Strasbourg is a unique city in the northeast corner of France, just a mere 4km from the German border, in a region known as Alsace. Historically a German-speaking country, the city has flip-flopped multiple times between French and German rule. Today, the city remains a hybrid with both cultures and languages represented.
Four centuries ago, Strasbourg was part of the German Rhineland, where there were long-standing Christmas traditions. The first Christmas markets in Strasbourg were held in 1570, making them one of the oldest in Europe. We couldn’t pass up a Christmastime visit to this charming medieval town with its unique blend of French and German traditions.
We spent most of our time in Strasbourg on the Grand Île, an island surrounded by two arms of the Île river. The Grand Île is where the historic town center is, and a stroll through the narrow, winding streets during the holiday season is quite romantic and festive. The cobblestone streets, in particular in a section of town known as Carr d’Or, are lit up with twinkly lights and decorated with white tinsel, bubbles, and baubles.
One of the unique features that sets Strasbourg’s Grand Île apart from other towns and their Christmas markets is that almost every storefront in the historic city center is decorated, and many of them with intricate moving scenes in the window or ornate thematic décor above the entryway. One of my favorites was the silly pigs in a kitchen above the restaurant Porcus, which specializes in charcuterie.
But, I also have a soft spot for reindeer, polar bears, and penguins. And apparently busy bees.
Along with the elaborately decorated shops and restaurants, the Christmas markets in Strasbourg have all the features one looks for in the best European Christmas markets: wooden chalets filled with handmade gifts, regional cuisine and baked goods, the aroma of spiced hot wine (vin chaud here in France, not glühwein), giant extravagantly-decorated Christmas trees, ice skating rinks, and nativity scenes, all with an impressive cathedral or opulent palace overlooking the festivities.
The Rohan Palace (in the above picture) was built in the 1730s and is considered a masterpiece of French Baroque architecture. The Strasbourg Cathedral (also in the pics above) is a fine example of Rayonnant Gothic architecture. Getting a photograph of the entire cathedral with the bustling market below was almost impossible, given the steeple’s great height. The Strasbourg Cathedral is the tallest 15th-century building in the world and held the title of tallest building in the world for over 200 years (1647-1874).
We discovered two of our favorite Alsatian food items at the Christmas market surrounding the cathedral: a baguette flambe with goat cheese and spätzle with lardons in an onion cream sauce.
Mmmm…creamy, cheesy, perfect comfort food on a cold December day. For dessert, we found a variety of mini kougelhof, a yeast-based cake that originated in Alsace.
After stuffing ourselves at the Strasbourg Cathedral Christmas market, we wandered to Petit France, one of the most charming and picture-perfect neighborhoods that seem untouched by time. Half-timbered 16th and 17th-century buildings line the canals and cobblestone streets.
One of the best views in town is from the top of a 17th century covered bridge and dam called Barrage Vauban. The panoramic view overlooks the Ponts Couverts with the cathedral in the distance. The Ponts Couverts is a series of three bridges and four towers that make up the defense structure from the 13th century.
A beautiful dusting of white snow would have made Strasbourg even more magical. Unfortunately, we got stuck with a bit of cold rain. We made the best of it by ducking into a lively bar to check out the scene. We found one of my favorite Belgian beers on tap, Kasteel Rouge, and the best flammkuchen of our trip. Flammkuchen, a famous specialty of the Alsace region, is made from thin bread dough covered with fromage blanc or crème fraiche, thin-sliced onions, and lardons. We went all-out and added goat cheese to ours as well.
After the rain let up, we walked around to check out a few more of the Christmas markets. We wandered the rows of decorative wooden chalets and finally found our commemorative ornament for Strasbourg, a Christmas ball with hand-painted scenes of the city by local artists.
Another fun activity while wandering Christmas markets is finding the nativity scenes. Almost every European Christmas market has a nativity scene. We have seen them range from tiny picture boxes with miniature figurines to life-sized renditions made of anything from straw to wood. Strasbourg had something unique that we hadn’t seen yet – a live nativity. We were a little disappointed that baby Jesus wasn’t alive, but the sheep were! And all the shepherds were pretty adorable too.
We also found a unique life-sized nativity with Mary and baby Jesus partially carved out of a large tree trunk.
One of the best parts (at least for us) of wandering Christmas markets all day is the ability to leisurely nibble and drink our way through the day. We try to scout out the traditional dishes, and one of those dishes that was more of a Jimmy favorite than mine was the charcroute. Charcroute combines different sausages with potatoes on top of sauerkraut.
Along with traditional comfort food, the hot spiced wine (always served in a commemorative mug or glass) is one of the best ways to warm up on a cold winter day. Cheers!
While eating your way through the Christmas markets can be fun, we made sure to spend one evening having dinner at a winstub (literally wine lounge). These traditional, cozy pub-like restaurants are a great place to try some of the best Alsatian comfort foods. We ate at Le Tire-Bouchon and shared a couple of dishes family-style (hence the not-so-pretty plating on my part in the pic below). The braised beef with spätzle was delicious, but the braised pork cheek with mashed potatoes stole the show.
The pork cheek was so tender and melted in your mouth, and the Pinot Noir sauce was divine. We smothered both the spätlze and the mashed potatoes in it. The meat and potatoes style meal felt very German to us, but the French influence was apparent for the dessert, crème brûlée.
Magic is undoubtedly in the air during Christmastime in Strasbourg. The giant Christmas tree overlooking the ice-skating rink, all the illuminations throughout the cobblestone streets, the Alsatian comfort food, the imaginative holiday décor embellishing all the businesses and restaurants, the meandering canal sparkling with lights, and the endless rows of pretty wooden chalets with gifts galore all come together in perfect harmony to earn this city the title of Capital of Christmas.
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