the city of half-timbered houses on the Lauch, with the Isenheim Altarpiece at the Unterlinden, the Petite Venise by boat, the wines of the Wine Route and the most photographed Christmas markets in Alsace
Colmar is the Alsatian city that looks as if it had been drawn: colourful half-timbered houses, roofs of glazed tiles, canals with flat-bottomed boats. It was a free imperial city and one of the ten cities of the Decapolis, then French from 1679, German from 1871 to 1918 and again during the war, until its liberation in February 1945. Of its wealthy past there remain the Koïfhus, where the deputies of the ten cities met, the Maison Pfister and the Maison des Têtes, and at the Unterlinden one of the most famous paintings in Europe, Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece. Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, was born here, and his house is a museum. The city stands in the middle of the vineyards, on the Wine Route, and calls itself the capital of Alsace wines. In December the old town fills with Christmas markets, five plus the chefs' one, and the villages around open theirs. For those travelling by motorhome there is a stopover next to the marina, twenty minutes on foot from the Petite Venise, and a campsite on the Ill, both open during the markets.
Sleeping
Stops and overnight stays
In Colmar the overnight stopovers are next to the marina, north-east of the centre: an automatic stopover and one with facilities, side by side, twenty minutes on foot from the old town. The town council also has two motorhome-only car parks closer to the centre, but it gives them for daytime parking and sends you to the harbour for the night. The nearest campsite is on the Ill, at Horbourg-Wihr, and there is also one at Turckheim, the village of the night watchman. In December all four are open, and on market weekends they fill up: it is worth booking where you can.
Area camper del porto, OnlyPark
6 rue du Canal, 68000 Colmar
a fenced car park with stabilised pitches, next to the marina on the canal, north-east of the city. It takes motorhomes and vans up to eight metres; longer ones go to the Port de Plaisance stopover, next door. It is open day and night all year, cannot be booked, and you pay only by card at the terminal, which gives you a code to keep for leaving. There are no toilets or showers. The operator says about twenty minutes on foot to the old town; the town council writes that there is a bus stop nearby, but does not say which
70 motorhome pitches
ElectricityWaterGrey water
From 24 November to 2 January 20 euros for 24 hours, from noon to noon, plus the tourist tax of 0.65 euros per person: two adults spend 21.30 euros a night. The rest of the year from 13 to 17 euros. Electricity and emptying are paid separately, with a 3 euro token: four hours of electricity or twenty minutes of emptying. The operator does not give the year of the price list · +33 3 89 20 82 20 · onlypark.fr
the marina's stopover, run together with the harbour office, with twenty pitches for motorhomes of any length, electricity, water, emptying, toilets and showers, and a token-operated laundry. You book online or by phone, from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 17:00. Arrival is from the afternoon, at 14:00, and departure by noon; after 18:00 motorhomes can no longer enter, and the booking system already says after 17:00. You pay only by card. On 5 October, for the December nights, there was room on Saturdays too
20 motorhome pitches
ElectricityWaterGrey waterToiletsShower
For one night in December 2026 the operator's booking system asks from 27 euros for two people, with electricity and facilities; it does not say whether the tourist tax is included · +33 3 89 20 82 20 · port-de-colmar.com
a large campsite on the bank of the Ill, just outside Colmar to the east, with 163 pitches on five hectares and the motorhome service area at the entrance, included with the pitch. It has three toilet blocks, two of them heated, and a token-operated laundry. Arrival is from 14:00 and departure by noon; for one or two nights you pay everything when booking. On 5 October the nights of Friday 11 and Saturday 12 December were already sold out. Line A to Colmar station stops in front of the campsite; until mid November 2026, because of roadworks, line H replaces it as far as the Théâtre. On foot the centre is about forty minutes away
ElectricityWaterGrey waterToiletsShower
For the night of Tuesday 8 December 2026 the booking system asks from 38.40 euros for two people on the Confort pitch, with electricity and one vehicle; it does not say whether the tourist tax is included. Those not staying there use the service area for 8 euros · +33 3 89 41 15 94 · campingdelill.fr
the Turckheim campsite, on the Fecht, 250 metres from the village walls and six kilometres from Colmar, with 127 large pitches of around a hundred square metres. In winter the toilet blocks are heated, and every night includes seven kWh of electricity. It reopens for the Christmas markets, but the dates do not match: the operator's page says from 27 November to 24 December, its price list from 26 November to 27 December, the tourist office brochure from 2 to 24 December. Phone before you set off. Arrival is from 14:00 and departure by 11:00. For Colmar there are buses, lines A and C from place de la République, and the train; in the evening, in the village, the night watchman goes by
ElectricityWaterGrey waterToiletsShower
With the 2026 price list, in December, a motorhome with two people and 16 amp electricity costs 25.30 euros a night, plus the tourist tax of 0.60 euros per adult: two adults spend 26.50 euros. Those who book pay 10 euros in fees · +33 3 89 27 02 00 · camping-turckheim.fr
In Colmar the motorhome stays at the harbour or at the campsite, and you go into the centre on foot or by bus: the old town is small, and during the markets it is closed to all vehicles.
