Three days into our stay in Strasbourg we had decided on a day trip to nearby Colmar, 65km South or 30-40 mins by train from Strasbourg. Colmar is known as one of the most beautiful towns in France and for it’s amazing decorations and Christmas markets.
With the dark Winter mornings everyone was sleeping until around 7.30am, this was a sleep in for the kids! A warmer day was predicted, with it expected to be about 6 degrees. Positively tropical! We head out of our apartment just after 9am to catch the tram into Gare Centrale.
Colmar here we come…
The Saturday crowds in Strasbourg had been crazy and we figured Sunday would be just as bad, with plenty of tourists and tour groups doing the Christmas markets. It was now the 15th of December so peak Christmas tourist season. The trains were listed as extremely crowded through to Colmar and we were expecting big crowds.
We caught the tram into Gare Centrale and sure enough our train to Mulhouse (which stopped in Colmar) was packed. We eventually found some seats, but it wasn’t looking good for awhile. On the way we passed many beautiful villages and could see snow on the mountains surrounding the plains we were traveling through.
Most of the train emptied at Colmar, and we followed the throng of people from the station through to the old town.
Christmas market number one….
It didn’t take long to find our first Christmas market, this one with plenty of rides – something we hadn’t seen much of in Cologne and Strasbourg, unlike markets in Berlin and Munich we’d previously visited.
We had a look around the market and the kids had their eyes on several rides they wanted to come back to if we didn’t find even better ones in the other markets in Colmar.
The Old Town….
It was a short walk into the old town. We just followed the steady stream of tourists heading that way.
Colmar, like Strasbourg is near the German border and is in the north-eastern part of the the Alsace region. It is known for it’s colourful houses, cobblestone streets full of half-timbered medieval and early Renaissance buildings, and of course it’s fairy tale Christmas markets.
Before we hit our first markets we found the Église Saint-Martin, Colmar’s famous cathedral.
We explored the beautiful old town, with it’s half-timbered houses and beautiful cobblestone lanes and decorations everywhere like Strasbourg. Everywhere you turned there was something to look at and no shortage of Christmas cheer.
Even though we’d arrived by 10.30am it was already very crowded, with plenty of tour groups. The array of delicious treats in shops was similar to that on offer in Strasbourg but again a little bit cheaper (as was the vin chaud!).
Colmar didn’t disappoint, the streets were indeed fairy-tale like with the beautiful houses and cute decorations everywhere. Each street had something new to look at.
We tried the little ‘boules mousses’ (marshmallow balls) the kids had been eyeing off in Strasbourg markets and were also here, as a morning sugar hit. There was a debate amongst the 7 of us as to which flavours were the best.
The sugar gave us energy to keep wandering the streets, checking out the 6 different Christmas markets, which each had plenty of crafts and food. They were all close to each other and you could get lost wandering the canals and alleyways, but all streets led back to a market.
The great lunch restaurant hunt…..
We’d been on the hunt for a restaurant Kim and Alan had lunched at several years ago during their first visit to Colmar. It had made an impression and they were keen to return. Colmar is known for it’s fabulous restaruants (and has no shortage of Michelin starred ones). Neither Kim nor Alan could remember the name of the restaurant but were sure they’d recognise it and the area it was in. This was a good plan but the streets were all starting to look the same with their pretty houses and facades.
It was a relatively mild day at 6 degrees by lunchtime and the crowds of people kept us warm (and a sneaky mid-morning vin chaud as we had to try the Colmar variety – less sweet and more aniseed!). Astrid kept getting asked if she wanted a refill every time she returned our vin chaud or gluhwein mugs so she was starting to think she should get to try some but we said she just had to pretend!
Feeling a little bit warmer and more relaxed we continued our restaurant hunt. Even by 11.30am people were lining up to get into the many restaurants. We weren’t hungry yet after all our snacking, so were happy to keep exploring and see if we could find ‘the restaurant’.
The canals and coloured houses were certainly spectacular. We could see why people flock here year round. While Colmar is famous for it’s beautiful and festive Christmas markets, it’s busy year round and the photos of this town during Spring and Summer with all the flowered garden boxes are stunning.
They certainly did Christmas decorations well and there were themed displays everywhere you looked. All we needed was some snow for atmosphere, but the temperatures were a bit too mild to hope for that today!
Like Strasbourg you could do canal tours, which seemed to be a popular, if cold option. We opted to keep wandering around in search of some tasty lunch food.
Zinnia had been spying plenty of rides she wanted to go on after lunch. At one point we managed to convince all 3 kids to cooperate long enough for a photo in Santa’s chair. We also loved the ski ‘Christmas tree’. We had yet to have snow on this trip but it was now less than 2 days before we were heading to snow in the Swiss Alps so the excitement was real.
