Reykjavik does Christmas the way only a city this far north can: in near-darkness, lit from the inside. In December the sun is up for barely four or five hours, and the rest of the day belongs to the lights — strings of them across Laugavegur, the big tree on Austurvöllur, the market huts at […]
Ghent does Christmas differently from every other Belgian city, and that is exactly why it is worth the trip. There is no single market square to tick off and leave. Instead the Gentse Winterfeesten — the Ghent Winter Festival — spreads more than 150 wooden chalets along a trail through the car-free historic centre, from […]
Salzburg does Christmas the way it has done it for centuries — slowly, musically, and in the open air. The Christkindlmarkt fills the two squares on either side of the cathedral, Domplatz and Residenzplatz, with around a hundred wooden stalls, the smell of Glühwein and gingerbread, and the fortress lit up on the hill above. […]
Krakow does Christmas on a scale no other Polish city can match. The market fills Rynek Główny, the Main Market Square — one of the largest medieval squares in Europe — with wooden stalls, a giant tree, the smell of grilled oscypek and mulled wine, and the twin towers of St Mary’s Basilica overhead. It […]
If you visit one German Christmas market in your life, this is the one most people picture. The Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt fills the Hauptmarkt, the main square of Nuremberg’s old town, with rows of wooden stalls under red-and-white striped cloth, in front of the Gothic facade of the Frauenkirche. It is one of the oldest Christmas […]
Most Christmas markets borrow a city’s prettiest square for a few weeks. Strasbourg does the opposite: it hands over its entire old town. For almost a month, the Grande Île — the island in the River Ill that holds the cathedral, the medieval lanes and the half-timbered houses — becomes one continuous Christmas market, with […]
Cologne does not have one Christmas market — it has a whole season of them. In 2026 the city runs at least six distinct markets, each with its own square, theme and character: the grand market in the shadow of the cathedral, an elf-themed fairytale in the Old Town with a big ice rink, a […]
Budapest does Christmas markets differently from anywhere else in Europe. Instead of one giant fair, the Hungarian capital strings its stalls between grand squares in the center of Pest, links them with a street of lights, and then adds the one thing no other market city can offer: a soak in a steaming outdoor thermal […]
Vienna does not do Christmas markets by halves. From mid-November 2026, more than a dozen markets fill the city’s palace courtyards, cathedral squares and Biedermeier lanes, and most of the famous ones sit within walking distance of each other in and around the old town. The season starts early: Schönbrunn Palace and Stephansplatz open on […]
Prague does Christmas on a scale few European cities match. From late November, the medieval Old Town Square fills with wooden stalls, a huge illuminated tree and the smell of mulled wine and grilled sausage, while a second flagship market takes over the lower end of Wenceslas Square a few minutes’ walk away. Add several […]
