Mulhouse Christmas Market: Your Ultimate Guide

Mulhouse is my favorite kind of travel experience, where you inadvertently stumble upon a true hidden gem.

I’ve visited the Alsace region 3 times, including twice for Christmas, so I knew about Mulhouse’s existence – it is the 3rd largest city in Alsace, behind Strasboug and Colmar. But I’d barely ever heard it mentioned as a great Christmas market destination.

But last minute we decided to check it out and…. WOW! Mulhouse truly blew me away with how nice it was, especially considering how little press it gets.

I mean, sure, it’s no Strasbourg, with its dozens of markets, or Riquewihr, with its over-the-top decorations. But Mulhouse truly is lovely, with a very unique and authentic Christmas market experience.

Plus, Mulhouse has a fraction of the crowds of other cities in Alsace in winter, making it a perfect place for a breather. Here are the best Christmas locations in Mulhouse.

Note: In French, Mulhouse is pronounced mull-ooze

Mulhouse Textiles

Part of what makes the Mulhouse Christmas market unique is how it embraces and showcases the city’s longstanding textile industry. Mulhouse is famous for its fabrics, and every year, a new cloth is designed specifically for that year’s Christmas festivities.

This fabric is used throughout the market and city center, draped from facades and incorporated into decorations, giving the town a festive, cohesive feel.

You’ll also find the year’s Christmas fabric for sale in various forms—local designers and artisans use it to create everything from table linens to jewelry, clothing, and decorative objects.

However, the main place to go for the Christmas fabric is the Hotel de Ville History Museum, located right next to the Mulhouse Christmas Market. Here, you can browse dozens of displays full of creations or even buy fabric by the meter to create something yourself.

The year we visited, the design was a festive red, gold, and cream pattern, adding a cheerful, warm touch to the entire market.

Place de la Réunion Market

The main Christmas market in Mulhouse is set up in Place de la Réunion, with nearly 100 chalets encircling the Temple Saint-Étienne, a striking Protestant church.

At night, the temple is illuminated in red, casting a warm glow over the market, and creating a very distinctive market vibe.

The chalets around the square are filled with hot drinks, delicious food, and beautiful gifts. Quite a few vendors selling beautiful Alsatian ceramics—bowls, plates, and cookware that make for both beautiful and practical souvenirs.

As felt appropriate, several stalls showcase items inspired by the city’s signature Christmas fabric, and many stalls were decorated with the cloth. Here are some examples of things for sale at the Mulhouse Christmas Market:

Alsacien houses that can be used as candle or incense holders

Santons (traditional miniatures from Provence that families collect to create village scenes)

Food and Drink at the Mulhouse Christmas Market

Like all French Christmas markets, Mulhouse serves its hot drinks in its own themed Christmas market plastic cup (instead of a mug, like many other European markets). You can return the cup after you’ve enjoyed your drink, or keep it as a souvenir.

I loved the Mulhouse cup – it kept with the theme and was decorated in “fabric.”

You can find vin chaud (mulled wine), chocolat chaud (hot chocolate), champagne, and other alcoholic drinks for sale at the market.

Food

As far as food goes, Mulhouse offers a lot of Alsacien and French classics, such as:

Tarte Flambée — Tarte flambée – thin dough baked with a cream sauce, onions, and bacon

Baguette flambée – sliced baguette topped with broiled cheese

Tartiflette (sliced potatoes cooked in cream, onions, and bacon)

We also saw a few more unique and international options, such as a stand selling Asian dumplings and plates.

Place Concorde

There is also a small, tiny market on Place Concorde, with about 8 stalls, and a few really cute decorations. It’s worth making a quick stop here.

Place de la Bourse

Place de la Bourse has a short light show on the Chamber of Commerce Building about the history of Mulhouse.

Streets of Mulhouse

Mulhouse does a really nice job at having lights up around the streets of Old Town – it really did give the city a festive feel. I’d say the majority of streets in the city center had this style of lights on them.

Just next to the Temple Saint-Etienne, on the outskirts of the Christmas market, is Rue de Mercière, a street graced with a gorgeously decorated lit archway. At the end of the street, a beautiful Christmas tree stands in the shadow of the Temple.

Practical Information

How to Get to Mulhouse at Christmastime

Mulhouse is very well-connected to other cities in the region, making it easy to travel by train to come to the market. There’s a train line that goes between Strasbourg, Colmar, Mulhouse, and Basel, which runs approximately every 20-30 minutes throughout the day.

Dates and Hours for the Mulhouse Christmas Market

The 2024 Christmas Market opens on Sunday, the 24th of November, and runs through Friday, the 27th of December. It is closed on Christmas.

The market is open from 11am-8pm every day, except for Friday and Saturday, when it closes at 9pm.

How Much Time Do You Need in Mulhouse?

You can take in the Christmas festivities with just a few hours in Mulhouse.

Other Helpful Tips

There are no entrance fees to visit the Christmas markets.
People in Mulhouse speak French, but some also speak German, and you will find that most people interacting with tourists speak at least some English.
There are some stands that will accept card, but many places will just take cash, so make sure you have cash on hand.
The market on a weekday was the perfect amount of busy – not empty, but not terribly crowded either. Despite Mulhouse being practially unknown to tourists, I do think that the market will get decently busy on weekends, as locals come in to enjoy this authentic and charming market. Still, I can’t imagine the crowds to be anything like other Christmas cities in Alsace on weekends.