A Weekend Getaway | Colmar, France

When my husband said he was going to book a trip to Colmar in North East France to see the Christmas Markets, I was a little unsure. Yes I love Christmas markets but I’d never heard of Colmar before. It was also a 10 hour drive away. Totally. Worth. It.

We set out on Thursday morning at about 5am. It was still pitch black outside, (and was for a few hours) but we beat the traffic to the EuroTunnel. The trip itself went by pretty quickly. The kids were amazing and didn’t complain at all. We stopped every two hours for a toilet break, a snack and to stretch our legs. We arrived in Colmar, part of the Alsace region, in the early afternoon. We did a little walk of the area near our Airbnb and bought some food at the local supermarket (I found this rather stressful as I went alone and couldn’t find anything that I wanted!). Our Airbnb was perfect. A traditional city house on the outside but with modern comforts. Completely renovated inside and the shower was one of the best I’ve ever had… so good! The house was centrally located, and was about a 10 second walk to the Toy Museum.

The first day we spent walking around the city, visiting the little pockets of Christmas Markets dotted around. Colmar is beyond gorgeous. Little Germanic houses, colourful and traditional. Just the right amount of tourists (not once did I feel like I couldn’t get to somewhere or that there were too many) and the locals were all very nice. Not many speak English very well so my knowledge of the French language had a proper workout! We came back to the house for lunch and a rest before heading back out to see the town at night which was just as/ even prettier.

The day after, we all got up, had a good breakfast and went for a walk to the Christmas Markets again. The city has so much to offer and its really nice having many little markets dotted around so that the children, nor us ever got bored or felt like we had had enough. They also have stalls around town with barnyard animals inside such as goats, sheep and cows. The Christmas markets were also very traditional with many selling specialties such as crepes, wooden decorations, nougat and honey cake.

In the afternoon, we went ice-skating. All of us! It was so much fun! Helena was naturally good but not very confident whilst Luka was terrible at first (he got better!) but was so confident and kept heading into the middle with the professionals! Nicholas was terrified except when with me but because I had to bend over the whole time (he wanted my arms underneath his), my back is now killing me!

Nearby to the ice-rink was a small rollercoaster. It was Nicholas’s first time and he seriously loved every second. The three kids were in the seat in front of Milos and I.. and their smiles and giggles made the trip. After that it was (temporary) homeward bound where we again had a lovely home-cooked meal.

This morning we spent an hour or so at the Toy Museum. It was so nice to see how excited the kids were, particularly about playing Mario and Luigi on the Nintendo… something I remember from my childhood – I may have played a few games too 😉

And now, here I sit in the EuroTunnel about to touchdown on UK soil. What an amazing little holiday. I feel so blessed to be making these amazing memories with my family.