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Festivals + Events

The Best Christmas Markets in Europe Worth Planning a Trip Around

We can't think of anything more quintessentially wintery than a stroll through a European Christmas market. Here, we list the 13 best across the continent, from London to Prague and beyond.

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Skansen’s Christmas Market, Stockholm, Sweden

Christmas isn’t over in Stockholm until New Year’s Eve fireworks go off—a tradition that has been upheld by the open-air Skansen museum and zoo since 1903. In Bollnäs Square, Djurgården, Swedish yuletide goodies have the lay of the land. The scent of sugared almonds, marzipan, smoked turkey, and fresh breads mingle in the market air. Step into one of the property’s farmstead houses and you’ll step back in time; the home’s interiors and Christmas trees are adorned with period-appropriate holiday decor, and tables are done up with typical Swedish feasts.

What to Look For: The Christmas tree ring-dance. On Saturdays and Sundays, professional dancers and regular visitors gather around the central tree to hold hands and twirl around to traditional music.

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Marche de Noel, Lille, France

French tradition meets Flemish influence at Lille’s annual Marche de Noel. Festivities mount at Place Rihour, where 80 chalet-style stalls burst with holiday-themed gifts, festive foods, nativity scene figurines, and specialties from Poland, Russia, and Quebec. More than 900,000 people crowd the market each snowy season, with many making the hour-long commute from Paris and the two-hour commute from London. If you’re looking to track down a traditional snack, go for Maroilles cheese—a Munster-like soft cheese—or honey-flavored babeluttes (toffee-ish candies).

What to Look For: The Ferris wheel on Place du General de Gaulle, also known as the Grande Place, the city's main square. Tucked into a gondola, go for a high-altitude spin over the Belgian border town’s Christmas tree and illuminated market aisle. You won’t be disappointed by the 165-foot-high view.​

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Jul, Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen celebrates Jul (as in "yuletide") with a Christmas crafts market and surfeit of light-bedecked Christmas trees in the city's famed historic amusement park, Tivoli Gardens. Nearly four miles of lights are artfully hung in patterns dictated by Tiffany's head designer, while 1,800 more strands are draped on the lakeside willows. Join the Danes in warding off the cold with æbleskiver (iced doughnuts with black currant jam) and gløgg, a steaming hot mulled red wine laden with raisins, almonds, cinnamon sticks, and cloves—all of which are steeped in aquavit or schnapps. There's also a crafts market installed along a canal in the historic Nyhavn district; try to visit it between 5 and 6 p.m. on weekdays to catch the town crier.

What to Look For: Pixie-like nisser, tiny household elves that infest Denmark around Christmas clad in clogs, red shirts, and pointed red caps. More fickle than their cousin Santa, they might bring presents if you leave them bowls of porridge in the attic; if you forget, they'll visit all kinds of mischief instead.

RELATED: 7 Gorgeous Copenhagen Hotels We Love

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Striezelmarkt, Dresden, Germany

Nothing says Christmas like a four-ton fruitcake. At least, that's the fervent opinion of the citizens of Dresden, who parade their supersize stollen through the city in early December. Accompanied by the Stollenmädchen, or "Fruitcake Maiden," the Saxon fruit loaf wends its way through the medieval streets before making its triumphal entry into the Striezelmarkt, where, surrounded by 230 glittering crafts stalls and a 46-foot "Christmas pyramid," the stollen is chopped into pieces that are inflicted upon the market-goers. Dresden's Striezelmarkt and its odd traditions date back to 1434, making it Germany's oldest continuously running Christmas market.

What to Look For: The best crafts Germany has to offer. Top artisans from across Saxony arrive bearing all sorts of regional specialties: wooden crafts from the Ore Mountains, blown glass from Lauscha, Blaudruck indigo prints from the Lusatia region, incense burners shaped like nutcrackers, and, of course, Dresden's own famed blue-and-white ceramics.

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Various markets, Prague, Czech Republic

The two best Vanocni trh (Christmas markets) are on the long slope of Wenceslas Square and in the medieval movie set of the Old Town Square formed around a giant Christmas tree, manger scene, and small petting zoo. The markets' brightly decorated stalls sell wooden toys, Bohemian crystal, handmade jewelry, classic Czech marionettes, and plenty of potential for tooth decay: honeyed gingerbread, vánocvka (a braided pastry studded with raisins), and vosí hnízda' ("wasps nests," nutty cookies heavy with rum). Wash it all down with mead and svarene vino (a sweet mulled wine). Christmas Eve dinner consists of wine sausages and carp—you'll see barrels of the fish everywhere. Slip a carp scale into your wallet to ensure an adequate cash flow for the upcoming year.

