Three weeks ago, we visited the Strasbourg Christmas markets as part of a three-day trip that included a visit to the Frankfurt Christmas markets. I was really looking forward to this post because I absolutely loved the Strasbourg Christmas markets, even more than the Frankfurt ones (which were also excellent).

And then, Dec. 11 happened. Another asshole terrorist attacked the Christmas market in Strasbourg, killing three and injuring 12.

And now? I don’t know what exactly to say. It feels — what? Insensitive? Tone deaf? Wrong? to describe with the usual excitement about this place that we loved so much, not when something so awful happened a few days later.

But at the same time, I want to write about our experience there. Because Christmas in Strasbourg — which bills itself as the “Capital of Christmas” — is absolutely gorgeous. And so is the city itself. And one scumbag doesn’t change that.

So, why visit the Strasbourg Christmas markets?

We first decided to go to the Frankfurt Christmas markets based in part on our schedule and available non-stop flights (fun fact, we haven’t taken a trip with a layover all year). Visiting the Alsace region of France has been on my radar for a while now, and once I realized how close we’d be to the border in Frankfurt, I started looking into the Strasbourg. And I was wowed. 

Strasbourg has been holding Christmas markets near its most iconic site, the Cathedral Notre Dame de Strasbourg, since 1570. It has nine markets all over the city center, all within easy walk of one another. But what blew us away most of all were the Christmas lights. This place was completely coated with lights, probably the most impressive displays I’ve ever seen in my whole life. And I’m not usually one to get all that worked up over lights.

We actually did much less shopping here than we did in Frankfurt just because a) shopping honestly isn’t our favorite thing and b) it was too gorgeous to do much but look.

And ride the carousel. Because there’s always a carousel and we always have to ride it.

How we got to Strasbourg:

We drove. As I think I mentioned, we rented a car at the airport in Frankfurt, parked during the time we were in Frankfurt and then drove it the roughly 2 hours and 20 minutes to the Strasbourg Christmas markets. We actually did look at trains between the cities, but scheduling didn’t work out for us and it would have been more expensive than the 80 euro or so we paid (plus gas) to just rent the car. Plus we didn’t have to pay for a cab to our hotel when we got in late in Frankfurt Friday night.

Where we stayed in Strasbourg:

We stayed at the Aparthotel Adagio Access Petit France for free using a free night certificate I had from hotels.com (a full round up of the 20 free nights we stayed places this year to come next week!). Fancy it was not, but it was only a few minutes’ walk to the Petit France neighborhood of Strasbourg and all the Christmas markets. And we booked a place with separate sleeping spaces for us and the kids, which was a relief. 

What we ate in Strasbourg:

Similar to Frankfurt, we ate pretty much everything in sight at the Christmas markets themselves. Among the top options were crepes, waffles and bretzels, the sweet version of the pretzels in Frankfurt. And, obviously, gluhwein.

As for restaurants, we had a fabulous meal at Au Petit Bois Vert in the evening! Even the kids ate. Woohoo.

What we did at the Strasbourg Christmas markets:

As I said, mostly we wandered around looking at the lights. But we also hit the Place Kléber for the lighting of the largest of the Strasbourg’s three Christmas trees, which stands at a minimum of 30 meters (roughly 98 feet). There was also ice skating in the Place Kleber, but after watching a kid fall down and soak his pants on some melted ice in there, we declined to participate.

Along the way, we made it through a whole bunch of the different Christmas markets. If you go, I recommend picking up a guide somewhere along the way — we got one at the hotel — to give you a bit of a checklist for spots you want to see (like the street decorated with lit up with Christmas light-shaped barrels!). If not, just follow the crowds … or the “reindeer prints” stamped on the ground in various places.

We spent a little less than 24 hours in Strasbourg, but it was our favorite part of the trip. If you are going to be anywhere near Alsace, don’t miss the opportunity to visit.