10 Things to do in Strasbourg at Christmas

Many French cities are distinguished by a wide range of traditions that are unique to each season of the year. This means that tourists may experience a completely different city depending on the month they visit. This happens around Christmas time, when the best things to see and do in Strasbourg change a bit during the days around Christmas Eve, as the cultural and social agenda is rearranged around the festivities.

So I suggest you read this compilation of activities I have organised for you. These are the kind of plans that are repeated every year and will always be available to you no matter exactly when you decide to visit Strasbourg to enjoy the Christmas season.

Christmas markets in the Alsace region are a major cultural celebration that has been held annually for a couple of centuries in most of the towns and cities in this part of north-eastern France. The Strasbourg Christmas market is one of the oldest in the world and has occupied the main streets of the Grand Ile de Strasbourg and its surroundings since the beginning of the 16th century.

So year after year it is the ideal activity for locals and tourists to have the opportunity to buy food and handicraft products typical of this festive season.

The event is open from the beginning to the end of December and one of the best times to shop or visit the decorated areas are the afternoons or evenings closest to the 24th and 25th of December.

Access is completely free and how much you want to spend is up to you. You should also know that excursions are often organised for tourists to visit the other centuries-old Christmas markets in other towns and cities in Alsace. This is definitely a plan that fits well into the itinerary of a two-day visit to Strasbourg, especially if the first 24 hours are spent in the city centre.

One of the tallest Christmas trees in the world is usually installed year after year on the famous Place Kleber, located in the geographical centre of the Grand Isle of Strasbourg.

The tree itself is a real spectacle, as it is almost always a pine tree chosen directly by the French forestry office from one of the forests of Alsace, all with the intention of finding one that is more than 30 m high. In fact, in some years the trunk has been able to reach up to 120 m in diameter and for centuries it has played a key role in Strasbourg's Christmas traditions.

For decades, the city's most privileged people left gifts at the foot of this tree so that the poor could also take part in the Christmas Eve celebrations. Today, the stalls at the Christmas market around this square raise money for charities such as the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières.

It is definitely a place you can enjoy during a one-day visit to Strasbourg if you decide to make your trip around Christmas or in December. You should also know that the area around this square is full of exclusive brand shops that can be a good entertainment because of the excellent decorations that are usually mounted on their exterior facades.

In the Place du Château you will find one of the most important buildings in Strasbourg. I am talking about the Rohan Palace, which is a building built during the 18th century that is distinguished by the rococo decoration of its interiors, as well as for being the seat of the museum of archaeology, the museum of fine arts and the museum of decorative arts of the city of Strasbourg.

At the same time there is the fact that visiting this place is one of the best things to do in Strasbourg during Christmas because it has a direct relation with the history of these catholic festivities. Knowing that it was a former residence of princes, bishops and cardinals who set the social and cultural tone for Christmas Eve and Christmas.

Another reason that makes the museums of this palace a recommended plan for Christmas entertainment is that since it is such a touristy season, the three cultural institutions usually have special exhibitions, which can be oriented both to the religious world of Christmas and other social and cultural aspects of these festivities.

If you are interested in exhibitions, you should know that they are also one of the best things to do in Strasbourg during the month of November, taking into account that in the middle of this month these temporary exhibitions usually open in Strasbourg. You should also bear in mind that your visit may coincide with some of the free admission dates, but if this is not the case, then you will have to pay 6.5 euros to enjoy the three museums.

Notre Dame de Strasbourg Cathedral is a very important church for the history of Europe, as well as for tourism in France. In fact, it is the second most visited cathedral in the whole country and is one of the most representative works of Gothic architecture during the medieval period in Western Europe.

For this reason, visiting the church is a recommended plan all year round, but specifically at Christmas time it becomes even more special. Knowing that you will have the opportunity to witness a Christmas Eve mass, although there will also be many others oriented to the meaning of this celebration during any of the days before or after this festivity.

Of this type of acts you have to know that they are definitely a religious event, but they can also be very interesting for those who want to understand a little more about the importance of Christmas for Christianity, as well as for the cultural identity of Strasbourg. Moreover, the fact that these special masses are being celebrated throughout the month makes them one of the best things to do in Strasbourg during December.

If Christmas shopping is an important part of your personal traditions for this time of year, then you should know that the Neustadt area is a good place to go to combine sightseeing with an afternoon of shopping. Of this part of the city you should know that it is the area that was reformed after the Franco-Prussian war. For this reason, it has a totally different urban pattern while it has really impressive buildings.