What to Look For: St. Nicholas and his cohorts. The original St. Nick—the one with a bishop's miter and staff-is hugely popular in Prague, so a highlight of Christmas season is Mikulas, or St. Nicholas Day. This kindly saint takes his own day (December 5) to roam town accompanied by an angel and a demon. The trio wades through the crowds of kids in the Old Town Square, tallying the naughty and nice.

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Christkindlmarkt, Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg's Christkindlmarkt is one of Europe's oldest markets; there are documents from the 15th century describing the fine crafts being sold by elderly women in front of the Salzburg cathedral during Advent season. It is also smaller and more intimate than the others listed here—just 96 stalls ranged under the floodlit baroque stage set that is downtown Salzburg, with its fountains snuggled under avant-garde glass casings for the winter, church bells echoing off the buildings, and the medieval castle glowering down from the cliff above. It's a perfect postcard backdrop for browsing stalls selling pewter crafts, furry slippers, and loden coats while keeping warm with lebkuchen (gingerbread), roasted chestnuts and almonds, sausages, and sweet mulled wine.

What to Look For: One of the world's largest Advent calendars, just south of town at the Schloss Hellbrunn, a 17th-century pleasure-palace built for Salzburg's archbishop-princes that just so happens to have 24 windows on its facade—perfect for an Advent calendar. Today, there's a crafts market and a living Nativity.

RELATED: The Most Charming Towns in Austria

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Fira de Santa Llucia, Barcelona, Spain

This year marks the 233rd anniversary of Barcelona’s Fira de Santa Llucia. When it opened in 1786, the market’s very first stalls sold mainly clay and paper nativity scenes and children’s dolls. As of 2019, more than 300 booths sprawl out on the Avenida de la Catedral, in Plà de la Seu Square, in the city’s ancient center. Unlike most Christmas markets, you won’t find any Germanic influence here—that’s right, no bratwurst or mulled wine. Instead, the market goes all out with Spanish flare, complimented nicely by the built-in Gothic architecture of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia.

What to Look For: Your very own Tió de Nadal, a staple of Catalan Christmas tradition. Barcelona’s littlest holiday celebrants know that gifts come at the cost of sucking up to Tió de Nadal, a smiling log made cozy in a red blanket and hat. Kids are in charge of looking after their Tió up until Christmas Eve when they flip a switch and beat him with a stick until he releases presents and treats.

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Marienplatz markets, Munich, Germany

Crafts stalls surround a glittering 100-foot Christmas tree on the Marienplatz, which is filled with Müncheners munching on sausages and reiber-datschi (potato pancakes), gulping glühwein, and crunching lebkuchen (gingerbread). Munich trains its next generation of marketers at the "Heavenly Workshop" in the Town Hall's pub, where kids dress up as angels to practice arts, crafts, and the baking of traditional cookies. Every evening at 5:30, from the Friday before Advent to the night before Christmas, a brass band and Alpine choir peal out carols from the balcony of the neo-Gothic Rathaus (Town Hall).

Look For: Small themed markets sprinkled around the city, including the famed Kripperlmarkt (Crib Market) on Rindermarkt, with Bavarian and Tyrolean Nativity figures, and a Medieval Market on Wittelsbacher Platz. Also keep your eyes peeled for the Christmas tram that trundles through the old city serving spiced wine and gingerbread.

RELATED: 8 Incredible Places in Germany to Add to Your Itinerary

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Advent, Zagreb, Croatia

Advent in Zagreb is no small affair, and approaching any Croatian Christmas market should first involve a cinnamon-y glass of mulled wine. The main market spreads out on Ban Jelačić Square, but Advent souvenir stalls unfurl around the city. When you're not buying handcrafted ornaments or licitar (honey gingerbread), wander through the Kaptol district for a live nativity scene, or make for Zrinjevac Park where you’ll find 220 trees done up in their most festive holiday lights. Wherever you end up, make sure you don’t miss out on krpice sa zeljem, a fresh pasta and cabbage dish that’s a backbone of Croatian cuisine.