From Italy the shortest route goes through Switzerland, over the Gotthard or the San Bernardino to Basel, and from there into France on the A35 motorway to Colmar. In Switzerland you need the motorway vignette: 40 francs, sticker or electronic, linked to the number plate and bought on e-vignette.ch. The 2026 one is valid until 31 January 2027, and covers a trip to the markets
Over 3.5 tonnes the vignette is not valid in Switzerland: you pay the flat-rate heavy vehicle charge for every day spent in the country, even when parked, only on the Via portal, with a minimum of 25 francs
The low emission zone: Colmar does not have one. Strasbourg does, across the whole Eurométropole, and from January 2027 it also bans vehicles with the Crit'Air 3 sticker. The sticker can only be ordered on the official website certificat-air.gouv.fr: for a vehicle registered abroad it costs 5.11 euros including postage
Sleeping in a motorhome outside the stopovers is not forbidden by any published by-law of the town council, but for the night it sends you to the harbour. The two motorhome-only car parks closer to the centre, in rue de la Cavalerie (twenty spaces, about a dozen minutes on foot from the old town) and in rue Henry Wilhelm (sixteen), are for daytime parking, without facilities, at the green zone rate: 1.50 euros for the first hour, free from 12:00 to 14:00, in the evening after 19:00, on Sundays and on public holidays. During the markets rue de la Cavalerie is also used to drop off coach passengers, and nobody says whether the motorhome spaces remain
During the markets, from 23 November to 29 December 2026, the centre is closed to all vehicles during market hours. At weekends the park and ride at the Parc des Expositions, north of the city, is open: 3 euros a day, with a free shuttle every ten minutes to rue Saint-Eloi. It is open on 28 and 29 November and on 5, 6, 12, 13, 19 and 20 December; the page does not say whether it takes motorhomes
Trace buses: the ticket is valid for one hour and costs 1.50 euros, and you can also pay by card at the validator; on board, in cash, 2 euros. The 72 hour ticket costs 7 euros, the 24 hour Alsa+, with the trains and coaches of the conurbation, 4.60. On 5, 6, 12, 13, 19 and 20 December 2026 all public transport in the conurbation is free. The free electric Cœur de Ville shuttle runs every twenty minutes from Monday to Saturday between the car parks in the centre and the Théâtre
The Christmas shuttles leave from Colmar station for the market villages, from 27 November to 20 December 2026. The ticket is valid all day, can only be bought online, from Thursday 12 November at 12:00, and seats are limited. Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé only from Friday to Sunday, 17 euros; Eguisheim every day, 8 euros from Monday to Thursday and 17 at the weekend; Turckheim and Munster from Friday to Sunday, 17 euros or 10 with the découverte fare; Neuf-Brisach only on 12 and 13 December. Under 12 years travel free, but the ticket must be booked
The Colmar City Pass costs 48 euros and is valid for four consecutive days: nine museums, a boat trip in the Petite Venise and one on the tourist train. During the markets the little trains do not run, and instead there is a guided walking tour at 10:30, to be booked at the tourist office. For a family it is hardly worth it: in the museums children get in free or almost
Seeing
Sights
The old town can be explored on foot in a day, from north to south: you start from the Unterlinden, next to the tourist office, go down past the Maison des Têtes to the Dominicans and St. Martin's, take the rue des Marchands with the Maison Pfister and the Bartholdi museum, reach the Koïfhus and the Schwendi fountain, pass through the tanners' quarter and the covered market and finish in the Petite Venise, with the natural history museum on the rue de Turenne. The toy museum is a few steps away to the east. The Statue of Liberty stands outside, on the roundabout at the northern entrance, and you see it as you arrive. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
1
Unterlinden Museum and the Isenheim Altarpiece
Museum · paid entry · 48.07986, 7.35556
place Unterlinden, 68000 Colmar
around 1230 two noblewomen founded a convent of Dominican nuns here, unter Linden, under the lime trees. After the Revolution it was a barracks, and the Société Schongauer saved it and turned it into a museum, opened on 3 April 1853. In the old convent church is the Isenheim Altarpiece, which Matthias Grünewald painted between 1512 and 1516 for the Antonines of Isenheim, about twenty kilometres away, who cared for those sick with St. Anthony's fire: the panels opened onto three different views according to the liturgical calendar, and today they stand open side by side, with the Crucifixion that you can look at close up. The complete restoration was finished in 2022. Then the thirteenth century Gothic cloister, Martin Schongauer, Holbein the Elder and Cranach. In 2015 Herzog & de Meuron added a new brick building, linked to the convent by a gallery under the square, for twentieth century art, from Monet to Picasso.
