These 10 fabulous Christmas markets in northern France are perfect for a day trip or a weekend visit or longer. We’ve also included a couple of smaller but pretty Christmas markets and two from Belgium as we couldn’t resist them and they’re so easy to reach. Take your car and stock up on fabulous French goodies for Christmas!
Arras at Christmas – winter wonderland
La Grand’Place, Arras (About 110km from Calais)
Arras Christmas market is one of the biggest and best Christmas markets in France. On the red-carpeted Grand’Place in the centre of this historic city, you’ll discover more than 140 traditional wooden chalets where you can shop for everything deliciously French, from regional specialities to foie gras, wine and liqueurs, and the most mouth-watering sweets. You’ll also find fabulous and unique gifts. Every stall is hand-picked for its artisan and superior craft quality products – no mass-produced merchandise here. Ride the Ferris wheel for a bird’s eye view over the festive fun, whiz down the toboggan run or around the skating rink or hop on the musical carousel. And when you ready for a break, sip a mulled wine or steaming hot chocolate at the traditional German Winter Bar, indulge in champagne and oysters, or warm up with tasty tartiflette.
All around the grand square the streets are strung with twinkling lights and the adjacent Place des Héros is transformed into a captivating court of lights. There’s an elves village, Father Christmas’s hut, Friday night brass band performances and loads more events. Arras really embraces what the spirit of Christmas is all about.
Lille Christmas Market
Place Rihour, centre of Lille (About 110km from Calais)
This is a month-long Christmas Market and one of the oldest in Northern France. It’s not a big Christmas market but the stalls offer a lovely range of local products plus arts and crafts. What makes Lille special at Christmas is all the razzmatazz as the city puts on a festive show with beautifully decorated streets and shops.
One of the best places to see all the festive fun is from the 50m high Ferris wheel in the Grand Place. There’s a traditional event on the Saturday before Christmas when Father Christmas “falls” from the Chamber of Commerce’s 80-metre-high Belfry!
Apart from the Christmas market stalls – Lille is a shopping paradise! More than 3000 shops can be found in this town selling a huge range of merchandise – from funky, swanky designer shops to the larger French department stores and gourmet speciality shops – perfect for gift buying and for treating yourself!
Le Touquet Christmas Market
Le Touquet (about 70km from Calais) is famous for its Christmas decorations as the whole town sparkles from the end of November to the beginning of January.
There’s a small Christmas market near the Casino at the Palais de l’Europe, and the shops are beautifully decorated shops. In the art deco covered market on the corner of Rue de Metz a weekend Christmas Market takes place (mid-December) – a lovely festive event with lots of gift stalls, food stalls, plus street food and vin chaud – it’s very popular with visitors and locals.
Le Touquet offers a traditional Christmas setting with horse and carriage rides through the town, brass band, spectacular, lights, ice rink, and a truly festive atmosphere. In the park by the casino the band stand is always dazzling and a great place for a selfie.
Béthune Christmas Market
A short drive from Calais brings you to the town of Bethune in the Hauts de France region, department Pas de Calais. It’s not that well known on the tourist map, overlooked for its larger neighbours Lille and Arras as well as arty favourite Lens with its swanky branch of the Louvre.
Every December the town bursts into life with a traditional style Marché de Noel on the large, cobbled square which spreads around a 14th century belfry. The pretty chalets are perfect for local and seasonal gifts and produce including “Fort de Bethune”, a cheese mixed with spice and wine and potted, once a staple food for the miners who lived in the area. There are some excellent foodie stores in the town, including the brand new boulangerie/patisserie of local star chef Christophe Dufossé of the 2 Michelin star restaurant at the Chateau de Beaulieu in nearby Busnes (also a hotel, bistro, and onsite shop). Stock up on regional specialities like the “Ane de Buridan” chocolates, donkey shaped chocolates created in honour of a local fairy tale.
Take a break in one of the many cafés and bars that line the square. Even in winter the tables spill out onto the pavements so that you can watch the world go by, wrapped up warm and sipping a hot chocolate, tasty local beer or glass of wine.
Licques Christmas Market and Turkey – Fete de la Dinde
Town Centre (About 25km from Calais)
Licques Christmas Market is famous for its traditional turkey parade and its Christmas market with high quality traditionally reared organic poultry. At the market you can also buy regional produce, beautifully packaged sweets and chocolates, traditional decorations and local crafts – but it’s the turkeys that bring the visitors in!
Turkeys were introduced to the area by monks in the 17th century – and to honour the traditional Christmas bird, each year the ‘Fête de la Dinde‘ sees hundreds of turkeys rampaging through the town’s streets on the Sunday morning preceded by the Confrerie de Licques (the town’s VIPs). Visitors are offered a glass of the local liqueur, Licquoise, and then have the chance to buy a turkey and other fabulous goods from cakes and biscuits to Champagne and wine.
