Europe Christmas Market Road Trip: Germany, France and Switzerland
Europe Christmas Markets
A Brief Overview of European Christmas Markets
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a first timer’s guide to christmas markets
Things to Keep in Mind for Your First European Christmas Market Trip
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planning our christmas market road trip
What We Considered When Planning Our Christmas Market Road Trip
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Three countries christmas market road trip itinerary
Day by Day Europe Christmas Market Road Trip Itinerary
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europe christmas markets
European Christmas markets are a unique travel experience like no other. The Christmas markets bring a festive cheer to the dark, gloomy days of early winter and allow for a cultural experience of market traditions that have lasted hundreds of years.
Scattered throughout Europe are amazing Christmas markets, varying by country, by region within those countries and even from city to city. You can discover food focused Christmas markets in France, traditional Christmas markets in Germany, and beautiful serene Christmas markets in Austria.
The European Christmas markets consist of stalls scattered throughout historic cities and villages, selling everything from handmade ornaments, clothes, regional market food and cozy warm drinks. The European Christmas markets also normally have a jaw-dropping Christmas tree, some form of entertainment and activities for families of all ages.
a first timer’s guide to christmas markets
If you’ve never visited a European Christmas market before, then you’re in for a real treat! We took our first Christmas market trip to Munich, Germany in December of 2018 and have been traveling to markets throughout Europe every holiday season since.
Coming from a Christmas loving family, I knew I wanted to get my parents to the amazing European Christmas markets that stole my heart. So I was smitten with excitement to finally be able to plan said market trip with my Dad the holiday season of 2023.
At the time, we were living in Paris, France, so we would be planning a European Christmas market trip from that original destination. After experiencing Christmas markets in Germany, France, England and Austria, I knew that my heart for the German Christmas markets reigned supreme and wanted to spend the majority of our time visiting markets in Germany.
If it’s your first time visiting a European Christmas market, I do recommend starting with the German markets if possible. Of course, any European Christmas market is going to bring festive holiday joy, but Germany does have a special way of bringing charm and cheer and I personally think has the best Christmas market traditions and culture.
planning our christmas market road trip
Since we were traveling to the Christmas markets from Paris, I wanted to avoid flying and take the train if possible. That parameter lead us to planning a European Christmas market road trip of sorts, beginning in France, being based in Germany and taking a day trip one day to Switzerland.
If you are comfortable with renting a car in Europe (which isn’t all as intimidating as it sounds), then a European Christmas road trip is both attainable and a great way to see a lot of the smaller, more remote European Christmas markets that might be harder to access without a car.
I did not initially plan this road trip with the goal of visiting three countries, but if checking off a few new countries from your travel checklist is a goal, then this Europe Christmas market road trip itinerary is a great way to do so.
Three countries christmas market road trip itinerary
The remainder of this guide is the itinerary we ended up creating for our five day, four night European Christmas market road trip, where we visited three European countries and 8 Christmas markets across those three countries.
DAY ONE CHRISTMAS MARKET ROAD TRIP - FRANCE
Paris, France Christmas Markets
We started our Europe Christmas market road trip in Paris (where we were living at the time). If you’re flying into Europe for your Christmas market road trip, you could easily fly into Paris and experience a little taste of Paris at Christmas before heading off to your next destination.
Paris at Christmas doesn’t offer markets that come close to comparing to what you will find in other major Christmas market cities, but Paris is a magical destination year round and there are a few Christmas markets within the city you could discover while shopping through the Parisian boutiques and hitting some famous sights.
Strasbourg, France Christmas Market
Once you’ve soaked up your time in Paris, you can take a short train from Paris to Strasbourg, France - the “capital” of Christmas in France’s Alsace region.
Every December, Strasbourg hosts one of the most famous Christmas Markets in the Alsace region with 300 chalets spread across 12 markets and a 30-meter high live Christmas tree.
We spent the day exploring the beautiful Strasbourg Christmas markets and enjoying delicious Alsatian food. We opted not to stay in Strasbourg for the evening, as my husband and I had previously visited Strasbourg so we wanted to get into Germany for as long as possible.
We picked up our rental car (we always use rentalcars.com to book in Europe) from the Strasbourg train station in the evening and around dark made the drive out of France into Germany for the remainder of our trip.
DAY two CHRISTMAS MARKET ROAD TRIP - germany
Freiburg, Germany Christmas Markets
On day two of our European Christmas market road trip, we woke up in the university town of Freiburg, Germany. I chose Freiburg as our homebase for three out of the four nights total of our Christmas market road trip as it was a central location in the heart of the Black Forest to access many other Christmas markets in the surrounding region.
We spent the morning and early afternoon exploring the 120 stalls available at the Freiburg Christmas market, as the snow started to fall all around us. The Freiburg markets were the perfect first taste of German Christmas markets, with stalls selling delicious gluhwein, regional sausages and German Christmas market classics like smoking santas and handmade ornaments.
Ravenna Gorge, Germany Christmas Markets
One of the reasons we chose Freiburg as a base was to have access to the magical Ravenna Gorge Christmas market, just 30-minutes outside of Freiburg.
The Ravenna Gorge Christmas market is located in the heart of the Black Forest in Germany, with stalls set up under the 37-metre-high Ravennabrücke, the bridge that allows trains from the Höllentalbahn line to run through the valley.
The Ravenna Gorge market is incredibly small and in the middle of the wilderness (not in a town), so you feel like you’re in a scene from Harry Potter as you wander through the 40 market stalls selling everything from food to crafts and gifts.
You need to buy tickets in advance to visit the Ravenna Gorge Christmas market and you can find all the details on how to do so in my Ravenna Gorge Christmas market guide.