Like Strasbourg, the squares, cobbled streets, canals and pretty houses all started to blend into to each other. We were enjoying our exploring but were starting to get hungry. We still hadn’t managed to find ‘the restaurant’ and decided just to find somewhere for lunch, as there were plenty of fabulous options. Unfortunately the thousands of other tourists were also lining up for food and literally every restaurant put signs up ‘full/complet’ or turned us away with a firm ‘non’ and shake of the head. All just after 12.30pm!
Like Strasbourg there were plenty of stuffed toys everywhere being used as decorations. Zinnia was again a big fan and we had to pay the creativity of Christmas decorations all through the streets.
In search of food and a toilet…..
By now we were really starting to want to sit down for some lunch, and a place with a toilet it always the holy grail. We were still having no luck finding any restaurant with space for us for lunch. There was plenty of market food available but we were still hoping to find somewhere to sit down in the warm.
We wandered further away from the canal area and into the slightly less touristy area thinking that would make it easier to find somewhere, but even the take away burger places had lines of about 30 minutes. It’s lucky Colmar was pretty because we were starting to get a bit ‘hangry’……
At this point we gave up on the restaurant idea and Kim and Alan had decided to line up for some takeaway food. We decided to visit the gourmet food market and Astrid got some hot soup and we found some local treats to snack on while walking around.
By now Anto and a couple of the kids needed to pee, and the toilet lines in the markets were about 30 minutes long. Anto had one long line up with Soren and Zinnia while Astrid and I continued to try and harvest food and desperately look for any area that had some seating so we could eat in the warm.
Rides and missing Zinnia’s……
We were in a market deciding on which of the long lines we’d stand in for food and it was of course rather crowded. All of a sudden we realised Zinnia was nowhere to be seen. We had entirely lost Zinnia and for a terrifying 3 minutes couldn’t find her anywhere. We seemed to have lost one of them at least once per country but this was the first missing Zinnia incident, it was generally Soren. The older kids have a WhatsApp ‘I’m lost’ chat with us but it doesn’t work for the 6 year old without a phone. We were all circling the market, shouting her name and then she appeared, looking very scared. Thank goodness for her bright yellow coat that does stand out and made it easier to locate her!
Once Zinnia had recovered from her fright she decided on a flying reindeer ride, which she loved,
After perusing the many options on offer Soren and Astrid wanted to go back to the first market, nearest to the train station with the ‘Voltigeur – traditional Christmas flight’ ride, which looked mildly nauseating. We had to talk Zinnia out of that one, as we thought she probably would have been rather scared.
It turns out that was a good call, once the ride was going both Astrid and Soren were hanging on for dear life and Astrid admitted to feeling a bit woozy afterwards!
They did have fun though and no one vomited! Anto and I decided it was time for one last Vin Chaud while we were watching the kids do their rides.
Despite the day not going to plan and us not getting our nice Alsatian lunch, we’d had plenty of fun and Colmar was indeed beautiful. After a lot of walking, and next to no sitting we were now all tired and Zinnia was pretty much ready to nap anywhere!
Churros and farewell Colmar….
As we were leaving the last market we found a place making freshly cooked Churros that didn’t have an enormous line as it was a little more out of the way. So we decided the kids needed additional sugar to make the trek back to the train.
Kim and Alan had also given up on walking around in the cold and had made it back to the train station so we met up with them as they were also keen to head back to Strasbourg. The churros were delicious and the kids were more chipper now we were sitting in the warm and watching the villages whizz by.
The train was far less crowded on the way back, and with only 1 stop on the return journey we were back in Strasbourg in under half an hour. The sugar-hit wore off for Soren pretty quickly and he was soon fast asleep. It had definitely been a day!
Strasbourg in the evening light…..
As we didn’t have any luggage for our day trip, we were out of the pretty Gare Centrale and onto the tram pretty quickly without having to drag bags around. Everyone had decided they were done with markets for the day and were happy to head back to the apartment for some dinner in (and a toilet we didn’t have to line up for!).
We’d noticed every time we’d been on the tram that the trip is rather scenic. I decided to get off the tram a stop early, with Soren, since I needed to stretch my legs, and I wanted to take some photos of areas we kept seeing from the tram but hadn’t had a chance to explore yet.
It was already dusk before 4pm so we got some great light! Strasbourg is very pretty and very easy to walk (or ride) around. Soren and I enjoyed our little photo walk back.
An Alsatian (supermarket) feast….
All a bit in need of a restful evening we had a feast cooked by Anto from our various tours of French supermarkets the day before consisting of raclette, various types of saurkraut and some different types of Alsatian pies and tarts.
The sunset from our apartment balcony was pretty good and we were pleased to have a meal sitting down!
If you are ever in this area of France, Colmar is a beautiful place to visit and we were all pleased we managed to make it there for the day. If we ever manage to visit again we’ll be on the lookout for a lunch place by about 10.30am though!
Up next…..
Our final day in Strasbourg – a visit to the European Parliament building, Orangerie park, more markets and a trip over the border to Germany. There was of course also plenty more French food!