Opening hours Wednesday to Monday 9:00-18:00, with last entry at 17:30; closed on Tuesday, 1 January, 1 May, 1 November and 25 December. On 24 and 31 December 9:00-16:00 · 14 euros, 17 with the audio guide; from 12 to 17 years and students up to 30 years 9 euros; family, two adults with children from 12 to 17 years, 36 euros; in the last hour 7 euros. Free under 12 years and with the City Pass. The museum does not give the year of the price list · +33 3 89 20 15 50 · musee-unterlinden.com · info@musee-unterlinden.com
the house that the merchant Anton Burger had built in 1609, with a German Renaissance façade covered with 106 grotesque heads and masks, which give it its name. The carved oriel window rises through three floors, and Burger's coat of arms, a castle, appears twice. On top of the scrolled gable stands a bronze cooper by Bartholdi, of 1902, placed there when the house was home to the wine exchange. Today it is a hotel with a restaurant: you look at it from the street.
a Gothic church of the mendicant orders, tall and bare, with slender columns without capitals and early fourteenth century stained glass with the life of Christ. The Dominicans arrived in Colmar in the thirteenth century; after the Revolution the church was an artillery store and then a corn market, and it returned to worship in 1898. In the choir is Martin Schongauer's Madonna of the Rose Bower, of 1473: a life-size Mary among roses and finches, on a gold background. It used to be in St. Martin's, was stolen in January 1972 and found again in June 1973, and has been here ever since. In the convent next door the Dominican library has a free route among the manuscripts.
Opening hours in 2026 open from 5 to 31 March and from 24 July to 30 December: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday 10:00-13:00 and 15:00-18:00, Wednesday 15:00-18:00, Friday and Saturday 10:00-18:00, closed on Monday. The rest of the year it is closed · 2 euros, from 12 to 18 years 1 euro, students 1.50; free under 12 years and with the City Pass · +33 3 89 24 46 57 · stmartin.colmar@gmail.com
St. Martin's Collegiate Church and the Maison Adolph
Church · free entry · 48.07735, 7.35821
place de la Cathédrale, 68000 Colmar
the most important church in Colmar, which everyone calls the cathedral because it was one from 1791 until the Concordat. It was built from 1234 to around 1365, in Vosges sandstone of several colours, with a roof of glazed tiles; the choir is by Guillaume de Marbourg. In 1572 a fire destroyed the top of the tower, and three years later it was capped with the onion-shaped lantern that is its silhouette, at 71 metres. Inside, a head of Christ in a stained glass window of the early thirteenth century and Silbermann's organ case, of 1755. From 2024 to 2030 it is being restored, and some scaffolding should be expected. On the square, at number 16, the Maison Adolph, with fourteenth century Gothic windows, long believed to be the oldest house in the city.
