Ever since we moved to the Netherlands we quickly adapted a new tradition - the annual Christmas markets in Germany. They usually start at the end of November or in the beginning of December and end right before Christmas, normally on the 23rd of December. During this time you can enjoy all the Christmassy things but most importantly food. This is what keeps us going back, year after year. We normally go to Cologne because the city is very nice, compact and it has seven different markets, all slightly different.
1. Book your hotel on time
Christmas markets are a huge thing in Europe, and especially Germany is famous for them. This is something they definitely know how to do! However, everyone else also knows how good they are, therefore the best, most central hotels get sold out way in advance. While we used to book a hotel sometime around November, this time we booked it well in advance, in August, to make sure we get to visit one of our favorite hotels in Germany.
2. Don't arrive too early, but neither too late
The markets are popular at any time but it has quite a different vibe on different times of the day. The closer you get to the evening, the busier it gets. The best time to start your market tour is around 19.00 or 20.00. You can easily visit the markets you want (even all seven of them) and have lots of cheerful people around you. The Catherdral X-mas Market is the most popular and also the busiest one at all times yet make sure you visit all of them because the atmoshpere is very different depending on the market.
Note that the markets usually end around midnight, so make sure you have enough time.
3. You will get drinks spilled on your clothes
Since most of the markets are very crowded, people will pump into you, drinks will be spilled (maybe even food). Around the most crowded vendors, shops and drink stations it can sometimes be nearly impossible to walk forward (but don't worry, it's actually fun!) so you'll definitely feel veeeery close to other people. Don't wear your whitest, brightest clothes and make sure your pockets and pags are zipped. We've never had any issues with security but better safe than sorry.
4. It can get cold!
German winters can be cold so check the weather forecast. Even though you'll probably be moving around quite a bit and eating, it can also get chilly when you stand still so pack along maybe an extra sweater, some gloves and a hat.
5. Shopping
There's lots of vendors selling all sorts of stuff from food to sweets, Christmas decorations, jewellery and so on. It might not be the best idea to buy that giantic Christmas decoration in the beginning of your visit. It might be a good idea to save it for the next day. The markets open in the morning so if you visit on Saturday evening you can easily drop by on Sunday morning to pick up whatever you got your eyes on.
6. Eating
The food is what keeps us coming back every year! There's something for everyone, from the traditional bratwurst to sauerkraut and steaks, soups, vegetarian food and lots of sweets. The vendors normally have a spot in the same place every year so we have a sort of a pilgrimage every year to visit the same vendors for bratwurst, steak sandwich, hot Mojito's, Feuerzangenbowle (Fire Punch), Hungarian lángos and Kinder crepes.
Have lots of change with you because most of the food is around 3-7 euro's and it's quicker if you have the exact money. Some do accept credit cards but it's so much faster to pay in cash.
7. Drinking
You cannot visit a German Christmas market without having lots of glühwein, although be aware that if you go for glühwein mit rum it does indeed include lots of rum. The further the night, the more rum you'll have in your mug. You can also have it without the rum, but why would you? There's also other drinks like eggnogg, hot cholocate, beer, wine and so on. Naturally, there's also non-alchoholic drinks.
Every market has their own mug for the glühwein and on most years they're slightly different. We're not completely sure if they make new mugs every year because sometimes you get a mug from one of the previous years. It's fun to check the mugs and see what's different this year. You can even take the mugs with you, if you want, to start a little Christmas mug collection. Normally they have a year on the mug also. How it works is that you buy a glühwein (or another warm beverage) that's usually roughly around 4 or 5 euro's. A deposit of 2,50e is added to the cost. If you bring the mug back you get the deposit back but if you want to keep the mug, you've already paid 2,50e for it.
8. All the different markets
Every market is different and it's a good idea to visit (almost) all of them. They have different themes, different vendors and different food. Some have music, activities like ice-skating and so on. We often start either from the Neumarkt that's a bit smaller but has great food or from the one by the Cathedral which is not our favorite as it's by far the largest and the most crowded one. From the Cathedral X-mas market you can continue around the corner to the next one. We don't know it's name as it's not on most maps but it's smaller than the rest but is definitely worth a visit. From there continue to Alter Markt which is probably the most beautiful one and has an ice-skating rink. From Alter Mark we continue to Angel's Market (Markt der Engel) that's our favorite one as we feel it's has the best atmoshpere. In case we started our journey from the market at the Catherdral, we walk to the Neumarkt to end the visit there or in case we started from Neumarkt we walk the other way and end the day at the Cathedral market. There's also a Gay & Lesbian market that's fun to visit, too and another one by the harbour we've never visited.
| Weihnachtsmarkt auf dem Neumarkt, Neumarkt Christmas market |
1. Book your hotel on time
Christmas markets are a huge thing in Europe, and especially Germany is famous for them. This is something they definitely know how to do! However, everyone else also knows how good they are, therefore the best, most central hotels get sold out way in advance. While we used to book a hotel sometime around November, this time we booked it well in advance, in August, to make sure we get to visit one of our favorite hotels in Germany.
