The Most Charming Holiday Markets to Shop Around the World This Season

November 24 – December 24 (some stalls may be open until December 30)

First held in 1570, this is one of the largest markets in Europe with over 300 stalls in 12 locations, the main one in Cathedral Square. You’ll find typical Alsatian handcrafts and decorations, many depicting storks, the symbol of the city. The huge migrating birds have made Strasbourg their permanent home, and their massive nests can be seen atop buildings and poles. Enjoy the local wines, beer, their special brioche, kugelhopf, and holiday cakes called bredeles. Lights, music, and entertainment complete the picture. Be sure to see the gorgeous Gothic-Romanesque Cathedrale Notre-Dame and its 1842 astronomical clock.

November 24 – December 31

Over 200 stalls in traditional wooden chalets, an ice rink, a huge fir tree, and a Ferris wheel make up the Plaisirs d’Hiver Winterpret, the Winter Wonders Christmas Market. The main locations at the Grand-Place and Place Saint Catherine are just a short walk apart. Of course, you’ll find Belgian specialties like waffles, mussels, and chocolates along with oysters, candies, wine, and beer. Take a ride on the Ferris wheel for a great view of Brussels, and go after dark to enjoy the light shows and decorations. Shop for toys, crafts, food gifts, and imported goods. 

November 23 – December 23

The Quebec City German Christmas Market celebrates Germany’s holiday traditions and festivities. Located near City Hall and Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Quebec City, friendly folks in charming wooden kiosks offer bratwurst, pretzels, gingerbread, mulled wine, and more. Shop for imported products including toys, candles, decorations, sweets, and incense smoker figurines. Enjoy the lights, music, singing, and a visit from Santa Claus in the children’s area, kindermarkt. You can take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, go ice-skating, or attend concerts. If time allows, explore Old Quebec, a 400-year-old walled city and UNESCO World Heritage site. 

Princes Street Gardens: November 19 – January 7
Scottish Market: November 26 – December 24

The traditional Christmas Market is held along Princes Street Gardens, with a Children’s Market and Scottish Market at St. Andrew’s Square. Along the way, you can shop for traditional crafts, jewelry, toys, candles, and decorations. While you browse, stay warm by sipping some mulled wine or famed Scotch whiskey. An ice-skating rink, Ferris wheel, carousel, elves’ village, and children’s rides add to the festive atmosphere.  Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital, was founded in the middle ages, and its medieval style can be seen in Old Town. Edinburgh Castle is open for tours with advance tickets available online.

November 18 – December 30

Markets abound in Vienna, with the main Christmas Market in front of City Hall, Rathausplatz Square, and others at Belvedere Palace and Schonbrunn Palace. Aromas of grilled sausages, schnitzel, roasted chestnuts, pastries, and pretzels fill the crowded streets while visitors wander through the stalls carrying their mugs of warm spiced wine. Other local specialties are lebkuchen, similar to gingerbread, and stollen, a fruited bread often filled with almond paste. Listen to Christmas carols, choirs, and brass bands as you shop for toys, candles, pottery, and other handmade items. Children will enjoy the workshop where they can create their own gifts or bake cookies. 

December 2 – January 6

Prague’s largest markets are in Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square, a short walk apart in the medieval center of the city. In brightly colored wooden huts, you can shop for traditional crafts, glassware, jewelry, toys, ceramics, ornaments, candles, dolls, puppets, and Czech crystal. Enjoy a Czech beer or mulled wine with a snack of ham or sausage while you browse through the stalls or admire the Christmas tree in the Square. For something sweet, try trdelnik, a traditional sugar and cinnamon-coated pastry. Carolers and school choirs entertain shoppers, and classical concerts, opera, marionette shows, and ballet take place in Prague as well. Tickets can be purchase in advance online.

November 18 – December 31

The Tivoli Christmas Market, Jul i Tivoli, takes place on the grounds of Copenhagen’s famous Tivoli Gardens amusement park. Among thousands of twinkling lights, visitors can enjoy rides, a carousel, elves train, and miniature villages in the Nordic atmosphere. The lake is transformed into an ice skating rink, and light shows entertain in the Chinese area. Keep warm with a mug of glogg, warm spiced wine, and a sweet aebleskiver, Danish pancake, while you stroll through the decorated gardens shopping for crafts, local delicacies, or hand-knitted mittens, hats, and sweaters. There’s another market in the old harbor area, but wherever you go, you’ll experience hygge, “a warm atmosphere and enjoyment of the good things in life.”

November 27 – December 23

This historic city on the Rhine River is home to several Christmas markets, but the largest and most festive has the magnificent Gothic Cologne Cathedral as its backdrop. In addition to shopping for handicrafts, music boxes, jewelry, and toys, visitors are treated to performances on the stage, with over 100 events scheduled. Aromas of roasted chestnuts, sausages, potato fritters, baked apples, and cinnamon biscuits fill the air, drawing guests to the wooden booths serving foods. Munch on a pretzel (called bretzel in Germany) while you sip hot chocolate or gluhwein (warm spiced wine) from your collectable mug. Each market has its own design, and visitors can keep the mug as a souvenir or get their deposit back. 

November 10 – December 31 (After December 24, food stalls only)

The oldest and most spectacular market is in the heart of the city at Vorosmarty Square, but the St. Stephen’s Square Market in front of the basilica is the place to buy gifts handmade by local Hungarians.  For children, there are puppet shows and a craft workshop where they can create their own gifts of ornaments, candles, gingerbread, or beaded items. Traditional Hungarian foods include cinnamon pastries, sausage, potato dumplings, strudel, and other types of langos, or street food. Two outdoor stages present concerts in all musical genres for your enjoyment while you sip a hot drink from a festive souvenir mug. The 157-year-old Café Gerbeaud presents a light show with music on its façade, with delicious foods and pastries inside.

Various Dates

A little closer to home for most of us, but just as festive during the holiday season, New York has several Christmas markets throughout the city. Starting October 29 and continuing through January 2, the Winter Village Holiday Market at Bryant Park (6th Avenue and 42nd Street) has an ice skating rink and a Christmas tree along with boutiques featuring goods from around the world. Delicious foods, sweets, and drinks are available too. The Columbus Circle Holiday Market, open from November 28 to December 24, is located at the entrance to Central Park at 59th Street. Shop for jewelry, home goods, handmade items, chocolates, and more in a festive atmosphere modeled after the European markets. The Union Square Holiday Market in the heart of downtown features unique gifts from local artists and craftsmen, live music, and a children’s craft studio. Every visitor to New York during the holiday season must visit Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas Tree and watch the ice skaters—or join them!