Strasbourg & Colmar, France – December 2023
PHOTO GALLERY
DAY 1 – Thursday 7th Dec 2023
Super excited, I finished work early and made my way over to St Pancras International to meet my girlfriends (Claire, Sangeeta, Megan and Maria) for some ‘mandatory’ champagne, but not before stopping at M&S to stock up on snacks and more bubbles for the Eurostar. We boarded our train for a 7:01pm departure, and it wasn’t long before we were pulling into Gare du Nord around 10:30pm local time.
As we weren’t going to have time to explore the wonders of Paris (because we’d be leaving for Strasbourg in the morning), I found us a hotel that was close to both Gare du Nord and Gare de I’Est. The perfect location for us, Hôtel Léna was reasonably priced and just what we needed, as I was able to book three twin-rooms.
As if we hadn’t had enough bubbles already, after checking in and dumping our bags, we decided to nip across the road to Le Titi Parisien where we shared some frites and a couple bottles of red. Full of lots and lots of love and laughter, the evening was brought to a dramatic end when walking back to our hotel (only 80 yards aways), my friend had her phone stolen from her coat pocket when a d1ckhead unwelcomely threw his arms around her as a distraction. It was so frustrating as I knew what was about to play out, but I wasn’t quick enough to stop it and before we knew it, he’d disappeared.
It obviously put a slight dampener on the night as we had to spend the next few hours calling home and cancelling bank cards etc. however Claire, although understandably really upset, handled it like a trooper.
DAY 2 – Friday 8th Dec 2023
Up reasonably early, we checked out and slowly made our way to Gare de I’Est train station, grabbing coffees and croissants on route. Impressed with the double decker train we boarded, by 10:07am we were on our way. Needless to say, there wasn’t much chat on our two hour journey to Strasbourg.
After finding and checking into our Airbnb, we dumped our bags and headed out to explore. I was surprised, perhaps naively, that upon entering Grande Île, (the main area of Strasbourg, which is an island and probably best described as the Old Town), there were security check points. We had our handbags searched, and the cars going in and out had their boots searched. It initially made me feel a little nervous that we might be in a high-risk area for terrorism, however that soon passed and we didn’t at all feel unsafe.
Upon approaching Place Kléber, the city’s central square, we were met with the first of many Christmas markets. We were also met with the biggest Christmas tree, 30 meters high to be exact. It wasn’t long before we were sipping on mulled wine and tasting the local delights.
Wanting to see as much as possible, we kept moseying on and found with every corner we turned, another Christmas market and another opportunity to buy more mulled wine (in reusable cups which made us happy). We soon found that most of the markets were selling a lot of the same stuff, a mixture of good quality, cute christmassy souvenirs, and an equal measure of tourist crap.
Soaking up the lovely atmosphere of a wintery weekend, we stumbled upon La Petite France, a picturesque district in the south-western corner of the Grande Île, known for it’s half-timbered houses, narrow streets, medieval bridges and canals. Having clocked up a fair few steps, it was here we decided to stop for a drink (and loo break) at Au Petit Bois Vert, and it also gave us time to plan the rest of the day/evening.
From here we decided to head back to our accommodation to put our feet up for a little bit, but also to meet our friend Leila who was now able to join us for the rest of the trip. While back at our apartment we decided to do a bit of research to find somewhere nice for dinner, however we found that so many places were already fully booked.
Without being able to secure anywhere, we headed back out in the direction of La Petit France again. It was lovely to see all the Christmas lights in their full glory and the Christmas tree at Place Kléber looked even more impressive. After trying and failing to get into a number of restaurants, we ended up eating at Au Pont Saint-Martin in Petit France. A word of advice, if you’re a foodie, do your research and book in advance to avoid disappointment.
DAY 3 – Saturday 9th Dec 2023
Today’s itinerary was a trip to Colmar, to visit another handful of Christmas markets. Initially I thought why on earth are we going to Colmar when we’re only in Strasbourg for 48 hours, however it was most definitely worth the one-hour train ride.
As lovely as Strasbourg is, Colmar is that bit prettier and cuter, although even more crowds to deal with, which can be slightly overwhelming. Blessed to be with friends who like to take control and organise sh1t, first on the agenda was a wine tasting session at Domaine Karcher, a family run estate who’s tasting room is right in the city centre – a perfect start to the day.
From here we wondered around the city, taking in more Christmassy slights, lights and markets. As beautiful as it was, the crowds were huge and there were times when we were literally shuffling along like we were at the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival. However, determine not to let that spoil our fun, we drank more mulled wine and just went with it.
Having anticipated the struggle we might have to find somewhere suitable for lunch, earlier that morning, we quizzed Pierre from Domaine Karcher and asked him for some local recommendations, which led us to Le Petit Tanneur…although we still had to queue for TWO HOURS, and so to keep ourselves sane and actually more importantly keep ourselves warm, we took it in turns to leave the queue to do a mulled wine run.
After more wandering around, we eventually caught the train back to Strasbourg, and having had a good feed at Le Petit Tanneur, we opted for some market street food for dinner. Before heading back to our apartment for the night, we swung by Place Kléber again to soak up the atmosphere one last time, and despite the pouring rain, enjoyed the musical light display of the Christmas Tree.
DAY 4 – Sunday 10th Dec 2023
After checking out of our accommodation we had time to kill, so went and found somewhere for breakfast close to the station; close to the station because we had our luggage in tow and also our train back to Paris was at 12:50pm. Turns out, making a breakfast reservation in Strasbourg is kind of essential. The first place turned us away (even though it was empty), but then we found Au Coin des Kneckes who agreed to let us have a table outside (even though it was pretty darn cold).
€25 for an all you can eat breakfast buffet – err, yes please. And because we obviously hadn’t drunk enough already this weekend, we decided this breakfast needed two bottles of Cremont (which in case you didn’t know, is very, very similar to Champagne but can’t be called Champagne because it wasn’t made in the Champagne region).
When we got back into Paris at 3:17pm, we weren’t really sure what to do with ourselves. We decided to head to the station to see if getting an earlier train back to London was an option, but unfortunately it wasn’t unless we were going to pay a silly amount. So instead, we put our luggage into storage and went for a stroll.
A few of us felt a little uneasy because of the pickpocket a few days prior, and so we didn’t really want to venture too far. So instead we found a cute little restaurant called Mamie and ate and drank there until it was time to head home.
All in all, this was such a lovely trip, especially at this time of year when the towns are oozing Christmas’ness. Although the Christmas markets were very crowded at times, we had a great time and I’d highly recommend a visit.
As six girlfriends wanting to avoid paying separately and asking for individual bills etc., we found the easiest way to sort out who had paid for what was to use the app Splitwise.
TRAVEL DETAILS
EUROSTAR – Return ticket booked in advance = £103 per person
DEPART: London St Pancras International (7:01pm) – ARRIVE: Paris Gare du Nord (10:27pm)
DEPART: Paris Gare du Nord (8:02pm) – ARRIVE: London St Pancras International (9:30pm)
OTHER TRAINS
DEPART: Paris Gare de I’Est (10:07am) – ARRIVE: Strasbourg (11:54am)
One-way ticket booked months in advance, £41.24 per person
DEPART: Strasbourg (12:50pm) – ARRIVE: Paris Gare de I’Est (3:17pm)
One-way ticket booked in advance, £62.59 per person
Day return to Colmar from Strasbourg: £25.24 each (bought the night before)
ACCOMODATION
Paris – Hôtel Léna / 1 night = £125 per twin room
Strasbourg – Airbnb / 2 nights = £1,217 (slept six)
