Skip to content
Christmas in Europe

Plan & book your trip to Europe.

Europe's Christmas markets open in late November, and plenty of them pack up on Christmas Eve, so the dates shape the whole trip. We track down each market's 2026 dates and tell you whether the organizer has confirmed them yet. Choose the towns you'd like to see, and the planner works out which squares are open on your days and which train gets you back after dark.

Plan a tripWhat's open on a dateBrowse markets
182 markets145 with confirmed 2026 dates17 countriesdates checked Oct 10, 2026
Crowds walk up rue Mercière under lit angels toward the west front of Strasbourg Cathedral at night.

Market

Strasbourg Cathedral Christmas Market

Marché de Noël autour de la Cathédrale

48°35′ N 7°45′ ENov 27

beggs / Wikimedia Commons

1 / 5Strasbourg Cathedral Christmas Market

01

See which markets open on the days people ask about

Pick any date
02

Find towns and neighbourhoods across Europe

All towns and neighbourhoods
Aachen town hall glows at blue hour across the Markt with café tables set out on the cobbles
Lit windows and towers of Aachen town hall stand against a violet evening sky

Aachen

North Rhine-Westphalia

CityPop. 263,703The Rhineland

Street lamps shine on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal in Amsterdam at night below the domes of Sint-Nicolaaskerk.
A canal boat crosses the Amstel towards a lit arch at the mouth of the Herengracht during Amsterdam Light Festival.

Amsterdam

North Holland (Noord-Holland)

CityPop. 921,468The Netherlands

Lamps light the snowy steps beside the St. Annenkirche in Annaberg-Buchholz on an Advent evening.
Lit Christmas trees and a turreted pavilion glow over the Annaberg-Buchholz Christmas market at night.

Annaberg-Buchholz

Erzgebirge

TownPop. 18,882Saxony and the Ore Mountains

Lit stall roofs of the Augsburg Christkindlesmarkt fill Rathausplatz at night, seen from the Perlach Tower.
The candle pyramid and Christmas tree glow at night in front of Augsburg's Renaissance town hall.

Augsburg

Bavaria

CityPop. 301,786Bavaria

Snow lines both banks of the Traun as it flows through Bad Ischl below white mountains
The Zauner Esplanade sign hangs over a snowy tree-lined promenade by the Traun in Bad Ischl

Bad Ischl

Salzkammergut

Spa townPop. 14,133Salzburg and the Salzkammergut

A row of backlit pictures and star frames glows along the Kurgarten paths at the Baden-Baden market at night.
Evening crowds fill the Christkindelsmarkt in Baden-Baden's Kurgarten under bare trees and star-shaped lights.

Baden-Baden

Northern Black Forest

TownPop. 56,952The Black Forest

Bamberg's Altes Rathaus sits on its bridge over the Regnitz at blue hour in December
Painted frescoes cover the side of Bamberg's Altes Rathaus above the Regnitz as the windows light up at dusk

Bamberg

Upper Franconia

CityPop. 77,218Franconia

The lights of Basel reflect in the Rhine at night with the Minster towers on the left bank
A lit Christmas tree and the glowing Rex cinema canopy brighten the Steinenvorstadt in Basel at night

Basel

Basel-Stadt

CityPop. 176,329Switzerland

03

Find places to stay across Europe

All places to stay
The towers of Ghent's former post office, home of 1898 The Post, rise over the Leie in December
The carved stone front of the old post office housing 1898 The Post faces Saint Nicholas' Church in Ghent

1898 The Post

Ghent · Graslei

Hotel

Bare trees stand before the twin warehouses of 71 Nyhavn Hotel at the corner of Nyhavn in November
A Danish flag flies in front of the shuttered brick wall of 71 Nyhavn Hotel in late November

71 Nyhavn Hotel

Copenhagen · Nyhavn

HotelDKK 3,105

Lamps light the dome and Gothic tower of Aachen Cathedral at blue hourPhoto of Aachen

Aquis Grana Cityhotel

Aachen · Altstadt, Büchel

Hotel€€€€275

Gold mosaics and striped arches rise above the Barbarossa chandelier in the octagon of Aachen CathedralPhoto of Aachen

Gastehaus Schervier Orden

Aachen · Altstadt, Elisabethstraße

Guesthouse

Christmas lights line a crowded street below Aachen town hall at blue hour during the marketPhoto of Aachen

Mercure Hotel Aachen am Dom

Aachen · Peterstraße, city centre

Hotel€€€€224

A lit Printenmann figure glows beside the town hall above the Katschhof stage at Aachen's Christmas marketPhoto of Aachen

Minx CityHotels

Aachen · Seilgraben, city centre

Hotel€€€€219

A lit Christmas tree stands before Aachen town hall as the Christmas market fills the square at nightPhoto of Aachen

Motel One Aachen

Aachen · Kapuzinergraben, opposite the theatre

Hotel€€€€226

Vertical Absalon Hotel signs hang on the white corner building on Helgolandsgade in Vesterbro, Copenhagen

Absalon Hotel

Copenhagen · Vesterbro

HotelDKK 2,450

04

Find culture and history across Europe

All culture and history
The Rathaus in Gengenbach glows with its Advent calendar windows as a crowd gathers by the stage at night.
Painted windows glow on the façade of Gengenbach's town hall as the Advent calendar at dusk

Advent calendar

CustomHandmade calendars from the mid-19th…

A giant Advent wreath with 24 numbered candles stands in the snow on the Domplatz in Klagenfurt.
A Wichern-style Advent wreath with red and white candles glows at night in Bonfeld near Bad Rappenau.