Opening hours Monday to Saturday 8:00-18:45, Sunday 10:00-19:00, outside services. The tourist office does not give the year of these opening hours · stmartin.colmar@gmail.com
the most photographed house in Colmar, on the corner of the rue des Marchands. It was built in 1537 for the hatter Ludwig Scherer, and the date is carved on a window of the turret: it is the city's first Renaissance building, still with something medieval about it. It has a two-storey corner oriel, of stone below and with a wooden gallery above, the octagonal turret with the spiral staircase and the façade painted in 1577 with the emperors, the evangelists and scenes from Genesis. The name comes from the Pfister family, who owned it from 1841 to 1892. On the ground floor there is a wine shop.
the house where Auguste Bartholdi was born, on 2 August 1834, left to the city and opened as a museum on 18 November 1922. It holds the models of his monuments, including the original ones of New York's Statue of Liberty and of the Lion of Belfort, and the apartments with the family furniture; in the courtyard, the bronze group of the Grands Soutiens du monde. You climb two floors without a lift. Bartholdi's works are also in the streets: the Schwendi fountain, the little winegrower on the corner of the covered market, the cooper on the Maison des Têtes, and a trail of triangles drawn on the paving links them.
Opening hours from 3 February to 31 December, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-18:00; closed on Monday, 1 May, 1 November, 25 December and the whole of January. On 24 and 31 December it closes at 15:30. The ticket office closes half an hour earlier · 5 euros, reduced 4; free under 18 years, for students and with the City Pass. The museum does not give the year of the price list · +33 3 89 41 90 60 · musee-bartholdi.fr · musee.bartholdi@colmar.fr
the Old Customs House, the oldest public building in the city, finished in 1480. On the ground floor goods were weighed and taxed, and in the hall upstairs the deputies of the Decapolis met: the stained glass windows bear the coats of arms of the ten cities. The roof of glazed tiles in coloured patterns and the turret come from the restoration at the end of the nineteenth century. You can only go inside during events, and in December the ground floor is one of the Christmas markets. On the square, the Schwendi fountain, with Bartholdi's bronze statue of 1898: Lazare de Schwendi, a commander of the Empire, holds a vine shoot in his hand, because legend has it that he brought the Tokay grape to Alsace from Hungary.
the tall, narrow half-timbered houses of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries where the tanners lived and worked. The hides were dried on the top floor, open or pierced to let the air through, and you can still see it. In the 1960s the quarter was falling to pieces: it was restored between 1968 and 1974, with funds wanted by André Malraux, and twenty-seven houses out of thirty-three got their exposed beams back. On Thursday mornings, on the petite rue des Tanneurs, there is the market.
Point of interest · free entry · 48.07464, 7.35980
13 rue des Écoles, 68000 Colmar
the market of brick, iron and cast iron that Louis-Michel Boltz finished in 1865, on the bank of the Lauch: the market gardeners of the Krutenau moored their flat-bottomed boats at the foot of the building and unloaded through the doors on the canal. For years it was also a car park; restored in 2010, it has become a market again, with about twenty stalls of fruit and vegetables, meat, charcuterie, cheese, bread and fish, and a few tables to eat at. In a niche on the corner is Bartholdi's little winegrower, of 1869.
Opening hours Tuesday to Thursday 8:00-18:00, Friday 8:00-19:00, Saturday 8:00-17:00, Sunday 10:00-14:00; closed on Monday · marche-couvert-colmar.fr
the Krutenau quarter, which means "the vegetable gardens", on the Lauch: in the Middle Ages it was the land of market gardeners, and the colourful half-timbered houses from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century look onto the water from the covered market to the bridge on the boulevard Saint-Pierre. The postcard view is from the bridge on rue de Turenne and along the quai de la Poissonnerie, where fish was sold. The flat-bottomed boat trip lasts twenty-five minutes and passes under the bridges between the houses and the gardens; it starts at the foot of the pont Saint-Pierre, next to the Le Caveau Saint-Pierre restaurant, in rue de la Herse. In December, on some evenings, children sing on the boats.
Opening hours the Sweet Narcisse boats leave every day 10:00-11:45 and 13:30-18:00, roughly every quarter of an hour, in December too, with reduced hours from November to February which the operator does not publish. Trips may be cancelled because of the weather or because the water is too high · the boat trip costs 9 euros, from 4 to 10 years 4 euros, under 3 years free; free for adults with the City Pass. The operator does not give the year · +33 3 89 41 01 94 · sweet-narcisse.fr · contact@sweet-narcisse.fr
born from a scientific society founded in 1859 by, among others, the physicist Adolphe Hirn and Bartholdi, it is housed in an old school on the Lauch. On the first floor the nature of Alsace in front of an eighteen metre fresco, from the Vosges to the Rhine plain; on the second the rocks, minerals, fossils and ancient Egypt with three mummies, placed in the last room so that those who do not want to see them can turn back. There is also an escape game on botany, from 12 years.
