Europe’s Best Christmas Markets: Where to Go and What to Expect

Step into Europe’s best Christmas markets with Erin and Lisa as they share favorite spots across the continent from the charming streets of Strasbourg to the festive canals of Bruges. Find out where to sip mulled wine, enjoy holiday treats, and shop for unique gifts. Whether this is your first Christmas market trip or you’re a seasoned traveler, we share practical tips and traditions to help you make the most of your visit.

If you want to plan your Christmas market adventure, read more about the top markets in Europe here.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey there and welcome to the Getaways Podcast. I'm Lisa.

SPEAKER_00 0:03

And I'm Erin.

SPEAKER_01 0:04

And today we are talking about one of my favorite things in the whole wide world.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Tell me.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

It's the Christmas markets in Europe.

unknown 0:12

Yay!

SPEAKER_01 0:15

They are so unbelievably festive and cool and just have become like a real tradition and staple for our Christmas time since we moved here in 2017.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Well, so let's talk about what our first Christmas market was.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

So the first year we were in Europe. We lived in Florence, and we this is my memory. I don't know if you have another memory of Santa Croce, but I was walking the dog in the morning, and it was really, really quiet, and their streets are empty, and we're sort of wandering, and we always went a different way every morning. And we stumbled onto the Santa Croce church, and in front they were building the wood little stalls where the Christmas market happens. And um, and so I went back later in the day when it was all done, and I almost instantly, probably not even almost, but instantly fell in love with just how charming and festive, and just it just is Christmas. It's Christmas in a place that, you know, it encompasses everything I love about Christmas. And I went there every single day that the market was happening because I wanted to see a different part of it. I wanted to go to a different stall, I wanted to have, you know, that just that experience to get me really in the Christmas spirit. But Florence in general is one of the most festive places I think I've been at Christmas time.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

I agree about Florence. I don't have the same memories of the Christmas market. My first real memory is when we went and had dinner the first night. Do you remember that? No. We had I think polenta and some sort of meat, and we sat in one of those little like wood houses.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Oh yes, I do remember that.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

I remember that, yeah. And the big candy stalls that Dylan like fell in love with. And we got the best Norwegian Christ uh not Christmas coats, but like winter coats. Do you remember that?

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Yeah, and we were going to Finland um just after Christmas, so it was like perfect timing to find a super warm jacket.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

And they were great, and inexpensive. Yeah, like 80 dollars or 80 euros.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Yeah. For those of you who haven't been to a Christmas market in Europe, um, just to sort of set the stage for you, they're you know, like I said before, the the stalls are wood mostly, and everything's open air, and they're selling, you know, all kinds of regional food, all kinds of hot drinks, both liquor and not um decorations. There will be tons of different kinds of handmade ornaments and just Christmas decorations in general. And then there's non-holiday gifts and handcrafted items that are also really cool. Um, and the the markets tend to vary from country to country, region to region. Um, but you know, obviously they all have the charm, the food, the decorations, the amazing Christmas lights.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

And the hot wine.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

And the hot wine and the spirit. I mean, everybody's just like out and you know, in their heavy coats and just enjoying themselves and and being festive. It's just the atmosphere is really sort of something I can't totally describe.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Yeah, it's it's my favorite time of year, and even more now that we've started going to markets every year.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

And because we go to markets every year, we've been to a lot of markets.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

A lot. Before we go into that, should we talk about the history of markets, their medieval beginnings?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Go crazy.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Well, so I I mean, from everything I've read, it seems like Vienna's Christmas market is the oldest. Have you seen that too?

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Yeah, like starting in the early 13th century, right?

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

But I've also heard that Germany started it because Germany started the Christmas tree, right?

SPEAKER_00 4:07

In Dresden, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

So I've heard that too.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

So you know it's still that's that exact market is still going in Dresden.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Which we have not been to.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

We have not.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

But we will, I'm sure. And we will come back and report on it. But yeah, so whether it started in Vienna or Germany, the traditions feel a large part German.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Yeah, because I think the most famous, famous, like real famous Christmas market is the Nuremberg.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Yeah, which we've been at.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

We have been.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Um, so yeah, so that's so it's a long history and it's a long, you know, it's not just our tradition, but it's it's sort of ingrained in the culture in a lot of countries in Europe. Um, and we have been to a lot of countries in Europe to see a lot of markets in Europe.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

That we have. So should we run over some of our favorites?

