Five Reasons Why Colmar Is Worth Visiting
Can you hear Belle singing by the fountain?
#1 - Colmar is Less Busy Than Strasbourg
Ok, you won’t get Colmar all to yourself. There are many others who want to visit Colmar while they’re in the Alsace region of France. However, you will notice it feels less busy than Strasbourg (30 minutes North of Colmar). When people visit Strasbourg for Christmas, Colmar seems to get overlooked by many visitors. Again, people do visit Colmar, but it is less busy than places like Strasbourg. You can usually find a restaurant that is not fully booked or walk into a gift shop without accidently hitting people along the way, which seems to be a normal occurrence in Strasbourg.
#2 - Colmar is More Reasonable Than Strasbourg
Strasbourg is not a cheap travel destination, especially around Christmas time. For example, the average cost of a hotel per night is $127 in December. Compare that to an average of $85 per night at a hotel in Colmar for the same dates. Although Strasbourg is known for its amazing Christmas market, Colmar also hosts a Christmas market; you can easily take the train to Strasbourg in about 30 minutes, so it might be better to save the money and make a day trip out of Strasbourg. Also, food and souvenirs are a little more reasonable than they are in Strasbourg, so you can stretch your dollar more while visiting here.
#3 - It May Feel Familiar
If you’re wandering through Colmar and wondering why it feels familiar, you may be a Disney fan. Although not officially the inspiration for Beauty and the Beast, you really get the sense that this would have been Belle’s village. It inspires artists, musicians, choreographers, and others in the arts due to its charm. You may feel you’ve stepped into a fairytale village.
#4 - It Is Arguably More Beautiful Than Other Parts of Alsace
When visiting around the Alsace region, we felt that Colmar resembled mostly what our visions of Alsace would be. The beautiful half-timbered houses, canals, bakeries and cafes, flower boxes in the windows… all in a quaint French village. It felt more beautiful to us than other parts of Alsace, including Strasbourg. It felt more like Strasbourg than Strasbourg did. This is where you take a slower pace and enjoy the countryside of the Alsace region. All of Alsace is beautiful, but we felt Colmar took the gold medal for the most beautiful place in Alsace.
#5 - It is Easy to Take Day Trips From Colmar
Since Colmar is so centrally located, it is easy to get around to other parts of the region and beyond. By train, you can travel to Strasbourg (France), Paris (France), Basel (Switzerland), Lucerne (Switzerland), Zurich (Switzerland), and Freiburg (Germany). By car, you can easily visit all of the Alsace region in a short amount of time. Additionally, you can also quickly access the Black Forest and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden in Germany. There are so many options from Colmar that you can swiftly come up with a week-long trip of a lifetime!
