The gorgeous city that might be Europe’s best at Christmas – just an £80 flight

During the festive season, you’ll find cities around the world transform into Christmas paradises, full of streets lined with lights and incredible markets.

Thousands of different traditions mean that every location brings its own unique feel to its holiday celebrations, which makes the idea of travelling around the world to experience Christmas so great.

But out of the places you should try, there is one incredible destination that really knows how to bring festive cheer – and the best thing about this place is that it isn’t far away, nor does it cost a fortune to travel to.

The French city of Strasbourg, which borders Germany, names itself the “capital of Christmas” as it boasts a number of wonderful activities throughout the holiday season.

This is because the city boasts the highest-decorated Christmas tree in Europe. Every year the 30-metre-tall illuminated tree is placed in Place Kléber and decorated with bright ornaments.

Strasbourg’s Christmas market is also the oldest in France and one of the oldest in Europe, dating back all the way to 1570.

Between November 27 and December 27, the city centre is transformed with 300 wooden chalets where visitors can purchase special gifts and traditional treats like mulled wine and Christmas biscuits called bredle, also referred to as bredele, bredala or winachtsbredele.

The Christmas market is just one of the many things to enjoy in the city. In an area just behind one of Strasbourg’s Alsatian houses, visitors will find an amazing exhibition named “Nativity scenes around the world” with the newest edition being a nativity scene from Ivory Coast.

The city centre is only 15 minutes away from Strasbourg airport, which you can fly directly to from London Gatwick Airport.

An average flight takes around an hour and 35 minutes, meaning in under two hours, you could be spending Christmas in an enchanting Christmas wonderland.

So, if you want to experience bustling Christmas markets in one of Europe’s brightest cities over this Christmas period then Strasbourg is just the place.