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Yeah, you go first.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

I I would say my well, should we run through everywhere we've been first and then we can talk about our favorites?

SPEAKER_00 5:04

For Germany, we've been to Nuremberg and Cologne. For France, Strasbourg, and Colmar, for Austria, Vienna, and Salzburg. For Italy, we've been to Florence, Turin, Trento, Moltopulciano, Milano, and Treste Treste Trieste.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Trieste, yeah. Trieste. I forgot about Milan.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Yeah, it's a big one. I know, and it's a good one. I can't believe I forgot about it. I've never forgotten that one, yeah. And for Belgium, Bruges, and Ghent, we're going there again.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Yeah, we're going back to Ghent this year.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Netherlands, uh, Valkenburg. I've been to Utrecht briefly. You have not.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

No. Well, I've been there at Christmas time, but not for the market.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

And we'll talk about the Netherlands market, but they're different. And the UK, we went to the London Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, which I loved.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Right. Which is okay, so let's just back into it and start with the UK. The UK, the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is much more, it's the biggest ride heavy.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Yes. I wouldn't say Christmas market. It's a winter wonderland.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Yeah, it's more like a carnival.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

It was uh tons of rides. I mean, it's super fun, don't get me wrong, but it's not like the traditional sort of small little, you know, stalls. There's there's big rides with, you know, like almost amusement park.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

Yeah. Remember, Dylan did that spinning barrel ride and like freaked out.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

That was a core memory in not a good way.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Um, so why don't you tell me what your favorite of all those is?

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Okay, so I have things that I love about all of them, but I love okay. Favorite all time. Favorite all time? That's hard. So, in terms of favorite of all time, I already mentioned Florence, and I think that that will always be in my top list just because it was my first and like that entree into this love. Um, but I did really love Cologne, and I I think it's because there are so many different markets and they all have different themes. And when we were there, we took a little train all around and went to like what five or six different ones. And they were all like so special in their own way, and they all had their own mugs, which should we talk about the mugs now? Okay, something fantastic. So when you get a hot drink at a Christmas market, except in the Netherlands, yeah, at most of these places, they will give you a ceramic mug, and you can pay, you have to pay an extra five euro to use the mug. So at the end of the night, when you're done, you can either take it back and get your five euro or you can have a souvenir. We highly recommend the latter because we have like the coolest collection of mugs from all of these places that we've been, and the mugs that we used when we were at the market. And it's just a really fun way to have like a little memory that you're not going crazy shopping for, trying to figure out what you're gonna get. And you can use them over and over and over, and they come out every year in our house, and it's just a fun, like, oh, remember when we went to this market, and you know, it's just a good, fun thing to have.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

We literally have to clear out an entire shelf of dishes because we have like over 40 because there's three of us, so we all get our own mug, we get different designs. I love it. I love these mugs.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Collectors, man, collectors.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

So cologne, you're gonna go with it.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

I think I'm gonna go with Cologne, but there's nowhere on this list that I'm like, I wouldn't want to go back there. I mean, I would go back to every single one of them, like over and over and over again if I could.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

I'm gonna say, gosh, it's tough because it's between Cologne, Prague, and Vienna. Oh, Prague's not even on here. Oh, we've been to Prague. And it is fantastic. I totally forgot. Yeah. This is tough. It is because there's too many, and we love too many. I think I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go off even what I just said. I think I'm gonna go Bruges.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Because Bruges is on top of like the cutest Christmas markets. It's the cutest town. Right. So charming. It snowed when we were there last time. Oh, it's snow.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

It was like magic snow. It was like the biggest, most beautiful flakes, and we were on a canal and a boat trip, and it's just snowing. Um, it was ridiculous. It was fairy tale, doesn't even describe it.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

Yeah, I'm going Bruges.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Okay, I'll tell you why I didn't go Bruges. You know what they don't have?

