How we picked
Every town in Germany, Austria and Alsace has a Christmas market, and most are lovely for an evening. The ones below are the markets worth building a trip around: big or old enough to fill two or three days, in a city with plenty to do when your feet need warming up, and easy to reach from the UK.
Most run from the last week of November until Christmas Eve. A few, mainly in Austria, Belgium and Central Europe, stay open until New Year or beyond, which matters if you want to go between Christmas and New Year. Dates move a little each year, so always check the market's own website before you book.
The short list
- Best all-rounder: Strasbourg, France's self-styled capital of Christmas.
- Prettiest: Colmar, a small Alsace town that looks like a Christmas card.
- Most traditional: Nuremberg, Germany's most famous market.
- Oldest: Dresden, where the Striezelmarkt has run since 1434.
- Easiest by train: Cologne and Bruges.
- Grandest: Vienna.
- Best with snowy mountains: Salzburg and Innsbruck.
- Best value: Budapest, Kraków and Riga.
Strasbourg: the big one
The Christkindelsmärik has run since 1570 and now spreads across a dozen squares in the old town, with a giant decorated tree in Place Kléber. Each square has its own feel, from Alsace food and wine to crafts from abroad, so it never feels like the same stall on repeat.
It's popular, and weekends in December are very crowded. Go Monday to Thursday if you can, and book accommodation early. In 2025 it ran from 26 November to 24 December, and it usually follows the same pattern. You can get there by train from London in around five and a half hours, changing in Paris.
Colmar: the fairytale
Half an hour south of Strasbourg by train, Colmar is smaller, cosier and arguably prettier, with painted half-timbered houses along its canals. It has six small markets, including a children's market in Little Venice. For 2026 the markets are listed from 23 November to 29 December, with a gourmet market and fair running until 3 January 2027.
The nearest airport is Basel-Mulhouse, about an hour away. Many people see Colmar as a day trip from Strasbourg, but staying a night means the streets are calmer after the day-trippers leave.
Nuremberg and Dresden: German classics
Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt is the one most people picture: red-and-white striped stalls in the main square, gingerbread, prune-figure dolls and three little sausages in a bun. It opens on the Friday before Advent, which in 2026 is 27 November, and closes on Christmas Eve. A separate children's market has a carousel and a steam train.
Dresden's Striezelmarkt is Germany's oldest, with a giant wooden Christmas pyramid and stalls of hand-carved toys from the Ore Mountains. Its Stollen Festival, when a huge Stollen cake is paraded through town and cut up, is on a Saturday in early December. Dresden is usually cheaper than Nuremberg or Cologne for hotels.
Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck: Austria
Vienna has around a dozen markets, the biggest in front of the city hall, with an ice-skating trail through the park. It's a grand, easy city break, with palaces and cake shops for cold afternoons.
Salzburg's cathedral square market is small but beautiful, with carols from the balconies on Advent evenings, and the city sits right under the Alps. Innsbruck goes one better: its markets stay open until 6 January, and cable cars from the centre take you up into the snow. If you'd like markets and a few days on the slopes, these are the two to look at.
Bruges and Cologne: no flight needed
Bruges is a short train ride beyond Brussels, with markets in its two main squares, an ice rink in the Markt and the Winter Glow light trail. Its market usually stays open into early January.
Cologne has seven markets, the most famous under a canopy of lights beside the cathedral, plus a chocolate museum with a fountain you can dip wafers into. Its markets usually close on 23 December. See our guide to Christmas markets you can reach by train from London for times and tips.
Budapest, Kraków and Riga: best value
If you want markets without Western European prices, look east. Budapest has a market and ice rink in front of St Stephen's Basilica, with a light show on its front, and outdoor thermal baths that steam in the cold. Kraków's market fills its huge medieval square. Riga claims the world's first decorated Christmas tree and has a cosy market in Dome Square that stays open into January.
All three have cheap flights from around the UK, and hotels and food cost much less than in Germany or Austria. Prague and Tallinn are also worth a look.
When to go
The first two weeks of December are the sweet spot: the markets are in full swing, prices are lower than in the run-up to Christmas, and it's not yet the school holidays. Weekends are always the busiest, so a Sunday-to-Wednesday trip is quieter and often cheaper.
If you can only go after Christmas, choose a market that stays open: Vienna's smaller markets, Salzburg's cathedral square, Innsbruck, Bruges, Budapest and Riga are the best bets. Most German markets close on 23 or 24 December.
For more places to go in winter, see our Christmas holidays page and where to go in December.
Can't agree which one?
If everyone has their own favourite, put three or four on a shortlist and let each person spread their points in secret. That's what somewhere🎉 is for, and our guide to deciding where to go on holiday shows how it works.