Winter day trips from Strasbourg
After a few evenings on the squares, a day beyond the city makes a good change of pace. Across the Rhine the Black Forest climbs into Germany, while the Alsace wine villages lie south toward Colmar. Several market towns are close enough to reach by regional train before lunch. This guide sets the day trips side by side and shows how to be back for the lights.
Six ways to spend a day out
The guided trips below leave Strasbourg in the morning and come back in the late afternoon or evening. The prices are the lowest per-adult "from" figure across GetYourGuide and Viator, and lunch is extra on most of them.
| Day out | From | Length | Start | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Forest, Abnoba Tours | ~$139 | 8–9 h | 8:30 am, Place de la Gare | Forest scenery and a German city |
| Colmar markets and a village, Ophorus | ~$168 | 7 h | 9 am, 17 Place de la Cathédrale | Christmas markets |
| Wine villages and a tasting, Tour.Alsace | ~$143 | About 10.5 h | 9 am, bus station | Wine and old streets |
| Castle and villages, Tour.Alsace | ~$143 | About 10.5 h | 9 am, bus station | Sightseeing |
| Europa-Park ticket | ~$75 | Your choice | Rust, about 1 h by car | Families and ride fans |
| Regional train on your own | Rail fare | Your choice | Gare de Strasbourg | Market towns on the TER lines |
The Black Forest in a day
The Black Forest is the trip that feels most like winter. It lies higher than Strasbourg and is more often white, though snow is never guaranteed. Abnoba Tours' Black Forest day, from ~$139, sets off from Place de la Gare at 8:30 am, picking up outside the Mercure and Ibis Budget hotels, in a minibus with eight seats. The first stop is Triberg, for about 1 h 20 among the cuckoo clocks and beside Germany's highest waterfalls. The German Clock Road then leads to Lake Titisee for an hour and a half, with lunch.
The day closes with 2.5 hours in Freiburg, including a guided walk of about an hour that takes in the Minster and the Bächle, the narrow water channels running beside the streets. There is time afterward for a slice of Black Forest gateau. The live guide speaks four languages (French, English, Spanish, German), and the tour rates 4.8 from 160+ reviews on GetYourGuide and 4.9 from 49+ on Viator, where it costs about $142.
Two things to plan for. Entry to the Triberg falls (about €9) is not included, and neither is food. And this is a sightseeing day, not a Christmas market day, so do not count on a market stop in Freiburg.
Clocks, a lake and Freiburg in one day
An eight-seat minibus with a live guide leaves the station square at 8:30 am for the Triberg clocks and Lake Titisee, ending with a guided walk in Freiburg, from ~$139. Carry euros for the waterfall entry and lunch.
Colmar and its markets
If the point of the day is more chalets, go to Colmar. Ophorus's Christmas markets day, from ~$168, takes eight guests at most by minivan from 17 Place de la Cathédrale at 9 am. An English-speaking driver-guide walks you through Colmar's old town before free time at its markets, then drives on to one more village chosen by the date. The village is not yours to choose, and meals are extra. Bookings need two adults, and children under 4 are not accepted. The seven-hour day returns to just outside the Grande-Île in the late afternoon. Our guide to Christmas markets in Alsace lists each town's market days.
Vineyards with a tasting, or a castle
Two longer days from the bus station on Place de l'Étoile trade markets for villages. The medieval villages and wine tasting day by Tour.Alsace, from ~$143, visits six villages from Bergheim to Eguisheim and includes a tasting at a winemaker's. You stop for photos at the Hunawihr fountain and buy your own lunch in Riquewihr. It scores 4.9 from 412+ reviews on GetYourGuide, where it costs about $151. Its catch is length and language. You are out for about 10.5 hours with a French-speaking driver, while an audio guide in 12 languages does the talking. Children under 4 cannot go.
Tour.Alsace's castle and villages day, from ~$143, swaps the tasting for Haut-Koenigsbourg, with the castle ticket included. It then calls at Riquewihr and Kaysersberg on the way to Colmar, all in a convertible minibus. It rates 4.7 from 832+ reviews on GetYourGuide. The catch matches its sister tour, since the driver speaks only French and you hear the commentary through an audio guide. Sightseeing comes first and the markets second, so expect short stops in each village.
Europa-Park for a family day
Families with ride-mad children sometimes swap a village for Europa-Park, the theme park in Rust, Germany, about an hour from Strasbourg by car. The official Europa-Park entrance ticket, from ~$75, sells on GetYourGuide with 4.8 from 4,556+ reviews. The catch is commitment. Tickets are dated and non-refundable, and you sort out your own transport across the border. The park opens for a winter season, but check its dates on the ticket page before you buy. Strasbourg at Christmas with kids covers the rest of a family visit.
Going it alone by train
Without a tour, the regional TER trains do the work. Colmar and Obernai are each about 30 minutes from Gare de Strasbourg, while Sélestat takes about 20. Every one of them has a Christmas market of its own. The station is a 10–15 minute walk from the island, or a few minutes by tram, so an early train is easy to catch. For the walled wine villages, change at Colmar onto a local bus or shuttle. Getting to the markets explains the trains and trams, and the town-by-town calendar sits in our Alsace markets guide.
Fitting a day out around the evenings
In December the sun sets around 4:35 pm, so the lights in Strasbourg are on from late afternoon and the markets stay open until about 9 pm. A day trip that gets you back by early evening costs you little. The Ophorus and Abnoba days fit that pattern, while the 10.5-hour Tour.Alsace days leave just enough time for a late dinner. Any of them still leaves time to catch one of the hourly light shows on Place Kléber, and our Place Kléber guide has the times and says where to stand.
- Pick a busy day for the trip. Mid-December weekends are the most crowded in the city, which makes them a good time to be elsewhere, unless you are headed for Kaysersberg, open only on Advent weekends;
- Dress for longer outdoors. A day in the villages or the forest means hours outside; see what to wear in December;
- Keep the food plan loose. Most tours leave lunch to you, and our food guide names what to eat once you are back.
Strasbourg publishes its final market program and hours shortly before the season. Check it against our dates and hours page before you fix the day you leave town.