SPEAKER_00 9:47

They don't have pretzels.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

They don't have pretzels. And on a lot of these Christmas markets, they will have. I remember the first time we saw them was at I think it's in Torino when my sisters came.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

The pretzels? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

Because they were like stacked probably 30 high along the edges of the stalls, and it was like pretzel heaven. And they're all they're huge, they're warm, they come in like you can get cheese in them, you can get salt in them.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

I mean, but they're German pretzels.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Delicious is, I mean, so that was my only thing. Was that like I said before, everything's kind of regional, and not that Torino is German, but it depends who puts on the um market and what the influences are. So you don't always get the same things, and the pretzels are are an important staple in my mind.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

All right, so what's your favorite food that you've ever had at a Christmas market?

SPEAKER_01 10:43

Well, it's easier to say that I don't I've never not liked anything that I ate at a Christmas market because the cheeses are all fantastic, and the like I got in Cologne, I got the um well, I got the Bratwurst, which was amazing. But I also got a cheesy, like a little font a cup of fondue.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

You did?

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Yeah. They had like little individual fondues that you could dip bread in.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

By the church?

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Yeah. By the yeah. Well, it's all kind of by the church, right? But on yeah, on the one, the big one in front of the church, yeah. Um, so that was pretty fantastic. And there's nothing better than like hot cheese when you're freezing.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

That sounds good right now. Yeah, because we're freezing.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

I know it's already cold here. But what's yours?

SPEAKER_00 11:29

My favorite is it's from Vienna. Do you know what I'm gonna say? It's like ice cream cone and it has marshmallow, like a sw ice cream swirl, but it's just marshmallow and then it's dipped in chocolate.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

That's so good.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

See, that's that I don't know dessert-wise, what would be my favorite.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

But I mean, I could brat worse to be.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Well, and they cook them, everything's right out there made, right? So it's like over the fire, the bread's over the fire. It's like everything's like warm and crispy and delicious, and yeah, it's that. Um, okay, what have you bought? Is there anything that you bought that you're that you like look for or that you other than the mugs, obviously, which are the best souvenirs?

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Well, Dylan likes to look for hats and scarves. My favorite thing you bought for me as a gift was that incense house where you put the incense in and the smoke comes out the chimney. I love that. And then yeah, I think that's my favorite thing ever bought, other than food.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Yeah. Well, and I started a long time ago, like when I was in college, I think, of buying ornaments for wherever I traveled. And so we've continued that. So we always look for a special tree decoration, tree ornament, and um, and something often for the house that's just sort of a reminder of the trip or you know, specific to the region or or something like that. Um, but I I don't know how I would separate because I love all of our tree ornaments so much. And we always get the name of the city and hopefully the year, so that we can yeah, but we get those all year around.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

No, I know, but better. What is your favorite gift or thing? But I think that's all I buy.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

But no, I love looking at all of that stuff, and I love the the like festive stuff, and you got the um little tiny tangines last year. Remember the little Oh I did, yeah. Those are cool. We haven't been to, which we need to, but we've been to Switzerland a lot and a lot during the holidays. Have we not been there a lot during that? We were in Zermont with my sisters, but I guess and Chamonix. That's not Switzerland, that is France.

unknown 13:54

Indeed.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Um, but they did not have a market, and so that is definitely like on my kind of wish list of where I would say.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Does Switzerland do markets? I mean, they have to, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:06

We need to look that up.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

We yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

So things to know before you go visit a market. Okay, so when to go to the Christmas markets. So you have to look up what city you want to go to and what the actual dates are because they vary from year to year and they also vary a lot from market to market. So some will start in you know mid-November and go to Christmas Eve, some will go all the way to Epiphany on January 6th. So it just depends on where you're going and what their schedule is. So you always want to check that first before you make any travel plans or visiting plans.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Um, and then obviously weekends are more busy than during the week, but sometimes that's unavoidable.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