Throughout the area you will find many institutional buildings and also large commercial shops, which will allow you to complement the shopping that you could already do in the north of the Great Island of Strasbourg, as well as in the neighbouring district of Poincarré.

Either way, you should know that the area is a recommended place to enjoy Christmas without having to spend money, as it is also usually decorated with Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve lights. So it's a very special place where you can see a slightly different side of the Strasbourg Christmas scene.

In many cities around the world, Christmas is also synonymous with major cultural events in the main theatres of the place. This is also the case in Strasbourg, where the Opéra national du Rhin usually organises various classical music concerts on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve throughout the month of December. The building is located at the northeast end of the Grand Ile de Strasbourg just before crossing the bridge that leads to the Place de la République.

From the cultural agenda for the month of December you should know that it is quite common for operas or traditional Christmas theatre events such as The Nutcracker to be organised. However, it is also possible that there will be a classical music concert organised by the city's symphony orchestra or another musical institution of importance to the Strasbourg community.

It should also be kept in mind that this is a plan for which you should dress with a certain elegance and that it is something that will definitely happen during the evening regardless of the exact date of the event. Likewise, the opera is an important building for the city's architecture in its own right and, for this reason, enjoying one of the events on its Christmas cultural schedule is a real privilege that you should not miss out on.

The wine industry, and specifically the production of white wine, has a lot to do with the history and culture of the Alsace region. For this reason, the Christmas tastings organised at the Cave Historique des Hospices de Strasbourg are an event not to be missed if you are looking for a chance to learn a little more about what distinguishes the wines of this part of France.

This site is a vaulted cellar dating back to 1395 and has been home to wine tastings for centuries. For its part, the theme of the Christmas tastings is that there is musical and decorative accompaniment to set the mood in tune with the festive season. All to make the experience a little more fun.

You should know that access to this site is free, but if you wish to enjoy some of the tastings, especially those geared towards Christmas celebrations, you will have to pay a fee of between five and 10 euros per person. You should also bear in mind that if you want to learn a little more about the history of wine, then you could take part in some of these excursions that take you around the main wine villages in this part of France.

Taking a gastronomic tour to sample Christmas food is quite interesting in most parts of the world at this time of year, as you learn about the flavours that have captivated the local population for centuries. At least when it comes to celebrating the arrival of the new year, as well as commemorating Christmas Eve.

In the case of Strasbourg you should know that there are two representative dishes that are the perfect example of how Germany and France have been mixing cultures for centuries to create a fairly homogeneous community in this city. One of them is Baekeoffe, a meat casserole stuffed with cheese and potatoes. It has become a Christmas meal because it satisfies the appetite effectively and at the same time it is quite hot. It is ideal to soothe people's cold.

In addition to this dish, there is Chocruote, which is basically a smoked meat recipe accompanied by sausages and served on a bed of sauerkraut, the typical German preparation of marinated and fermented cabbage.

In addition to these recipes, there are other representative aspects of French gastronomy such as the famous snails and the typical Alsatian cheeses. In fact, some of the best tours of Strasbourg are those that focus on local gastronomy and during Christmas time this is a good idea to get to know the typical dishes and desserts of this time of the year.

The European Quarter is the area of the city of Strasbourg where the institutional buildings of the European Union are located. The city is home to the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights. At the same time, these three buildings often host temporary exhibitions on the continent's traditions and collective cultural identity in the 21st century.

For this reason, it is important that you familiarise yourself with how to visit the European Parliament in Strasbourg no matter exactly when you visit the city over Christmas. Throughout the month, there are usually special activities aimed at a diverse and family-oriented audience at all three sites. What's more, the best thing about the whole thing is that they are almost always completely free events or exhibitions.

You should also bear in mind that these buildings are right next to one of the most beautiful urban parks in the city. So a tour of the area at Christmas time can be a perfect way to enjoy the cold and even a nice snowfall.

Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle is one of the most visited places during the Christmas season in Alsace because it is a fortification that allows visitors to understand how the great residences of the nobility functioned during medieval times. Added to this is the fact that in a cold and snowy landscape such as this time of year, it creates a landscape that for some is a visual spectacle.

You should also bear in mind that as visits to the site are guided, then the schedule changes a little in December. The guides themselves show visitors what the social dynamics were like during the Christmas festivities, which means you will learn about the preparations that were made by the servants to make the season special for the noble families who occupied the castle.

At the same time, the fact that this visit is combined with a stroll through some of the other Christmas market towns in the region makes it one of the best day trips from Strasbourg. Especially around Christmas time.