Grand Est · France
Strasbourg
A city on an island in the Ill, twenty minutes from Germany, whose old town is a UNESCO site and whose cathedral was the tallest building in the world for more than two centuries. It is also one of the European Union's three capitals, which means a quarter of glass institutions sits half an hour's walk from a quarter of 16th-century timber houses.
Alsace has been French and German by turns — four changes of nationality between 1870 and 1945 — and the result is not a compromise but a third thing. The language is Alsatian, a Germanic dialect you will still hear in a winstub; the wine is white and drunk in a small green-stemmed glass; the food is closer to Baden than to Burgundy. The winstub itself is the institution to understand: it began as the room where a wine grower sold his own wine with something simple to eat, and it is still small, wood-panelled, loud and often shared-table. And the Christmas market is not a modern tourist invention — the Christkindelsmärik has run since 1570, which makes it older than most of the countries whose visitors now come to it.
Plan your trip
Strasbourg Tour Itineraries
Timed, walkable day plans — plus the best season to go.
Where to shoot
Strasbourg Photo Spots
Medium crowdEntry Free
Barrage Vauban & the Ponts Couverts
- Best timeEarly morning, when mist sits on the water below the terrace and the towers come out of it — the same view at sunset is warmer and has thirty people on it
- ColorsStoneNavyRust
High crowdEntry The cathedral is free; the astronomical clock show is around €3 and the platform climb about €8
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg
- Best timeThe hour before sunset, when the low sun turns the west front from pink to orange — it faces roughly west, so it is flat and grey all morning and lights up at the end of the day
- ColorsRose pinkIvoryDeep green
Low crowdEntry Free to walk in; an audio guide is around €3, and the wines are sold on site
Cave Historique des Hospices
- Best timeLate morning on a weekday, when the cellar lights are on and the room is empty — it is underground, so the hour outside makes no difference and the opening times do
- ColorsBurgundyCreamCharcoal
High crowdEntry Free to enter
Christkindelsmärik — the Christmas market
- Best timeAfter dark on a weekday, when the chalets are lit and the crowd is a third of what it is at the weekend — the market is a night subject and it looks like nothing at two in the afternoon
- ColorsDeep redForest greenCream
Low crowdEntry Free to walk
La Neustadt
- Best timeMidday, when the sun is high enough to reach the bottom of boulevards this wide — the scale is the subject here and it needs light on both sides of the street
- ColorsCharcoalCamelBottle green
High crowdEntry Free
La Petite France
- Best timeEarly morning, before about nine, when the canals are still and hold the reflection of the houses and there is nobody on the bridges — by eleven this is the most crowded few hundred metres in Alsace
- ColorsCreamBurgundyForest green
For the feed
Trending Wear in Strasbourg
Modern, Instagram-friendly looks
Clothes you can get on a bike in
€60–180
Dressed for four hours outdoors in December
€80–250
Layers for a Rhine-plain summer and a proper winter
€70–200
Rooted in the city
Strasbourg Traditional Wear
Local, cultural, handcrafted outfits
Taste the city
Food to Eat in Strasbourg
Trusted tables
Where to Eat in Strasbourg
Au Brasseur
Rue des Veaux, student quarter
Chez Yvonne — S'Burjerstuewel
Rue du Sanglier, behind the cathedral
Maison Kammerzell
Place de la Cathédrale
The chalets of the Christkindelsmärik
Across the squares of the Grande Île — late November to 24 December
Winstub Le Clou
Rue du Chaudron, a lane by the cathedral
Questions
Strasbourg — FAQ
What is Strasbourg famous for?
A cathedral that was for centuries the tallest building in the world, La Petite France's half-timbered lanes on an island in the Ill, and the Christmas market — the Christkindelsmärik, running since 1570.
How many days are enough for Strasbourg?
Two: the cathedral, La Petite France and the Ponts Couverts one day; the Neustadt, the old wine cellar under the hospital and the view from the Barrage Vauban the next.
What is the best time to visit Strasbourg?
May to September, and the four weeks of the Christmas market.
How do I get around Strasbourg?
The old town sits on an island in the Ill and is walked end to end. The city is twenty minutes from Germany, so cross-border day trips are easy.
When is Strasbourg's Christmas market?
The Christkindelsmärik runs for about four weeks around December and has been held since 1570 — more than three hundred chalets spread through the old town, with the cathedral at its centre.