It's gonna be cold. It's gonna be cold, and it's gonna be colder than you think it's gonna be, even with your hot drink and hot food. So, and you're walking on who knows what. Like it could be um, there could be hay or you know, sand on the ground. So, yeah. So you have to be in comfortable shoes, wear warm, like do the hats, the gloves, the scarves, like do it all.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Assume rain or snow.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

And cold.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Yeah, and um, and then always it's funny because like typically in the Netherlands everything is by card to pay by card, but they you never know what it's gonna be at the market. So you need to bring cash and your cards because some people don't have the cash machine, so you'll need the or the card machine. So you need cash available for any purchases of food, drinks, and souvenirs. Okay, so then just going back to where we where what's on our to-do list of where we want to go. Okay, Switzerland, we said. Poland. Poland. I want to go back to Copenhagen. Like, I want to go to Trivoli.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

No, I know.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

So I want to go to Trivoli for Christmas. Yeah, I'm sure I said that wrong. Sorry, sorry, uh Danish people.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

I mean, I'd love to go to Latvia.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

I'd love to go to Estonia. Yeah, so we still have a lot to do, and we will keep you updated as we hit those, but this gives you an idea of I do have something to say about Italy.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

We didn't go, but Naples has the nativity, like famous nativity scenes all over the town that ever well, all Italians talk about it. Right. And we did go to Rome during Christmas and saw the nativity scene in St. Peter's, and that was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

It was. I I prefer the more uh fun part of Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

We also less religious. When we were in Trento, we went to that nativity play. Remember that?

SPEAKER_01 16:44

That was in Trento. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

And I had Pink Eye and my eyes like oozing.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Stunning, stunning look.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

But like it was a whole play of the nativity scene.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

It was I forgot we did that. And then there was Santa making toys in that little hut. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he made Dylan a whistle. Yes. He literally took a piece of wood and turned it into a whistle that worked, and it was really kind of cool. But there was like a big Santa's workshop sign, and you could go in and like take him something, and he would he would whip you up something.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

It's pretty cool. So sometimes the smaller towns have like the sweeter markets like Multipulciano with Santa and the letters Baba Natal. Baba Natal.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Well, and just one like quick funny story, and we can put pictures of it on the website. But um Dylan was pretty little then, and he wasn't feeling well on the day of the um tree lighting in Florence, and we lived right above the square, and um, and they were Santa was throwing out candy, and so I was like, Oh, okay, I'll run down and get you some. So it was pouring down rain, and they had already postponed the tree lighting for a week because of weather. And so all of a sudden, I'm like down there, and there's like nobody, and we'd seen pictures from previous years where the whole square was just like full wall-to-wall people, and I'm like standing right next to the tree, and um, and then all of a sudden, this train pulls up, and like a million Papa Natalies get out and surround me. And um, and then they do the tree lighting, and then they all get on the train and they all start throwing candy everywhere, and like it was just so random and awesome and unexpected. Like it was it was super cool, but um, but yeah, just just another random Florence tidbit on uh on the holidays is expect lots of Santas. And that happened in Milan, remember? Oh, roller skate, yeah, Santa's. We were at the market, um, and all of a sudden we're shopping and doing whatever, and then we hear some like hootin' and holler, and we turn around and there's like a million Santas on roller skates, like coming down the middle of the market. Like it was hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

That was so good. Well, I hope everybody gets a chance to come over for some really fun markets.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

I mean, it is one of those things that it's like everybody should experience. Like, everybody should have an Italian summer, everybody should have a European Christmas market experience. Like it's really special and it's something that that you have to sort of experience for yourself.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

Well, so thanks for hanging out with us while we reminisce about Christmas markets.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Yeah, thanks for listening, and we will be back with more fun adventures to share with you.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

And you can check out our website at thegetaways.com. That's um G-E-T-A-W-A-Y-Z.com.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

And that was Rex, who is another member of our travel team. So um, I'm sure you will be hearing him uh periodically through this podcast. So say hi to him too. Have a good holiday season, and we'll see you soon.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Bye. Bye.