When is the best time to visit Strasbourg?

Pros +:

• The weather is usually pleasant
• The magnolias, cherry blossoms, and wisterias will be in bloom (depending on the month)
• Restaurants and cafés are opening their terraces
• Nesting season for swans and storks
• Night of the Museums: free evening access to the city’s museums

Cons -:

• Risk of hailstorms and sudden rain showers: the weather is quite unstable
• Pollen season: risk of hay fever

Pros +:

• Longer days and milder weather (in June)
• Festival season, with open-air concerts and cinema events (at the Jardin des Deux Rives)
• Catch the yearly summer light mapping show projected on the Cathedral and other monuments around town
• Enjoy gorgeous sunsets from the panoramic terrace of the Vauban Dam
• Soak up the sun on the summer docks and the pop-up beach on the Presqu’île Malraux
• Fête de la Musique (Music Day) on the 21st of June
• Explore the art fair L’Industrie Magnifique (in June, every 2 years)
• The “Grande Braderie” (great street market)
• The Street Performance Festival (Festival des Arts de la Rue, or FARSe), mid-August
• Pop-up café terraces on the river Ill and different places around town

Cons –:

• Risk of heat waves, humidity, and thunderstorms (July and August)
• Large number of tourists in the city center

Pros +:

• Autumn colors (changing leaves)
• European Heritage Days: explore places and buildings that are usually closed to the public
• The Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival (focusing on fantasy, horror, sci-fi, noir films, dark comedies, and thrillers)
• Foggy mornings (incredible atmosphere)
• Fewer tourists
• Frequent Indian summers (until mid-October) will allow you to enjoy summery temperatures in a calmer environment

Cons –:

• Risk of rain and gloomy weather
• Shorter days, less daylight

Pros +:

• Shop at the famous Christmas Market and admire the Christmas lights in the streets of Strasbourg (from late November to late December)
• Soak up the magical Christmas atmosphere
• Strasbourg Mon Amour (aka Strasbourg My Love, a whole series of events around Valentine’s Day in February)
• ST-ART: Strasbourg’s contemporary art and design fair (November)
• The ideal season to enjoy a hot beverage inside, in a café or tea room
• Have a fresh Maennele (December): these typically Alsatian little brioche men are made around the holidays (particularly for the feast of Saint Nicholas on the 5th of December)

Cons –:

• Over 2 million visitors flock to Strasbourg between the end of November and the end of December. The crowd makes it a little difficult to get around town and explore freely
• Hotels and restaurants tend to get very full in late November and all of December
• Nature is asleep, no leaves on the trees
• Cold weather, risk of snow and black ice