The Best Christmas Markets in the World

27 November to 24 December 2026. This is the market other markets copy, Chicago's included. Around 180 stalls with red-and-white striped canvas roofs fill the Hauptmarkt, under the Frauenkirche and beside the gilded Schöner Brunnen. The city calls it the "little town of wood and cloth". That is accurate. Stallholders are vetted on tradition, so the plastic tat is kept out. Buy Lebkuchen, the local gingerbread, and Zwetschgenmännle, small figures made from dried plums. Eat three Nürnberger Rostbratwürste in a roll, which is the correct number. Then walk to the sister cities' market for crafts from Scotland, Nicaragua and Ukraine, among others. The Christkind, a young local chosen by the city every two years, opens the market from the church balcony at 5.30pm on Friday 27 November. Expect a crowd. More than two million visitors come each season. Hours: 10am to 10pm on opening day, 10am to 9pm from 28 November to 23 December, and 10am to 2pm on Christmas Eve. Entry is free.

25 November to 24 December 2026. If Nuremberg is the template, Dresden is the elder. The Striezelmarkt was first recorded in 1434, and this year is its 592nd. The name comes from Striezel, an old word for Stollen, and the town takes its Stollen seriously. Dresdner Christstollen carries a protected designation, and the Stollenfest each December parades a cake of several tonnes through the old town. Check the official programme for this year's date. The other thing to buy is wood. Craftspeople from the Erzgebirge, the Ore Mountains on the Czech border, bring nutcrackers, smoking men and candle pyramids. The market's own pyramid is one of the tallest in the world. We will allow it that one superlative. Dresden runs more than ten markets across the old town. The medieval one in the Stallhof is the pick if the Altmarkt gets too much. Hours: 10am to 9pm daily, with a 4pm start on opening day and a 2pm close on Christmas Eve. Prague and Berlin are both about two hours away by direct train.

From 27 November 2026. Strasbourg has been holding its Christkindelsmärik since 1570 and calls itself the Capital of Christmas. It is not being modest, and it does not need to be. The market has spread from Place Broglie across the whole island of the old town, with a giant tree on Place Kléber and chalets under the cathedral. This is the big one, and it feels it. Around two million people come each year. Go on a weekday, eat a bredele (Alsatian Christmas biscuit) and a slice of kougelhopf, and drink the white mulled wine, which is better than the red. Then walk to Petite France after dark, when the crowds thin out. The 2026 opening is reported as Friday 27 November, but the city has not yet published its closing date or hours. Last year it closed on 24 December. Check noel.strasbourg.eu before booking.

Six markets across the old town. 23 November to 29 December 2026. Colmar is 30 minutes south of Strasbourg by train and half its size, which is the point. Six small markets sit in squares a few minutes apart, between half-timbered houses painted the colours of sugared almonds. The town looks like a Christmas card because, in a sense, it is one. The Place des Dominicains market, in front of the church, is the one to see after dark. On Wednesdays and Saturdays children's choirs sing from small boats on the canal in Petite Venise. The indoor gourmet market is where to buy Alsace wine, foie gras and Munster cheese to take home, if your airline allows it. Hours: 11am to 7pm Monday to Thursday, 10am to 8pm Friday to Sunday. The gourmet market and the Ferris wheel on Place Rapp stay open to 3 January 2027.

13 November to 26 December 2026. Vienna has fifteen Christmas markets this year, approved by the city's market office. The one on Rathausplatz, under the neo-Gothic town hall, is the famous one and the one to see once. The trees in Rathauspark are hung with lights and the town hall windows become an Advent calendar. After that, spread out. Schönbrunn Palace puts the stalls in front of a Habsburg palace and runs from 6 November to 6 January 2027. Spittelberg, in narrow Biedermeier lanes, is where the city's design-minded go for crafts. Karlsplatz, in front of the Karlskirche, is the Art Advent market: no plastic, no fairground, a lot of ceramics. Drink Punsch rather than Glühwein, which is what the Viennese do. Go to a coffee house in between. Rathausplatz hours are 10am to 10pm daily, closing at 6.30pm on Christmas Eve.

13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. Copenhagen's Christmas centrepiece is not a square but a pleasure garden. Tivoli has done Christmas since 1994, and this is its 33rd season. The lake is lit, the trees are dressed, the stalls sell knitwear and glass, and the whole thing runs into the new year. The reason to book this year is the ballet. Tivoli's Nutcracker uses sets and costumes designed by Queen Margrethe, and this production marks 250 years since the birth of E.T.A. Hoffmann, who wrote the original story. Tickets include entry to the gardens. Tivoli charges admission, which is unusual for a Christmas market and arguably why it is pleasant. Outside the gates, the free street markets in the old town are good for an hour. Then find a bar serving gløgg with raisins and almonds in it.

From 20 November 2026. Tallinn claims to have put up Europe's first public Christmas tree, on Town Hall Square in 1441. Other cities dispute this. Tallinn does not appear concerned. The market is small and the setting does the work. A Gothic town hall, merchants' houses in sorbet colours, a medieval wall around the lot and, with luck, snow. Eat verivorst, a blood sausage with sauerkraut, and buy wool. On the same square, the Town Hall Pharmacy has been trading since 1422. Two hours covers the market. Stay for the old town. Flights from London take under three hours, and prices are kinder than Vienna's. The 2026 market is reported to run to 6 January 2027, but recent editions have closed before New Year, so confirm before booking.

Sunday 6 December 2026. For those not getting on a plane. Frome has been a market town since before the Norman Conquest, and it still behaves like one. On the first Sunday of every month from March to December, the Frome Independent takes over the high street with makers, designers, food producers and vintage traders from across the South West. December's is the one to come for. It is one day, not three weeks. That is the appeal. There are no chalets and no imported fudge, just stalls running up cobbled Catherine Hill and the streets around it, past shopfronts that are mostly independent too. The Magpie Market runs alongside at the Cheese & Grain, for crafts, jewellery and vintage. The Independent runs 10am to 3pm and the Magpie Market 9am to 2pm. Arrive early, because Frome is small and the car parks are smaller. If you can't make the Sunday, the town's Christmas lights go on on Friday 27 November.

26 November to 20 December 2026, Thursday to Sunday only. The market sits in a wooded gorge in the Black Forest, under the 40-metre railway viaduct of the Höllentalbahn, and trains cross above the stalls through red, blue and green light. The crafts come from the region, and so does the food: trout, Black Forest ham and local schnapps. Bring cash, because the patchy signal often rules out cards. Entry is by timed online ticket only, for a slot of about two hours. It costs €7.50 in the afternoon and €9.50 in the evening, and children aged 6 to 15 go free with an adult. This year’s tickets have sold out, but returns appear on the official Reservix resale page. Free shuttle buses run from Hinterzarten, Himmelreich and Titisee, booked with your ticket. Hours: 4pm to 9pm on Thursdays, 2pm to 9pm Friday to Sunday. Thursday 10 December is for local residents only.