bags are searched every time.
So travel light. Leave the backpack at the hotel. A small bag gets you through faster.
Markets close on time. Colmar’s site says its markets shut exactly at the scheduled hour for security reasons, and that’s 19:00 Monday to Thursday (Noël à Colmar, 2026). If you’re planning an evening, Friday to Sunday gives you until 20:00.
Mind the holiday dates:
- December 24: Colmar closes at 17:00 and Obernai at 16:00, on their 2026 hours. Strasbourg closed at 18:00 in 2025.
- December 25: most markets are closed. Colmar is the exception, open 10:00 to 20:00.
- After December 27: Colmar, Eguisheim, Turckheim and Obernai are still going. Strasbourg, in 2025, was not.
Dress for cold, damp evenings on cobbles. I’ve put the list in what to pack for France in winter. And if you’re weighing December against a spring trip, my month-by-month guide compares them.
How Many Days Do You Need? A Three-Day Plan
Three days covers the best of the Alsace Christmas markets, from a Colmar base. I’d run it Wednesday to Friday: Wednesday is the calmest day in Colmar’s forecast, averaging 1.5 on the four-level scale (Noël à Colmar attendance forecast, 2026), and the village shuttles only start running on Fridays.
Day 1, Wednesday: Colmar. Start at 11:00 when the markets open and walk all six before 16:00. Go back after dark, from 18:00, when the crowd thins and the lights are on. Wednesday is the quietest day of the week in the forecast.
Day 2, Thursday: Strasbourg. Take a morning train, 26 to 31 minutes. Be at the cathedral square for opening, see Place Kléber’s tree, and walk La Petite France. Head back on an early evening train before the Friday crowd builds.
Day 3, Friday: the villages. Take shuttle line 1 at 9:30 to Kaysersberg, then Riquewihr. Friday mornings are the lightest slot these villages get. Finish with Eguisheim on line 3. If your trip includes December 5 or 12, add Ribeauvillé’s medieval market on the Saturday.
What if you can only go Friday to Sunday? Do Riquewihr and Kaysersberg on the Friday, then spend Saturday in Turckheim and Munster on line 4. Both are forecast light for most of their hours.
Staying longer? The same villages are a different trip in spring, when the Alsace wine route is empty and the cellar tastings are usually free. Or pair December with the Alps: skiing in France opens in late November at the high resorts, a few hours south by train. And if you’d rather cook the Christmas biscuits than buy them, a cooking class in France is the indoor version of the market.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do the Alsace Christmas markets open in 2026?
Colmar runs November 23 to December 29, 2026, and most wine villages open November 27, on Noël à Colmar’s official dates. Mulhouse and Sélestat start earlier, on November 20. Strasbourg had not set its 2026 dates by September 22. In 2025 it ran November 26 to December 24.
Are the Alsace Christmas markets open on Christmas Day?
Mostly not. Colmar is the exception: its six markets open 10:00 to 20:00 on December 25, 2026, on its official hours. Obernai, Eguisheim and Turckheim close that day, and Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Ribeauvillé have already closed for the season by December 21.
Can you visit the Alsace Christmas markets without a car?
Yes. Colmar’s Christmas shuttles run November 27 to December 20, 2026, from Colmar station to Kaysersberg, Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé, Eguisheim and Turckheim, from €8 to €17 a day, under-12s free. Strasbourg is 26 to 31 minutes from Colmar by train, with 42 trains a day on SNCF Connect.
What is the best day to visit the Alsace Christmas markets?
Wednesday. Colmar’s 2026 crowd forecast averages 1.5 on a four-level scale on Wednesdays and 3.6 on Saturdays. Go in the morning: every weekday from 10:00 to noon is forecast light or close to it. On weekdays the busiest slot is 16:00 to 18:00, when the lights come on.
Is Strasbourg or Colmar better for the Christmas markets?
Colmar is the better base, and Strasbourg the bigger market. Strasbourg drew 3.05 million visitors in 2025 and Colmar 1.6 million, per France 3 and ICI Alsace. The village shuttles all start in Colmar, and Strasbourg is a 31-minute train ride away for a day trip.
The Bottom Line
The Alsace Christmas markets reward picking the day before picking the town.
- Go midweek. Wednesday averages 1.5 in Colmar’s forecast. Saturday averages 3.6.
- See the famous villages early. Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Ribeauvillé are all closed by December 21.
- Base yourself in Colmar. The shuttles start there, and Strasbourg is 31 minutes away.
- Book shuttle tickets from November 12. They’re sold online only.
- Book the bed first. Strasbourg’s hotels ran near 90 percent full last year.
Next, see where Alsace sits among the best things to do in France, and plan the rest of the trip around the best time to visit France.
