Christmas market of Montbéliard (Franche-Comté)

In this article, I will not take you to Alsace but to one of our neighboring regions, Franche-Comté, and more particularly to the Christmas market of Montbéliard. Montbéliard is only 45 minutes away from Mulhouse, so it can be a stopover “outside Alsace” for a weekend to discover the Christmas markets in the south of Alsace, just like Basel in Switzerland which I had already talked about.

The Christmas market of Montbéliard, called the Christmas Lights, is a very nice market taking place in the city center of Montbéliard. If Montbéliard is an industrial city without particular charm, it is different during the Christmas period, when it is adorned with beautiful illuminations and welcomes more than 200 chalets for the Christmas market.

The atmosphere of the city is really pleasant. It’s small and you can do everything on foot, going from one place to another and admiring the illuminated streets. The buildings are also well highlighted with colorful lighting. The Christmas market takes place mainly around the Temple Saint-Martin but there is also the Sponeck square, which hosts the gourmet chalets and a carousel, the courtyard of the Beurnier Museum with a small solidarity market and finally the Children’s Village, with its skating rink and a few rides.

On the side of the chalets, a real selection is operated to choose the exhibitors so that only the craft industry has its place. At the Montbéliard Christmas market, no buying and selling! I was able to see that it was not just a simple word and this is also what comes up when discussing with the exhibitors, who choose to come to Montbéliard for this reason. This is probably also what contributes to the friendly atmosphere of the market.

You can also find many local products: it’s time to taste cancoillotte, comté or Montbéliard sausage 😉 As for delicacies, here are my favorites:

• the huge choice of top-of-the-range cancoillotte from Piguet Gastronomie (especially the Montbéliarde, sold with Montbéliard sausage powder to sprinkle on top)
• cancoillotte and cheeses from the Lehmann cheese factory (wow, the one with truffles or wild garlic!)
• the delicatessen of Salaisons Barbiers
• Glögg (Swedish mulled wine) from Marcad
• Emma’s bears and real hot chocolate from La Chocolatière (Ragot chocolate factory)

In short, a beautifully lit market, with afriendly atmosphere and offering quality products, I validate!

I also wrote about the Christmas market in Montbéliard on my other blog Carnet d’escapades. Feel free to check out the article, which is more complete than this one.

My photos of the Montbéliard Christmas Market