Christmas markets

Decisions, decisions. If you’re weighing up which Christmas market to head to for your next festive fix, we hear you. While their roots are mainly Germanic, Christmas markets have spread all over Europe since the Middle Ages and there’s a bumper crop to pick from these days. To help you whittle

When it comes to Christmas markets in Europe, you’ve got some absolute crackers to pick from. In Paris, world-famous sights like the Champs-Élysées and the Eiffel Tower get a festive glow-up that attracts millions of visitors every year. And in German cities like Cologne and Berlin, you can bare

There are loads of reasons to visit Europe’s Christmas markets. Supersized Christmas trees. Insane light shows. Market stalls stacked with stocking fillers. But let’s be honest, when it comes down to it, most of us are here for two things: food and drink. After all, mulled wine tastes sweeter wh

Bruges was made for Christmas markets. The Belgian city looks like a Christmas card in December – think horse-drawn carriages, cobbled streets and a Medieval market square filled with festive wooden huts. In fact, the main Christmas market here is one of the best in Belgium and it’s just one of

About 2.5 million people visit the Christmas markets in Brussels every year, and no wonder. The capital of Belgium lays on quite the festive spread. The city centre area around Grand-Place, Rue de la Bourse, Place Sainte-Catherine and Marché aux Poissons morphs into a fairytale setting for five wee

Looking for a next-level Christmas market? You’ll feel like all your Christmasses have come at once in Vienna. The capital of Austria invented the December Market back in the middle ages, and lays on quite the line-up for Christmas-loving crowds.   There are about 20 official markets to pick fro

Fancy picking your way around more than 80 Christmas markets in one trip? Then it’s got to be Berlin. Germany’s capital pulls out all the stops when it comes to yuletide markets, and easily ranks as one of Europe’s most seasonal spots.   Come for giant mugs of glühwein, craft stalls spillin

Planning a city break to Hungary’s capital? Go in December for the ultimate festive trip. The Christmas markets in Budapest are some of the best in Europe, and there are a whole bunch of them to pick from while you’re here.  The bigger markets open for business in mid-November and run until New

Always fancied doing Prague’s Christmas markets? You’re in for a treat. In December, the city of a hundred spires looks like a scene straight from The Nutcracker. Seasonal stalls pop up all over the Czech capital and the whole place is festooned in a blanket of fairy lights.   Things usually k

What Christmas rush? Welcome to the life of slow travel. Thanks to our partnership with fellow travel experts, Byway, you can have a very happy, flight-free Christmas. Take your trip by train, bus or boat and see far more of Europe and beyond than you would just flying over it. Catch the changing sc