Opening hours in 2026, during school term Tuesday to Friday 9:00-12:00 and 14:00-17:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-18:00; in the school holidays Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-18:00. Closed on Monday, 1 January, 1 May, 1 November and from 25 to 31 December · 6 euros, reduced 4.50 from 7 to 18 years, from 60 years and for large families; free under 7 years and with the City Pass · +33 3 89 23 84 15 · museumcolmar.org · contact@museumcolmar.org
opened in 1993 in an old neighbourhood cinema, with the collection of the Colmar painter Georges Trincot. More than a thousand toys on three floors, with a lift, from the nineteenth century to today: antique teddy bears, the first Barbies, Playmobil, robots, video games. The model railway takes up the whole second floor, and in the play areas you really play. For children, the right afternoon when it rains.
Opening hours from January to November Monday and Wednesday to Sunday 10:00-17:00, closed on Tuesday; every day 10:00-18:00 in the French school holidays, in July, in August and in December. Closed on 1 January, 1 May, 1 November and 25 December · 6.50 euros, reduced 5 from 8 to 18 years and from 65; from five tickets upwards 5 euros each; free under 8 years and with the City Pass. The museum does not give the year of the price list · +33 3 89 41 93 10 · museedujouet.colmar.fr · contact.museejouet@colmar.fr
a twelve metre copy of Bartholdi's statue, placed in 2004 on the roundabout at the northern entrance to the city, for the hundredth anniversary of the sculptor's death. Those arriving from Strasbourg drive round it; next to it there is a car park.
Colmar has the calendar of a wine town: the Foire aux Vins in summer, its winter sister between Christmas and New Year, the choucroute festival in October. But the season that changes it most is Advent: five markets in the old town, the chefs' market, lights on every façade, and all around the villages of the Wine Route, each with its own.
Next: Oktober'FAV · 16-17 Oct
16-17Oct
Oktober'FAV
in mid October
the choucroute festival, which takes up the Choucroute Days born seventy years ago: two evenings at the exhibition grounds, with Alsace choucroute, beer, wines and music, at the table as at the festivals across the Rhine. Doors open at 18:30, by booking only, and in 2026 a seat at the table costs 39 euros
21-22Nov
Colmar Book Festival
at the end of November
the book festival, now in its thirty-seventh edition: two days at the exhibition grounds with authors, signings and talks, on Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00 and on Sunday until 18:00. Entry is free. It falls two days before the markets open
23 Nov › 29Dec
Colmar Christmas Markets
from late November to late December
five markets in the old town, organised by the tourist office with the town council. On the place des Dominicains some sixty stalls at the foot of the church, with the stained glass windows lit up at sunset; on the place de l'Ancienne Douane some fifty around the Schwendi fountain and along the canal, with the Koïfhus lit up; inside the Koïfhus, indoors, the craftsmen, potters, glassmakers, woodcarvers, hatters; on the place Jeanne d'Arc the village of Alsatian products, with the little church, the goats, foie gras, charcuterie, wines and bredele; in the Petite Venise, on the place des Six Montagnes Noires, the children's market, with rabbits and sheep, the mechanical nativity scene, the merry-go-round and Father Christmas's letterbox. They are open from Monday to Thursday from 11:00 to 19:00 and from Friday to Sunday from 10:00 to 20:00; on Christmas Eve until 17:00, and on Christmas Day they are open. In the evening the city's lights come on, more than eleven hundred points that light up the façades all year round, and in December the garlands and stars
23 Nov › 3Jan
The gourmet market and the Noël Féérique
from late November to early January
the two parts of Colmar's Advent that stay open after the markets, until 3 January. The gourmet market, on the sports ground of the Montagne Verte, has nine stalls and nine chefs, from oysters to Alsatian dishes eaten standing up, with the chef cooking in public from 17:00 to 18:00; next to it is the big wheel, 10 euros and 8 under one metre twenty. They are open every day from 11:00 to 22:00, on 31 December until 17:00. On the place Rapp the town council's Noël Féérique, with the Carrousel 1900, the largest wooden horse merry-go-round in France, the other rides and sweets; the tourist office gives it as open from as early as Saturday 21 November
27 Nov › 30Dec
The markets of the villages around
from late November to late December