DAY three CHRISTMAS MARKET ROAD TRIP - switzerland (and france)
Basel, Switzerland Christmas Markets
On day three of our Christmas market road trip, we decided to make the short drive from Freiburg into an entirely new country: Switzerland. Basel, Switzerland is an easy, roughly one-hour drive from Freiburg, Germany and a Swiss Christmas market world awaits!
Out of the 8 Christmas markets we visited across three countries during this Christmas market road trip, all of our traveling party agreed that Basel was the fan-favorite. The day we visited the Basel Christmas market, Basel was covered in a constant, soft snow and the beautiful rich architecture of the city felt especially peaceful.
Basel was a compact city to visit in a day, and we enjoyed strolling through the market stalls that sold beautiful heirloom Christmas items, grabbing coffee in Basel and wandering through the historic center.
All of the details on Basel are in this Basel Christmas market day trip guide, and I highly recommend adding it to your Christmas market road trip or train trip itinerary if you are near the region. You can also take a direct train from Paris to Basel if you wanted to start your Christmas market explorations there.
Colmar, France Christmas Markets
After spending the day in Basel, we still had some evening time available so decided to drive from Basel to Colmar, France. I loved visiting the Colmar Christmas markets on our previous Alsatian Christmas market road trip and wanted to stop there again to enjoy.
Unfortunately, this was a huge mistake as it was Saturday night and the Colmar market was complete madness. It was a trampling situation waiting to happen and we regret visiting entirely.
That being said, Colmar is a beautiful French Christmas market destination, but as its popularity grows, I would recommend avoiding visiting on the weekend if possible.
DAY four CHRISTMAS MARKET ROAD TRIP - germany
Heidelberg, Germany Christmas Markets
On day four of our European Christmas market road trip, we checked out of our Airbnb in Freiburg and drove two hours from Freiburg to Heidelberg, Germany.
Heidelberg was a German city we had visited previously as a day trip in September and I wanted to see the magic of the beautiful university town at Christmas.
The Heidelberg Christmas markets were compact and easily seen in a few hours, as you stick to a main street in Heidelberg and wander from market to market.
Although I love Heidelberg as a city, the Christmas market didn’t “wow” me or feel like a must-visit. It was a cozy, simple setting of Germans and tourists gathering around the market stalls sipping on gluhwein or watching their children ice skate.
Baden-Baden, Germany Christmas Markets
Heidelberg was a bit of an add-on for our Christmas market road trip, with our ultimate destination for the evening and next day being in Baden-Baden, Germany. I had heard wonderful things about Baden-Baden through friends and knew that the tiny Black Forest village had a wonderful Christmas market to explore.
The evening we arrived, we wandered through Baden-Baden’s charming Christmas market layout which truthfully was a bit over-crowded on the night we visited.
DAY five CHRISTMAS MARKET ROAD TRIP - germany
Baden-Baden, Germany Christmas Markets
We stayed one night at this cute hotel in Baden-Baden and the next morning, we grabbed a yummy breakfast then took our time walking back through the center of town and reevaluating the Christmas market stalls through fresh, rested eyes.
I ended up purchasing some cozy alpaca wool slippers from the Baden-Baden market, which I still wear every winter and absolutely love. Baden-Baden itself was absolutely beautiful and my husband and Dad both ranked the market pretty high on their lists (my little pregnant self was just depleted at this point).
If you’re into saunas and a more luxury feeling Black Forest village, I would recommend spending a night or two in Baden-Baden.
Obernai, France Christmas Markets
As this was the last day of our Christmas market trip, after spending the morning in Baden-Baden, we made the drive back towards Strasbourg, France. We ended up arriving much earlier than our train and rental car return, so rather than spending time exploring Strasbourg, we visited the teeny Alsatian village of Obernai, France.
I absolutely loved Obernai. It was still snowing at this point in our trip and the tiny French Alsatian village was adorable, with a teeny Christmas market and little snow-covered streets to wander through.
If you’re using Strasbourg as a base for your Christmas market road trip (or focusing on an Alsatian Christmas market road trip), definitely make a stop in Obernai.
europe christmas market road trip recap
As you can see, you can pack a lot into a European Christmas market road trip. We only had five days and four nights and saw 8 Christmas markets in three different countries. Here’s a visual overview of our itinerary:
Christmas Market Road Trip Day One:
Christmas Market Road Trip Day Two:
Christmas Market Road Trip Day Three:
Christmas Market Road Trip Day Four:
Heidelberg, Germany
Baden-Baden, Germany
Christmas Market Road Trip Day Four:
Baden-Baden, Germany
ranking the christmas markets
Not all European Christmas markets are created equal, even if they each have something special to offer. Below is the way our traveling group ranked the 8 Christmas markets we visited across three countries.
Basel, Switzerland Christmas Market
Ravenna Gorge, Germany Christmas Market
Strasbourg, France Christmas Market
Baden-Baden, Germany Christmas Market
Freiburg, Germany Christmas Market
Heidelberg, Germany Christmas Market
Obernai, France Christmas Market
Colmar, France Christmas Market (this would have ranked higher for all of us if an overall better experience - it is beautiful and worth visiting)!
STICK AROUND FOR A WHILE
Need help planning the rest of your European Christmas Market trip?
If you’re still deciding which European Christmas markets to visit, we also have guides for the Munich, Germany Christmas Market, the Regensburg, Germany Christmas Market, the Alsatian Christmas Markets in France and the Cologne Christmas Market in Germany.
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In this Europe Christmas Market Road Trip Guide, we’re sharing the travel itinerary from our five-day, four night road trip across three countries visiting Christmas markets in Germany, Christmas markets in France and Christmas markets in Switzerland.