The weekend itself is full of cultural events including an enormous regional food market and a Christmas dinner dance (held mid-December)
Amiens Christmas Market
(About 160km from Calais)
One of the largest Christmas markets in northern France and a bit different from most in that as well as the more traditional goods there are plenty of stalls offering luxury items like Picardy-produced Le Creuset kitchenware, fine crystal and hand-made glass, as well as Angora sweaters straight from the farm, specialist beauty products and fabulous baskets in all shapes and sizes. You’ll find very few goods from outside of France since Amiens showcases local talents and merchandise.
Pick up some Beauvais chocolate and Amiens macaroons while you’re there!
From the 1st of December to the 1st of January don’t miss the free son et lumière at the Notre-Dame Cathedral. The west wall is adorned with bright colours to reveal its medieval splendour to visitors. The saints, apostles and other figures sculpted in the stone since the 13th century come to life. Starting at around 7pm – it’s absolutely magical.
Boulogne-sur-Mer Christmas Market
Upper Town, in the walled City (About 30 km from Calais)
Boulogne‘s Christmas market is held within the old city walls and is considered amongst the most beautiful in the Nord-Pas de Calais region. Stalls offering a wide variety of arts and crafts as well as local specialities such as smoked herring, Craquelin pastries and sugar tart (resistance is futile!). It’s an authentic, friendly, buzzing and very festive Christmas event with street performances, the main square sparkles with lights, trees and garland, and filled with stalls, the air is full of the scent of gingerbread, hot chestnuts and mulled wine hangs on the cold air. There are sellers of cheese, sausages, locally smoked herring and other gourmet delights as well as arts and crafts, and gifts galore.
A band strolls the streets playing lively and festive music. In the little park there’s a petting zoo. There are illuminations all around the UNESCO listed Belfry. It’s the authentic and charming atmosphere here that will entrance children of all ages – even the grown-up ones!
Calais Christmas Market
The streets of Calais are lit up with festive decorations and special illuminations to celebrate the end of year holidays. It’s the perfect small city to leave the car behind and take a stroll. The Place d’Armes is transformed into a Christmas village: carousel from the 1900s, decorated chalets and the Place du Théâtre is lined with stands of local producers and artisans, and there are concerts, street shows and other entertainment between these two historic squares.
There’s an ice-skating rink and important historical buildings, including the Church of Notre-Dame, are illuminated. Restaurants and cafes offer special holiday menus, highlighting the flavours of local cuisine. And while you’re there, don’t miss the chance to get acquainted with the Dragon of Calais who will be celebrating Christmas too no doubt!
Bruges Christmas Market
Just 75 minutes from Calais, Bruges is the perfect Christmas setting with its cobbled streets and historic buildings. The Christmas market takes place in the Market Square and forms a ring around a traditional open-air ice rink with a smaller market located on Simon Stevinplein. The lovely festive stalls are illuminated by the twinkling fairy lights and are packed with great goodies including delicious and elegantly packaged chocolates and unusual hand-made decorations. The Snow and Ice Sculpture Festival is open every day and the sculptures are situated in front of the railway station on Staionsplei.
Brussels Christmas Market
Place Sainte Catherine (about 200km from Calais)
We’ve included this as it’s such a terrific Christmas market and accessible for a weekend from the UK. It’s a fairly big Christmas market and it takes place on and around the Grand Place with more than 200 chalets, ice rink, Ferris wheel, sound and light show, and music events.
Travel guide
Travelling by car from Folkestone to Calais on LeShuttle is by far the quickest and easiest way to pop over to France for an overnight stay or a long weekend – just enough time to fill your boot with Christmas trinkets and treats galore. You could also take advantage of tax-free shopping to stock up on presents, food & drink.
The popular cross-channel shuttle service takes just 35 minutes to transport vehicles and their passengers under the Channel from Folkestone to Calais, and travelling by car means you can really fill your boot!
Five reasons to travel to France by car
Save money: The cost of flights and car hire has significantly increased in recent years making LeShuttle an economical option for travel to Europe, particularly for groups and families. If you have multiple people in your car, it’s likely to work out cheaper than flights.
No airport transfers: Airport transfers to hotels or resorts can involve waiting on other passengers, baggage issues and other delays. Driving yourself means you can get straight to your destination and choose travel times to suit you.
Flexibility: Taking a car allows you to fill your boot with all the delicious things including wine and beer that you can buy in France and take home.
Family friendly: You can stop frequently at service stations to let the kids stretch their legs, plus they’ll find it easier to relax and nod off.
Go further: Make the most of the journey and enjoy all that France has to offer – take a break for lunch, dinner or overnight. Stop off in lovely towns and villages and get to experience France at this magical time of the year.
Bonus: Enjoy tax-free shopping and you could recoup the cost of your LeShuttle ticket with your savings!
Top tip: You must arrive at least one hour before your train is due to depart, if you are later than that Le Shuttle will cancel your ticket and you’ll have to buy a new one (policy change dated 5/3/2025).
Book your trip with LeShuttle at: www.leshuttle.com