2. Don't arrive too early, but neither too late
The markets are popular at any time but it has quite a different vibe on different times of the day. The closer you get to the evening, the busier it gets. The best time to start your market tour is around 19.00 or 20.00. You can easily visit the markets you want (even all seven of them) and have lots of cheerful people around you. The Catherdral X-mas Market is the most popular and also the busiest one at all times yet make sure you visit all of them because the atmoshpere is very different depending on the market.
Note that the markets usually end around midnight, so make sure you have enough time.
| Weihnachtsmarkt auf dem Neumarkt, Neumarkt Christmas market |
3. You will get drinks spilled on your clothes
Since most of the markets are very crowded, people will pump into you, drinks will be spilled (maybe even food). Around the most crowded vendors, shops and drink stations it can sometimes be nearly impossible to walk forward (but don't worry, it's actually fun!) so you'll definitely feel veeeery close to other people. Don't wear your whitest, brightest clothes and make sure your pockets and pags are zipped. We've never had any issues with security but better safe than sorry.
4. It can get cold!
German winters can be cold so check the weather forecast. Even though you'll probably be moving around quite a bit and eating, it can also get chilly when you stand still so pack along maybe an extra sweater, some gloves and a hat.
| Weihnachtsmarkt auf dem Neumarkt, Neumarkt Christmas market |
| Markt Der Engel, the Angel Market |
5. Shopping
There's lots of vendors selling all sorts of stuff from food to sweets, Christmas decorations, jewellery and so on. It might not be the best idea to buy that giantic Christmas decoration in the beginning of your visit. It might be a good idea to save it for the next day. The markets open in the morning so if you visit on Saturday evening you can easily drop by on Sunday morning to pick up whatever you got your eyes on.
| Dusseldorf during Christmas market |
6. Eating
The food is what keeps us coming back every year! There's something for everyone, from the traditional bratwurst to sauerkraut and steaks, soups, vegetarian food and lots of sweets. The vendors normally have a spot in the same place every year so we have a sort of a pilgrimage every year to visit the same vendors for bratwurst, steak sandwich, hot Mojito's, Feuerzangenbowle (Fire Punch), Hungarian lángos and Kinder crepes.
Have lots of change with you because most of the food is around 3-7 euro's and it's quicker if you have the exact money. Some do accept credit cards but it's so much faster to pay in cash.
| Cathedral market, Cologne |
7. Drinking
You cannot visit a German Christmas market without having lots of glühwein, although be aware that if you go for glühwein mit rum it does indeed include lots of rum. The further the night, the more rum you'll have in your mug. You can also have it without the rum, but why would you? There's also other drinks like eggnogg, hot cholocate, beer, wine and so on. Naturally, there's also non-alchoholic drinks.
Every market has their own mug for the glühwein and on most years they're slightly different. We're not completely sure if they make new mugs every year because sometimes you get a mug from one of the previous years. It's fun to check the mugs and see what's different this year. You can even take the mugs with you, if you want, to start a little Christmas mug collection. Normally they have a year on the mug also. How it works is that you buy a glühwein (or another warm beverage) that's usually roughly around 4 or 5 euro's. A deposit of 2,50e is added to the cost. If you bring the mug back you get the deposit back but if you want to keep the mug, you've already paid 2,50e for it.
| Feuerzangenbowle, a must try! |
8. All the different markets
Every market is different and it's a good idea to visit (almost) all of them. They have different themes, different vendors and different food. Some have music, activities like ice-skating and so on. We often start either from the Neumarkt that's a bit smaller but has great food or from the one by the Cathedral which is not our favorite as it's by far the largest and the most crowded one. From the Cathedral X-mas market you can continue around the corner to the next one. We don't know it's name as it's not on most maps but it's smaller than the rest but is definitely worth a visit. From there continue to Alter Markt which is probably the most beautiful one and has an ice-skating rink. From Alter Mark we continue to Angel's Market (Markt der Engel) that's our favorite one as we feel it's has the best atmoshpere. In case we started our journey from the market at the Catherdral, we walk to the Neumarkt to end the visit there or in case we started from Neumarkt we walk the other way and end the day at the Cathedral market. There's also a Gay & Lesbian market that's fun to visit, too and another one by the harbour we've never visited.
| Neumarkt Christmas market |
| The biggest Christmas market in Cologne, the Cathedral market |