What to Look For: Performances by the six-piece Ad Gloriam brass ensemble on the balcony of the Croatian National Theatre—and other landmark buildings in Zagreb—every Sunday. Depending on the day, you could catch Christmas songs, polka or a film score. Also swing by Tunel Grič, the Christmas carol tunnel which mixes 3D art, live music, light shows, and video projections.

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Christkindelsmärik, Strasbourg, France

The France/Germany border has spent centuries dancing to either side of the Alsace region. It's currently in the France column, but its Teutonic traditions have blessed the Alsatian capital of Strasbourg with the oldest (445 years and counting) and best Christmas market in France, complete with caroling choirs, Nativity plays, an ice rink, and mulled wine served in boot-shaped mugs. Christkindelsmärik wooden stalls stacked with delicate ornaments and Nativity figurines surround Notre-Dame Cathedral and line Place Broglie. Edible specialties include pretzels, roasted chestnuts, bredele cookies, and flammekeuche (a "flamed cake" thin pizza of bacon, onions, and crème fraîche).

What to Look For: Stuffed white storks—the city mascot and an Alsatian symbol of good luck—in the boutiques of "La Petite France," a picturesque, canal-threaded corner of the historic center. These half-timbered houses, which once belonged to millers, tanners, and fishermen, are bathed in a warm yellow glow from garlands of Christmas lights, and the gingerbread bakery does a roaring seasonal trade.

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Various markets, London, England

London's Christmas shopping season opens in November, when Regent Street ceremoniously switches on its Christmas lights for a pedestrian parade. London typically spreads out its Christmas cheer, from the official Norwegian fir on Trafalgar Square to the ice skating rink at Somerset House. Trees bedecked with fairy lights herald Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland (mid-November through early January), which includes London's largest outdoor skating rink, a toboggan slide, a Ferris wheel, carolers, and a traditional German Christmas market. More small markets spring up at the Natural History Museum, which installs a temporary ice rink, as well as Greenwich Market. Christmas concerts abound, but it's hard to resist the carol sing-along at the Royal Albert Hall.

What to Look For: The Tower of London's Medieval Christmas (end of December), a fanciful "historical" reimagining set in the 1284 court of Edward I, and the Great Christmas Pudding Race of costumed contestants treading an obstacle course around Covent Garden while balancing fruitcakes on spoons.

RELATED: How to Spend a Perfect Weekend in South Kensington, London

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Photos courtesy of the Austrian National Tourist Office

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Christkindlmarkt, Vienna, Austria

Vienna's venerable Christkindlmarkt on Rathausplatz flings open its stall shutters in mid-November, and three million visitors flock here each year for beeswax candles, wooden toys, and glass ornaments. Shoppers snack on cream-filled pastries, candied fruit, roasted chestnuts, and Weihnachtspunsch (a spiced "Christmas punch" of wine, brandy, or schnapps sweetened with warm fruit juices). This market puts a premium on tradition: there are precious few tacky stands selling plastic toys, and Santa Claus, whom many locals view as the Hollywood harbinger of a commercialized Christmas, is strictly verboten. Instead, there's the traditional Wiener Christkindl, the official Christ Child—invariably played (following an odd Teutonic custom) by a young woman with long blonde curls. There's another market of luxe Christmas wares in the baroque forecourt of the suburban Schðnbrunn Palace, and a more intimate and sophisticated market lining the narrow cobblestone streets of Vienna's Spittelberg district.

What to Look For: More than three-dozen Advent season concerts. The city of Haydn and Strauss invites choirs from around the world to perform Christmas music in the Rathaus every weekend (Friday to Sunday) from late November to December 24 as part of the Internationales Adventsingen festival.

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Christkindlesmarkt, Nuremberg, Germany

On the Friday before Advent, the golden Christmas Angel appears on the high gallery of the medieval Frauenkirche to recite the opening prologue for one of the biggest and most famous Christmas markets of them all—Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt. Two million shoppers descend upon the 180 candy cane–striped stalls that fill the main square with crafts, ornaments, and toys. The air is perfumed with gingerbread, glühwein, and smoke swirling from bratwurst grills. Market officials enforce traditions with typical Teutonic efficiency: no plastic wreaths, recorded Christmas Muzak or gaudy carousels allowed.

What to Look For: "Nuremberg Plum People," tiny puppets made of prune limbs, fig torsos, and walnut heads with painted-on faces. Stall owners compete to win the coveted "Gold Plum Person" prize for their displays.

RELATED: Where to Eat, Sleep, and Play in Nuremberg

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