How Strasbourg became the evergreen ‘capital of Christmas’

From sustainable gifts to energy-efficient fairy lights and hotels using only local products, here’s how to have yourself an eco-friendly Christmas in France

It’s mid-morning on a December Saturday and Strasbourg’s rue des Orfèvres is rammed with festive shoppers. They’re gawping into patisserie shops and jewellery boutiques, snapping photos and soaking up the festive cheer on this narrow street close to the city’s mighty cathedral. Above our heads, the ancient buildings’ facades are decorated with giant baubles, fat teddy bears and glittery bows and, while you can see a web of fairy lights wound among these arrangements, the lights are decidedly “off”.

Strasbourg, the self-proclaimed French “capital of Christmas”, draws 2.5 million visitors to its world-famous marché de Noël. This year, efforts to make the yuletide fun more eco-friendly are in tune with other city-wide initiatives, such as the 373 miles (600km) of bike paths that saw it crowned “cycling capital of France”. This means those Christmas lights won’t be switched on until sundown and will go off at 11pm (when previously they were on 24/7). Many have been replaced by more energy-efficient LEDs and the city has been clever not to double up by hanging lights where businesses have their own bright decorations.