the villages of the Wine Route, a few kilometres away, each with its own market, linked to Colmar by the Christmas shuttles. Eguisheim, the village built in circles around the castle, six kilometres away: some thirty craftsmen, every day from 27 November to 30 December, except on the 24th, 25th and 26th. Turckheim, six kilometres away: the elves' market, in the crooked stalls of the town hall square, from 27 November to 30 December, closed on Christmas Day; every evening at 21:00, except on the 24th and 25th, the night watchman with his halberd, lantern and tricorn hat makes his round of the village singing in Alsatian, and you can follow him for free. Riquewihr, inside its walls among the vines, thirteen kilometres away: every day from 27 November to 20 December. Kaysersberg, eleven kilometres away: the crafts-only market in the courtyard of the Arsenal, on the four Advent weekends, from Friday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 20:00. Bergheim, in the fortified village: from 27 to 29 November and in the first week of December, which the market's page starts on the 2nd and the leaflet on the 4th. Ribeauvillé, the medieval market with jesters, minstrels and wild boar on the spit, on 5, 6, 12 and 13 December. Neuf-Brisach, Vauban's fortified town: the Village 1700, with costumed performers from the eighteenth century, on the second weekend of December
27-30Dec
Cuvée Givrée
between Christmas and New Year
the winter Foire aux Vins: four evenings at the exhibition grounds, from 17:00 to 1:00, with Alsace wines, concerts in the Halle aux Vins and an open-air guinguette. Entry costs 8 euros, concerts excluded, and 2 under 12 years. It begins when the markets close
27-28Feb
Carnaval de Colmar
at the end of February
the carnival, held since 1901: on Saturday afternoon the children's parade, on Sunday afternoon the grand parade with floats through the streets of the centre
19 Mar › 11Apr
Colmar fête le Printemps
from mid March to mid April
the Easter and spring markets, on the place des Dominicains and the place de l'Ancienne Douane, every day from 10:00 to 19:00, with farm animals in town and open-air concerts, free. On the same days the decorated egg show, Coquilles d'Art
This year's dates are not out yet
Foire Éco Bio d'Alsace
in May
the organic and ecology fair, at the exhibition grounds: four days of producers, craftsmen and talks, for more than forty years
Festival International de Colmar
in July
the classical music festival, ten days of concerts by great performers; St. Matthew's Church, for its acoustics, hosts part of it every year. It is directed by Alain Altinoglu
Foire aux Vins d'Alsace
between late July and early August
the Alsace wine fair, held since 1948: ten days at the exhibition grounds, with more than three hundred and fifty exhibitors, more than fifteen hundred wines and in the evening concerts in the open-air theatre, for ten thousand people. In 2026 entry was free until 13:00 and cost 5 euros in the afternoon and 8 in the evening, concerts excluded
Colmar Jazz Festival
in September
a week of jazz in the municipal theatre and the city's halls, with paid concerts and free ones. In 2026 it was the thirtieth edition
Colmar Film Festival
in spring
the film festival, which paused in 2026 and returns in spring 2027, for its twenty-ninth edition
Remember
Useful tips
To sleep, Colmar has the harbour: the automatic stopover cannot be booked and has no toilets, the Port de Plaisance one can be booked and has everything. The motorhome car parks near the centre are for daytime parking
The December weekends are the busiest: on 5 October the Camping de l'Ill had already sold out Friday 11 and Saturday 12 December. From Monday to Thursday there is more room and fewer people in the centre
From 23 November to 29 December the centre is closed to vehicles during market hours: from the harbour you walk, twenty minutes, or take the bus. On 5, 6, 12, 13, 19 and 20 December the buses are free
Tickets for the Christmas shuttles to the villages go on sale online on Thursday 12 November at 12:00, and they are limited: if you want Riquewihr or Kaysersberg on a Saturday, buy them straight away
The villages can also be visited by motorhome, but each has its own rules during the markets, and it is worth reading them on its market's page before setting off: at Kaysersberg, at weekends, motorhomes go to the sports ground and the Erlenbad stopover is reserved for coaches; at Riquewihr the sports ground opens to motorhomes for the markets, without facilities; at Neuf-Brisach motorhome parking is forbidden. At Eguisheim the town hall car park has a stopover with electricity
The five markets in the centre close on 29 December; after that the gourmet market, the big wheel and the Noël Féérique remain until 3 January, and the Cuvée Givrée at the exhibition grounds from 27 to 30 December
The Unterlinden museum is closed on Tuesday and on Christmas Day, the Bartholdi museum on Monday and for the whole of January, the natural history museum from 25 to 31 December. In winter the Dominican Church is only open until 30 December
In Switzerland, on the way there, you need the motorway vignette: the 2026 one is valid until 31 January 2027. If you go through Strasbourg, check the Crit'Air sticker, which you do not need in Colmar
For the boat trip in the Petite Venise go early: the boats take a break from 11:45 to 13:30, and on market days the queue gets longer
Colmar · part two
and then?