Advent wreath

CustomFrom 1839 (Rauhes Haus, Hamburg); fir…

Meisenthal glass baubles hang from a fir and the ceiling in a Christmas room at the Musée Alsacien in Strasbourg.
Strasbourg's great Christmas tree glows with white lights and red baubles on Place Kléber at night in 2014.

Alsace Christmas tree and its decorations

Selestat · Alsace, with the glass baubles from the Northern Vosges in neighbouring Moselle

CustomFirs bought for Strasbourg parishes in…

Candle arches glow in three windows of a half-timbered house in Rittersgrün in the Ore Mountains at dusk.
The Striezelmarkt's candle arch glows at blue hour below the Kreuzkirche tower in Dresden.

Erzgebirge candle arch

Seiffen · Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains), especially Johanngeorgenstadt and Schwarzenberg

CraftEarliest record 1716 (Scheibenberg);…

Sellers weigh live carp from blue tubs at a street stall in České Budějovice on 23 December.
Fried breaded carp and Czech potato salad sit on a gold-rimmed plate for Christmas Eve dinner in Czechia.

Czech Christmas carp

Prague · Across Czechia

CustomFish at Christmas recorded from the 17th…

Danish woven paper hearts in red, black, white and silver hang from a ribbon garland at Christmas.
Garlands and red woven hearts hang over the market stalls in front of the painted houses of Nyhavn in Copenhagen.

Danish woven Christmas hearts

Copenhagen · Across Denmark; the oldest surviving heart is in Odense

CraftOldest surviving heart from the 1850s or…

Two carved wooden figures sit in the snow on Seiffen's main street with a Christmas pyramid behind them.
Painted nutcrackers stand finished on a workbench in the Seiffener Volkskunst show workshop in Seiffen.

Erzgebirge woodcraft

Seiffen · Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains)

CraftTurning in Seiffen from the 17th…

Red and white 25-point paper stars hang lit from the steel roof of a hall in Chemnitz in December.
Lit stalls and star-hung trees fill the forecourt of the Herrnhut Star Manufactory on a December evening.

Herrnhut star

Herrnhut · Upper Lusatia

CraftFirst stars in Moravian Church schools…

05

Find dishes and drinks across Europe

All dishes and drinks
A lit Printenmann figure glows beside the town hall above the Katschhof stage at Aachen's Christmas market
Stacks of plain and chocolate Printen fill an Aachen shop window among iced Santa biscuits in December

Aachener Printen

BakeNov to Dec

People queue at a moss-roofed æbleskiver stall at Christmas in Tivoli in Copenhagen as the light fades.

Aebleskiver

SweetNov to Dec

Bethmännchen and Frankfurter Brenten sit in priced trays on a stall at Frankfurt's Christmas market

Bethmannchen

SweetNov to Dec

Alsatian Bredele wait in cellophane bags tied with green ribbon, ready to give as Christmas gifts

Bredele

BakeNov to Dec

Bakers sell boxed and wrapped Dresdner Christstollen from a garlanded stall at Dresden's Striezelmarkt
A sugar-dusted Dresdner Christstollen lies cut open on a board to show the raisins inside

Dresdner Christstollen

BakeNov to Dec

Eierpunsch

DrinkNov to Dec

A lit Feuerzangenbowle sign tops a garlanded stall as visitors queue below at Dresden's Striezelmarkt at night

Feuerzangenbowle

DrinkNov to Dec

Bags of gebrannte Mandeln and Magenbrot sit under iced Lebkuchen hearts at a Heidelberg Christmas market stall
A vendor sifts sugar from freshly roasted almonds at the Christmas market in Stockholm's Gamla stan

Gebrannte Mandeln

SweetNov to Dec

06

Practical guides

Sort out the details before you go

All guides

Guide · 9 min read

Are German Christmas markets open on Sunday?

Every Advent Sunday is a market day in Germany. The two Sundays before Advent are different, and on 22 November 2026 most markets that have already opened stay shut.

Dates guide · 6 min read

Is the Cologne Christmas market cancelled in 2026?

The cathedral market has confirmed 16 November to 23 December 2026, and three more Cologne markets sit within walking distance if the square loses space.

Guide · 12 min read

What's open in Europe on Christmas Eve?

Seventy-nine markets open on 24 December 2026, and most of them close by 18:30, so do your last shopping before dark.