I am contemplating a day trip on Monday December 2 from paris to strasbourg to go to the Christmas Markets. My husband and I will have our 6 year old son in tow.

Since I only just decided this would make a nice day trip, the TGV fares are quite high. Any experience with waiting until the Tuesday before the trip to make a reservation and see if it is on the discount list? I've booked many TGV fares in the past, but much more in advance and I read there is some sort of discount list the tuesday before travel for the next week.

Any helpful hints appreciated.

Yes, there are last minute Prem's fares but only on trains that have not sold at least 70% of their seats already. This is more than unlikely regarding trains to Strasbourg in December.

How about visiting Lille and its Christmas market instead?

Thanks Kerouac! yes, I feared that might be the case. Never been to Lille, but know that is much closer. How does that compare to the markets at Strasbourg?

Is there a compelling reason to go to Strasbourg over Lille? My son loves taking the 'fast train' and all things train related and I figured that would be as much a part of the adventure as anything.

Any Lille thoughts appreciated! thanks again

That's a l-o-o-o-n-g train trip just to go see a market! Five hours on expensive trains?

There are plenty of Xmas markets close to Paris. I did a search for "Marchés Noêl Ile de France" and came up with this website: http://noel.org/Ile-de-France/

(Ile de France is the Greater Paris region).

These came up:

marchés de Noël permanents
marché de Noël d'Alfortville à Alfortville
du Mercredi 4 Décembre 2013 au Mercredi 11 Décembre 2013
marché de Noël à Meudon-la-Forêt
du Mardi 10 Décembre 2013 au Dimanche 15 Décembre 2013
Marché de Noël Saint Germain des prés à Paris
du Vendredi 15 Novembre 2013 au Lundi 6 Janvier 2014
Marché de Noël des Champs Elysées à Paris
du Vendredi 15 Novembre 2013 au Dimanche 5 Janvier 2014
village de Noël de Montmartre à Paris
du Vendredi 6 Décembre 2013 au Dimanche 5 Janvier 2014
marche de noel à Paris
du Samedi 7 Décembre 2013 au Dimanche 15 Décembre 2013
vide grenier de Noel place budapest sortie gare st LAZARE à Paris
du Lundi 16 Décembre 2013 au Samedi 21 Décembre 2013
marché de noel à Villeneuve-le-Roi
du Samedi 14 Décembre 2013 au Dimanche 22 Décembre 2013

Thanks for the recommendations! Appreciate it. yes, it is a long train ride, but my son loves trains (he could ride the L here in Chicago for hours if I let him)

We've been to Paris many times so I was just looking for something else to do as a day trip that my son would particularly enjoy. Strasbourg came up as the 'capital of christmas' so I thought it might be fun. I'll check out these though! Thanks again!

6 years old? Take him to Aquaboulevard. It´s a lot closer than Strasbourg and you can reach it for the price of a métro ticket:

http://www.aquaboulevard.fr/

Lyons has Christmas markets and TGV trains. How about that? I just don't know how they compare to Strasbourg, but Lyons is generally a compact, easy-to-access city that's good for walking.

Ugh ... Lyon

We spent a few days at the Strasbourg Xmas markets a few years ago. You can see a few if our pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gir...7612385490187/

Would a 6 year old appreciate it? I am not sure...but it is a lovely contrast to Paris.

Beautiful photos jamikins! That inspires me to want to do even more.

I think he'd be enthralled with the lights/decorations and whole scene. As well I believe there is some sort of children's village as part of the festivities that would greatly interest him.

He's very much a 'city kid' and enjoys events like this a lot.

Well, here's a report I made about the Lille Christmas market a few years back, which is mostly still valid: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...ay&thread=4716

The market isn't as big as Strasbourg (which has several distinct markets specialized in various things -- that's its strong point, but it's a weak point for a day trip since it means having to run around all over the place), but it is well situated in the historic center and frankly, all of these markets sell basically the same (Chinese) stuff at about 80% of the stands and only 20% sell the real work of artisans or food specialists.

But it is still a lovely market and Lille is just as beautiful a city as Strasbourg even though the architecture is completely different -- Flemish rather than Alsatian. This would mean that you would have to return to see Strasbourg during a future trip, but that's a good thing, isn't it?

Anyway, Lille is not even an hour from Paris by train and during most of the day there is an hourly train.

Thanks Jen! If you go be sure to try tartiflette (I think that's what it is called)

Fabulous write up and photos Kerouac. It seems like Lille indeed would be a good compromise and less expensive than the Strasbourg day trip.

We have our tickets to Strasbourg and are looking forward to it. Jamikins, your phitos make it hard to wait! I want to sample flammekuche and gingerbread. What is tartiflette?

Tartiflette is made from sliced potatoes, lardons, and reblochon cheese. It is a dish from Haute Savoie which has worked its way even into restaurants in Paris, much as aligot from Aubrac has done.

True. It's not an Alsatian dish. If you want to taste true Alsace cuisine you want baeckeoffe, tarte `a l'oignon, choucroute, tarte aux mirabeilles....

What is the dish served everywhere in Alsace...like a pizza with cream and bacon...thought it was tartiflette but obviously that's not it! Thanks!

Tarte flambee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarte_flamb%C3%A9e

In German Flammenküche

http://www.thekitchn.com/what-on-ear...mmekuech-65707

s

Tarte flambé! That's it...thank you!

https://www.google.com/search?q=chri...=1600&bih=1075

La Defense in Paris has one of the best Christmas Markets anywhere!