Obernai, France: Things to Do, Christmas Market 2026 and Where to Stay

Obernai was the surprise stop on our way to Strasbourg. Like the Alsace villages we had seen the day before, it is small, tidy and calm: painted half-timbered houses, cobbled lanes and one main square ringed by cafés. Everything is within walking distance.

What we liked most was how well the old fabric has been kept. Obernai became a town around 1240 and a free imperial city around 1280 (fr.wikipedia.org).

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Want to stay nearby? Hotels around the old town

In December the square fills with wooden chalets selling small gifts, tree decorations, pastries and sweets. We walked the stalls one by one, looking at the cured meats and the confectionery. As we say in the video, the town is known for its charcuterie.

Cafés and pâtisseries line the square, so a coffee at a window table is the easiest way to watch it. Market dates, hours and squares are in the Christmas section below.

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Want to stay nearby? Hotels on Place du Marché

Whichever lane you leave the square by, this pointed tower stays in view; it is the easiest landmark for finding your way back. The tourist office says it served as the town belfry and watchtower and as the bell tower of a medieval chapel to the Virgin.

The chapel was pulled down in the 19th century, but its Gothic choir still stands. The tip of the spire is 59.60 m up.

In December the miniature Christmas village exhibition opens in the Beffroi hall right beside it; hours are in the Christmas section.

Want to stay nearby? Stay near the square

The painted town hall (Hôtel de Ville) fills one side of Place du Marché and is the most photographed corner of the square. According to the tourist office, it keeps traces of the arcaded building where the medieval town court sat. On each of the first 24 evenings of December a light show is projected onto this façade.

A few steps away stands the Six-Bucket Well, the prettiest photo stop on the square: three columns hold up an eight-sided carved canopy. Strasbourg craftsmen made it in the Renaissance, and it was once painted (tourisme-obernai.fr).

Want to stay nearby? Stay in the old town

Walk past the Halle aux Blés and look up at its gabled front: two carved cattle heads flank the town’s coat of arms, a clue that this Renaissance hall began life as the public butchers’ market.

The inner wall around the old town runs for 1,400 m and once had about twenty towers and four gates. The broad terrace in front of it is now a promenade (tourisme-obernai.fr), a good loop when the market gets crowded.

Want to stay nearby? Stay inside the walls

The tourist office presents the hilltop convent as one of the great pilgrimage sites of Alsace. You can see the tomb of Saint Odile, the Chapel of Tears and the Chapel of Angels, and a terrace with a view across the Alsace plain; the spring said to heal is a 15-minute walk away.

The Mur Païen, an ancient wall of about 300,000 large stone blocks and up to 3 m high, rings the plateau for 11 km. Fluo regional buses run from Obernai to the summit (tourisme-obernai.fr). We did not go up ourselves.

Want to stay nearby? See Les Jardins d’Adalric prices  Ad Where to stay in Obernai

Best for: seeing the town quiet after the day visitors leave, and breakfast on the square.

Keep in mind: the town is small and rooms inside the walls are limited; this is where December fills first.

Best for: arriving on the Strasbourg train and rolling your case to the hotel, or driving in to tour other Alsace villages.

Keep in mind: OpenStreetMap puts the station about 500 m from Place du Marché; hotels on the edge of town are a longer walk.

Best for: seeing Obernai as a day trip and fitting Strasbourg and Colmar into the same holiday. That is what we did: Obernai by day, then on to Strasbourg.

Keep in mind: Strasbourg fills up in December too; book early for market weekends.

Hotel La Diligence Obernai sits right on Place du Marché, so the Christmas stalls are outside the door. Booking score 8.9 from 1,648 reviews.

Still searched as Hotel Le Parc Obernai, it is listed on Booking as YONA ex Le Parc Hôtel. The listing says the room rate includes the spa and swimming pool. Booking score 8.9 from 595 reviews.

Booking places Le Gouverneur Hotel Obernai on rue de Sélestat, a couple of minutes on foot from the Christmas chalets. Booking score 8.7 from 1,883 reviews.

Hotel Le Colombier Obernai is in the historic centre and has a wellness area with massages, according to its listing. Booking score 8.8 from 1,450 reviews.

A former manor house set in a garden inside the medieval town. Booking score 8.5 from 2,054 reviews.

Apartment-style rooms with kitchens, handy for families and longer stays. Booking score 8.8 from 919 reviews.

Small town houses and studios are also let during the Christmas market weeks. For a big family or a group who want to make their own breakfast, they can work out cheaper than a hotel.

As we say in the video, Obernai is known for its meat products, and the Christmas stalls sell cured sausages and hams. The tourist office lists charcuterie among the market’s products too. Most Alsace charcuterie is pork, so ask at the stall if that matters to you.

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The stalls are full of colourful sweets and bredele, the small Christmas biscuits of Alsace. Packed in bags, they are the easiest gifts to carry home; bakeries sell them all through December.

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A paper-thin crust topped with cream, onion and smoked bacon, baked fast in a hot oven. Cheese, mushroom and sweet apple versions are common. One Obernai restaurant menu listed it at €7 to €9 (rankeat.fr, September 2026).

Fermented cabbage cooked slowly with sausages and cuts of meat. The Obernai tourist office even has an events page devoted to it, La choucroute dans tous ses états. It always contains pork.

The Alsace cake baked in a tall fluted mould, with raisins and almonds. In the cafés on the square it is the usual partner for a coffee.

Spiced honey bread and jams from local fruit sit near the top of the tourist office’s list of Christmas market products. Both travel well in a suitcase.

EuroAirport has separate French and Swiss exits. For Obernai, leave on the French side, where the Saint-Louis bus starts. Basel itself uses the Swiss franc; Alsace uses the euro.

No special permit exists for Obernai: arriving in Alsace means entering France, so your passport decides whether a short-stay Schengen visa is needed. Check france-visas.gouv.fr, the French government’s official visa site, before booking.

The EU Entry/Exit System has been fully in use since 10 April 2026: non-EU travellers give fingerprints and a facial image at their first border check (travel-europe.europa.eu).

At Strasbourg-Entzheim, the nearest weather station, December averages a low of 0.8 °C and a high of 5.9 °C (1991-2020 normals). Obernai’s lanes and square are cobbled and get slippery when wet, and a market visit means hours on your feet: wear waterproof shoes with good grip.

At weekends and on public holidays, 2 to 5 people travel together on the Pass Groupe Week-End for €40: one day of unlimited rides on Fluo trains and buses (ter.sncf.com, October 2026). Good value if you do Obernai and Strasbourg on the same day.