If you’re taking a trip to the Alsace region during Christmas, you probably already have Strasbourg and Colmar on your itinerary. While Strasbourg and Colmar are the most famous Christmas markets in France, the other towns in the area are just as charming and are worth making time for. In this blog we’ll go over my experiences visiting two other Christmas markets in the area: the Ribeauvillé Christmas Market and the Riquewihr Christmas Market.
Why Visit the Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr Christmas Markets?
Both towns offer unique experiences and their Christmas markets are relatively small. You can fit both in a day and it’s a great way to further explore the region during Christmas time.
The Ribeauvillé market is actually a medieval-themed Christmas market and is open only two weekends during December. Ribeauvillé truly goes all out for this market with the types of stalls, activities, and even types of food that are available — all in the Christmas spirit and within the medieval theme.
The Riquewihr market is much more traditional and similar to the Colmar market. Riquewihr is considered one of the most beautiful villages in France and is the city that Beauty and the Beast is based on. If you want to see a particularly fairy-tale-like village, Riquewihr should be on your itinerary.
How to Get There
If you’re already based in Colmar, there is a shuttle bus that costs 15e a day Fri-Sun. The shuttle is available from November 24 – Dec 17th. Lines 1 and 2 are the routes that go specifically to Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé.
If you’re not based in Strasbourg, you’ll have to take a train to Colmar and then take the shuttle buses from there. Going from Strasbourg to Colmar is easy and you can use the local TER trains to go between both cities. The entire ride takes about 30 minutes.
We had a car, which made it easy to move around. If you would have to rent a car, I wouldn’t recommend it since you won’t be using it very much. Christmas, and especially the Christmas Markets in France, is a time that attracts many locals and tourists alike, so France has prepared ample transportation in order to get everyone where they need to be.
When Do the Christmas Markets in France Officially Start?
The Christmas markets of each city are open for a different duration, some longer and some shorter than others. As I mentioned earlier, Ribeauvillé is only open for two weekends in December. Below are the schedules for both Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé as well as the links to their schedules.
- Riquewihr: 25 November to 21 December 2023 –> more info here
- Ribeauvillé: 2 December, 3 December, 9 December, 10 December –> more info here
Everything You Need to Know About Riquewihr
If you know Beauty in the Beast, you should know that Belle’s provincial town was modeled after many towns in Alsace, particularly Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé. The cobblestone streets and half-timbered houses can be easily recognized in the scenes of Belle’s hometown.
Notice the architecture and design around the city — you can tell how the inspiration was heavily drawn from cities like Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé.
Since Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé are both quite small, there isn’t much planning you need to do in order to prepare for your visit — you just need to show up and explore! For these markets, you only need about half a day to explore each of them.
The Christmas market in Riquewihr is located mainly in Rue des Remparts, near the Town Hall. On the first three weekends, the market is extended to Rue du Général de Gaulle.
I would recommend visiting Riquewihr during the latter half of your day so you can see the Christmas lights at night. Like many Christmas markets in France, the stalls all offer more or less the same things, so the charm is more rooted in visiting the inspiration of Beauty and the Beast and seeing more Christmas decor. Many buildings are adorned with Christmas lights and illuminated facades that seem to come to life as soon as the sun sets. We arrived a little around 5pm to give us a couple of hours since the market closes at 7:30pm, but you can still enjoy the Christmas lights after the market closes as you stroll through town.
If you’re looking to warm up, you can stop in La Féerie de Noël, a Christmas shop located on Rue de Cerf. An extremely large Christmas shop filled with decorations, ornaments, and just about anything Christmas-related — if you haven’t yet found a souvenir to take home, you surely will find one there.
Everything You Need to Know About Ribeauvillé
The Christmas market in Ribeauvillé is located mainly along la Grand Rue. The town is quite small, so you can orient yourself pretty easily just by walking along this main street. As I’ve mentioned before, the theme of this market is Renaissance/medieval, and this is not taken lightly. The streets and stalls are filled with people dressed in Renaissance-era costumes, transporting you back in time to the medieval era. The food you’ll find is also quite unique to the market, and while didn’t get a chance to try it myself, I saw people ordering a boar sandwich that looked delicious. In fact, you can actually see the actual boar roasting in the middle square of the village.
This market is unique compared to the other Christmas markets in France and the Alsace region. You won’t find any other markets in the region doing the same thing, and this makes for a distinct atmosphere in Ribeauvillé.
One thing I will warn is that the Ribeauvillé market gets quite busy, especially being that it is only open 4 days out of the Christmas season. It was very much worth it for us and was a unique experience compared to the other markets, but it’s something to consider before going in case you don’t do well with crowds. However, if you’re going to any of these markets in Alsace, crowds are definitely something you’ll have to expect since these are some of the most famous Christmas markets in the world!
What to Eat at the Christmas Markets in France
I did not take photos of everything I ate, so a few items are missing here. With how busy it is, it can be hard to snag a photo – let alone actually eat your food.
Below is a list with descriptions of my favorite eats during my tour of the Christmas Markets in France:
- Flammekueche/Tarte Flambée (pizza of the Alsace region, it’s a thin dough base cooked with fresh cream, white cheese, onions, and little pieces of bacon)
- Bretzel (sweet or salty pretzels, you will see many variations of them as you explore the markets)
- Choucroute garnie (sauerkraut with sausage)
- Spätzle ( Alsacien pasta, the difference between this and other pastas is that spaetzle is created with a more liquid dough. The texture is crunchy on the outside and a little soft on the inside. They can be served with cheese, butter, bacon,
- Munster cheese (soft cheese with a subtle taste, made mainly from milk first produced in the Vosges, between the Alsace-Lorraine and Franche-Comté regions in France. You can find this topped on just about anything in the markets – we had a munster spätzle that was delicious)
- Vin chaud (mulled wine)
- Gingerbread (pain d’épices – literally, spice bread. Not the same gingerbread as the US, the gingerbread in France is soft and darker in color, while American gingerbread is lighter and crunchier)
- Mannele (brioche bread baked in the form of a human man with chocolate chips)
