Aix-les-Bains Christmas Market

Aix-les-Bains spends the winter on the shore of Lake Bourget, the largest natural stretch of water in France, the one that inspired Lamartine's Le Lac. When December comes, the spa town brings out its lights and the Aix-les-Bains Christmas market settles around the Casino Grand Cercle and Place Maurice Mollard, between Belle Époque façades and colonnades inherited from the golden age of spa tourism. The Casino food chalets smell of fondue and mulled wine, Savoyard artisans keep their stalls under the decorations, and Santa's house holds the families while the big parades cross the centre. A mountain feel and a refined one at the same time, with Mont Revard on the skyline and Hautecombe Abbey set on the far shore.

The Christmas village, around the Casino Grand Cercle

The gathering point is the Casino Grand Cercle, the palace of gaming and entertainment opened in the 19th century, whose terraces turn into a food village for the whole season. There you find the famous Casino chalets, open until 3 January, where people share a steaming fondue, a board of Savoy charcuterie or golden crêpes, glass in hand, while concerts and DJs liven up the evenings from 7pm. Right next door, Place Maurice Mollard serves as the stage for the highlights: this is where the lights are switched on in late November, between the Temple de Diane square and the forecourt, and where the big Bal de Noël parade brings out its costumes in mid-December.

On the middle weekends of the month, a makers' market sets up inside the Grand Cercle, gathering more than sixty artisans and designers who come to show jewellery, decorations and one-off pieces. The setting changes everything: you browse under the gilded stucco and glass roofs of a listed building, a long way from a simple row of stalls. Around it, the town multiplies the events: a Saint Nicholas market on Avenue de Verdun in early December, the Cré'Art makers' market at the Temple de Diane, shows and a children's ball at the Théâtre de Verdure. The spa setting counts for a lot here. Between two chalets, the columns of the Thermes Nationaux, the bandstand in the park and the palace hotels of another age recall the time when the whole of Europe came to take the waters at Aix.

The programme changes from one day to the next, and that is a good part of the charm. One evening, a gospel concert fills a hall at the Casino; another, video mapping repaints the town hall façade in shifting colours. The youngest follow the Bal de Noël parade, meet the costumed characters who set the festive tone, then head for Santa's house. This scattered format, spread over several squares, means checking the day's programme before you come, but it gives every visit a different face depending on the weekend.

Savoyard treats at the Aix-les-Bains Christmas market

At the table you are in the middle of Savoy, and your taste buds soon know it. The Casino chalets stick to the mountain register: fondue, raclette, tartiflette, boards of tomme and reblochon, Savoy diots simmered in white wine, and of course crozets, those small square buckwheat pasta. Lake Bourget invites its fish to the party, with lavaret and féra that the lakeside restaurants happily cook as fillets. On the sweet side, gâteau de Savoie, light as a sponge, goes with the spiced mulled wine served on the terraces.

What strikes you is how generous the plates are. A fondue shared between friends, bread on the end of a fork, a glass of Savoy white beside it, and the evening goes by without you noticing. Golden crêpes and sugar-dusted waffles satisfy the sweet tooths, while the Casino concerts and DJs set the rhythm once evening comes. There is no shortage of fine food stalls either: mountain honey, blueberry jam, dry sausages and artisan chocolates quickly fill a basket of edible gifts.

The Savoy winegrowers are not far away: a glass of apremont or chignin, those crisp, mineral whites, goes beautifully with a piece of tomme. To keep the magic going once you are home, a good mulled wine recipe with citrus and cinnamon recreates the chalet mood without any trouble.

• Savoyard fondue and raclette, served steaming under the Casino chalets, a dinner that warms you through.
• Diots in white wine and crozets, two classics of the Savoyard table simmered under the Casino chalets.
• Fish from Lake Bourget, lavaret and féra, cooked by the lakeside restaurants.
• Local cheeses, tomme and reblochon, to taste at the stall before leaving with a wheel.
• Savoy wines, apremont and chignin, and spiced mulled wine for evenings on the esplanade.

Opening hours, access and entertainment: the practical details

Access to the chalets and the markets is free, you only pay for what you eat or take home. For the 2025 edition, the Casino food chalets ran from early November until 3 January, with entertainment every evening, while the makers' weekends were concentrated in mid-December. The lights came on from 30 November and shone until the first days of January. For winter 2026, the exact dates still have to be confirmed by the town and the Aix Riviera des Alpes tourist office, which usually publish the programme in the autumn.

By train, Aix-les-Bains-Le Revard station leaves you about ten minutes' walk from the Casino, on the line linking Chambéry, Annecy and Lyon, which makes a car-free day entirely feasible. By car, several car parks surround the town centre and the Grand Port, but spaces grow scarce on December weekends: coming early in the day helps you park in peace. The centre is flat and broadly accessible, a real comfort for pushchairs and anyone with reduced mobility. On the entertainment side, Santa's house welcomes children all month with face painting and selfies, the parades cross Place Maurice Mollard, and video mapping dresses the town hall at the end of December. Allow one to two hours to go round the chalets, more if you follow up with a Savoyard dinner.

What to see around the Aix-les-Bains Christmas market

Aix deserves more than the chalets. The Grand Port and its esplanade open a fine walk along Lake Bourget, with a view of the Dent du Chat and, on a clear day, of Hautecombe Abbey clinging to the opposite shore. That monastery, burial place of the dukes and princes of Savoy, is reached by boat from the port and is worth the trip for its setting and its history. In town, the Roman remains (the Temple de Diane, the Arch of Campanus) and the Thermes Nationaux tell two thousand years of spa history, from the ancient baths to the Belle Époque cures. The Musée Faure, housed in a Genoese villa, brings together a collection of Impressionist works and sculptures by Rodin that makes a pleasant warm refuge between two showers.

If you go higher, Mont Revard offers a panorama over the lake and the Bauges massif, reachable from the town and popular with snow lovers. Aix's position also makes it a good base for touring Savoy and beyond. The Chambéry Christmas market is a quarter of an hour away by train, Annecy and its lake can be visited straight after, and the Grenoble Christmas market completes an Alpine circuit between lakes and mountains.