What to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
Taste
Colmar's cuisine is the cuisine of Alsace, halfway between France and Germany. Alsace wines are nine tenths white, in tall, slender bottles protected by law: the Alsace AOC dates from 1962, the Crémant, the sparkling wine, from 1976, and there are fifty-one grands crus. Choucroute, fermented sauerkraut, has been a protected geographical indication since 2018, and is eaten garnished with sausages and pork. Munster, the washed-rind cheese of the Vosges valleys, has been a designation of origin since 1969, and sometimes has caraway seeds in it. In the winstubs, the taverns, you find baeckeoffe, the stew of meat and potatoes in white wine, and coq au riesling. At Christmas every household makes bredele, little biscuits in dozens of shapes and flavours, and at the markets there are kougelhopf, the crown-shaped yeast cake with raisins soaked in kirsch, gingerbread, mulled wine and, for St. Nicholas, the manala, the little brioche man. And everywhere Flammekueche.
the quai de la Poissonnerie in December, with the half-timbered houses reflected in the LauchPhoto: Jorge Franganillo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0the Lauch in the Petite Venise, with the boat landing stage and the houses on the waterPhoto: Krzysztof Golik, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the flat-bottomed boats moored below the houses of the Petite VenisePhoto: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0a boat full of passengers passes under the flower-decked bridge of the Petite VenisePhoto: Nikolai Karaneschev, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0the Petite Venise with snow on the roofs and on the boats, in January 2007Photo: Michael Schmalenstroer, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5the Schwendi fountain on the place de l'Ancienne Douane, among the half-timbered housesPhoto: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Koïfhus with its roof of glazed tiles, in the rain, and the Schwendi fountain in frontPhoto: L'amande, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0the Maison Pfister on the corner of the rue des Marchands, with the oriel and the turretPhoto: Maksym Kozlenko, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the façade of the Maison des Têtes, with the carved oriel and the cooper on topPhoto: Ralph Hammann, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the choir of St. Martin's and the tower with the lantern, among the housesPhoto: Rolf Kranz, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the choir of St. Martin's lit up on a December evening, with the garlands of lightsPhoto: Yann Caradec, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the Isenheim Altarpiece open on the Crucifixion, in the convent churchPhoto: Gleb Simonov, Wikimedia Commons, pubblico dominiothe choir of the Unterlinden convent church, with the stained glass windows and a carved altarPhoto: Stefano Merli, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the Dominican Church, with its pointed bell tower and Gothic windowsPhoto: Ralph Hammann, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the rue des Tanneurs, with the tanners' tall half-timbered housesPhoto: Gzen92, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the yellow passageway leading to the courtyard of the Bartholdi museum, with the bronze group at the endPhoto: Karlheinz Klingbeil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0the copy of the Statue of Liberty on the roundabout at the northern entrancePhoto: Lionel Allorge, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the covered market, with Bartholdi's little winegrower in the corner nichePhoto: Krzysztof Golik, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the side of the covered market on the Lauch, with the steps for the boatsPhoto: Ralph Hammann, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the place de l'Ancienne Douane market in the evening, with the Koïfhus lit upPhoto: Gzen92, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the market stalls in front of the KoïfhusPhoto: Gzen92, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the children's market on the place des Six Montagnes Noires, in the Petite VenisePhoto: Jorge Franganillo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0the children's market seen from above, in the evening, with blue lights on the housesPhoto: Gzen92, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the market stalls at the foot of the Dominican ChurchPhoto: Gzen92, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Maison du Pèlerin in the Grand'Rue, decorated with lights for ChristmasPhoto: Gzen92, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0kougelhopf dusted with icing sugar on a market stallPhoto: Arnaud 25, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0gingerbread with St. Nicholas and decorated hearts on a market stallPhoto: Arnaud 25, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
