Strasbourg

Welcome, all of us together, to Strasbourg — the city that calls itself the "Capitale de Noël", with its half-timbered houses, canals and squares that smell of mulled wine 🎄💛 Sitting right between France and Germany and living both cultures at once, this little capital was the first stop on our Christmas route.

December 2023: when we landed in Stuttgart from Athens, we'd slept a grand total of 2 hours in 48 😵 We picked up the car and reached Strasbourg in 2 hours; my love drove, I slept 🤓 It was the first Christmas market trip of my life — and with the most special person in my life, too. I'd never drunk so much mulled wine or eaten so many Nutella crêpes. And we fell head over heels for Petite France 😻

Strasbourg is the capital of Alsace, the French region on the German border. Together with Brussels and Luxembourg it's one of the three capitals of the European Union; the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights are all here. But don't you dare picture a "serious, boring city of civil servants" — it's quite the opposite 💛

It changed hands between France and Germany four times and has been French since 1944. The result: French people speaking with a German accent, German-style crêpes and a sweet city that blends both cultures. And we loved this fact: Lyon's old name was Lugdunum, Paris's was Lutetia, and Strasbourg's was Argentoratum — meaning "silver" ✨

The old town, Grande Île, has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1988. In 2017 the Neustadt, built during the German period, was added to the list too.

Strasbourg is a small city — stay in the centre and you can walk everywhere. The classic route starting from the station side: Place Kléber → Cathedral → Place Gutenberg → Palais Rohan → Petite France. Go in this order and you'll cover the heart of the city in a day.

1. 01

   Notre-Dame Cathedral

   The symbol of the city and one of the most striking examples of Gothic architecture. Construction of today's building began at the end of the 12th century, and its 142-metre spire was completed in 1439. From 1647 to 1874 it was the tallest building in the world; the second tower was never built, which is why the cathedral has its famous asymmetrical silhouette. The pink sandstone, brought from the Vosges mountains, turns almost red at sunset. It passed to the Protestants with the Reformation in the 1500s, and when the city joined France in 1681, Louis XIV gave it back to the Catholics. Victor Hugo described it as "a marvel of the gigantic and the delicate", and Goethe, who fell for the cathedral in his student years, wrote an essay on Gothic architecture. Inside, don't miss the huge rose window and the 13th-century Pillar of Angels.

2. 02

   Astronomical clock

   The clock inside the cathedral is in its third version today. The first was made in the 14th century, the second in the 1570s; the current mechanism was built by clockmaker Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué between 1838 and 1842. It doesn't just tell the time — it calculates the positions of the planets, the phases of the moon and the dates of movable feasts like Easter. Every day at 12:30 the apostles parade past Christ and the mechanical rooster crows; it needs a separate ticket, so queue early.

3. 03

   Cathedral tower platform

   332 steps take you up to the platform at 66 metres. Legend has it that Goethe climbed up here again and again to conquer his fear of heights. On a clear day you can see the Vosges mountains on one side and, beyond the Rhine, Germany's Black Forest on the other.

4. 04

   Maison Kammerzell

   This house on the cathedral square is Strasbourg's most famous half-timbered building. Its stone ground floor dates from 1427 and its carved wooden upper floors from 1589; the hundreds of figures on the façade tell scenes from the Bible and mythology. It's named after Kammerzell, who bought the building in the 19th century and turned it into a grocery shop; today it's a famous restaurant.

5. 05

   Palais Rohan

   Built in the 1730s for the city's prince-bishop, Cardinal Rohan, it's one of the most beautiful Baroque palaces in France. Louis XV, Marie Antoinette (on her way to Paris to be married) and Napoleon all stayed here. Today it houses the Fine Arts, Archaeology and Decorative Arts museums. It closes at lunchtime, roughly 13:00–14:00.

6. 06

   Place Gutenberg

   Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, lived in Strasbourg from the mid-1430s into the 1440s and made his first experiments with movable type here. His statue on the square was put up in 1840; the page in his hand reads "And there was light".

7. 07

   Place Kléber

   The city's main square, named after General Jean-Baptiste Kléber, who was born in Strasbourg and served as a commander in Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. The general's remains lie beneath his statue in the middle of the square. The interiors of the Aubette building on the north side were designed in the 1920s by avant-garde artists Theo van Doesburg, Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp. At Christmas, the giant 30-metre tree stands here.

8. 08

   Place Broglie

   This square, where the Christkindelsmärik is set up, is the birthplace of the French national anthem, La Marseillaise. It was written in Strasbourg in 1792 by Rouget de Lisle and first sung at the house of Mayor Dietrich on the square.

9. 09

   Petite France

   This was once the neighbourhood of millers, fishermen and tanners. Its curious name comes from a hospital opened here in the 16th century to treat people with syphilis — known at the time as the "French disease". The openings in the attics of the houses were for the tanners to dry their hides; the Maison des Tanneurs, dated 1572, is the most beautiful example.

10. 10

    Ponts Couverts & Barrage Vauban

    Four-towered bridges built in the 13th century as part of the city's defences. Their name means "covered bridges", but the roofs were removed in the 18th century. Right behind them, the Barrage Vauban was built in the 1680s to plans by Vauban, Louis XIV's famous engineer; it was designed to flood the south of the city in case of attack and stop the enemy. The terrace on the dam's roof is free, and it has the most beautiful view of Petite France.

11. 11

    Neustadt & Place de la République

    When the city passed to Germany in 1871, the Germans built a brand-new city to make Strasbourg the showcase of the empire. With its wide boulevards, the Kaiser's palace (the Palais du Rhin), the National Library and the university buildings, this area was added to the UNESCO list in 2017. It's just a few minutes from the old town, yet a completely different Strasbourg.

12. 12

    European institutions

    The Council of Europe (founded in 1949), the plenary sessions of the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights building designed by Richard Rogers are all here. It's no coincidence that a city which changed hands between France and Germany so many times became a symbol of European reconciliation. If you're interested, a short visit by tram is enough.

Strasbourg's Christmas market, the Christkindelsmärik, has been held since 1570 and is the oldest in France. In 2026 it opens on 27 November and is expected to run until 24 December; hours are usually around 11:30–21:00. Check the exact dates in the official programme before you go.

Alsace cuisine is French and German food at its heartiest, with lots of pork. Come hungry 😋

Strasbourg is one of the easiest cities in Europe to explore with a baby: small, flat, walkable and safe. The only tricky part is the crowds and the cold of the Christmas season; plan around them and it makes a really lovely family trip 💛

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1. Day 1

   Old town & Christmas markets

   Morning: the cathedral, the astronomical clock (12:30 show) and the tower climb. Lunch: choucroute at Gurtlerhoft. Afternoon: Palais Rohan, Place Gutenberg, Place Kléber. Evening: the Place Broglie, Cathedral and Kléber markets, mulled wine in hand 🍷

2. Day 2

   Petite France & the water

   Morning: Petite France, the Ponts Couverts, the Barrage Vauban terrace. Lunch: tarte flambée. Afternoon: Batorama boat tour, then a stroll through the Neustadt. Evening: the Place du Château and Petite France markets, a glass in Krutenau.

3. Day 3 (optional)

   Colmar & the Alsace villages

   Colmar and the Alsace villages. Details in our Alsace guide.

You'll find our memories from Strasbourg in our Instagram post 💛