The Most Beautiful Christmas Markets in Europe

Stalls illuminated by colourful lights, handcrafted products, gourmet specialities, parades, and music. The atmosphere of Christmas markets in Europe is an essential magic for the Festive season.

How wonderful are Christmas markets? When Europe’s squares light up with countless lights and the vibrant colours of the stalls, offering visitors those items that only appear as if by magic during Christmas, as if they have just come from Santa’s workshop. Christmas decorations, handcrafted items to beautify the home or give as gifts, little trinkets, and delicious culinary treats that can be purchased or enjoyed on the spot at many stands, from which delightful scents waft through the air. There are also shows, choirs, Christmas music, and even rides, just like in one of those colourful, picturesque Christmas village displays that many families set up as decorations during the holidays.

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Christmas villages sets

Miniature Christmas village sets and landscapes in resin with lights and motion.

Christmas markets in Europe have become a beloved and essential tradition. While they are primarily found in northern countries like Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, they began to spread to Italy in the early ’90s, starting in Bolzano and generally throughout Trentino. Even here, between late November and Epiphany, it’s possible to immerse oneself in the atmosphere of Christmas villages, wandering through streets and squares adorned with lights and Christmas decorations, browsing the stalls of handicrafts, Christmas wreaths, toys, and savouring the delights of local cuisine. You may even experience parades of the Krampus and Saint Nicholas in Trentino or visit Santa’s House in Arezzo. Everywhere you go, you can find Christmas villages that offer an inimitable atmosphere, filled with ancient traditions, typical products, and a unique magic.

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Christmas wreaths and reefs

Christmas wreaths and reefs made of real pine cones…

Let’s take a look at some of the main Christmas markets in Europe.

Innsbruck Christmas Markets

Each year, Innsbruck, the capital of North Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria, comes alive with Christmas magic. The entire city glows with sparkling lights adorning its beautiful streets and the facades of medieval buildings, their charming oriels, and richly historic gables. Over seventy stalls spread across the historic centre, all the way to the Golden Roof (Goldenes Dachl), a city symbol, and the balcony of the residence of Maximilian I, with its characteristic roof covered in gold-plated copper tiles and intricately carved balustrades. There are actually six Christmas markets in Innsbruck: the one already mentioned in the historic centre, Christkindlmarkt Altstadt Innsbruck; Christkindlmarkt Marktplatz, a family-oriented Christmas market where St. Nicholas distributes gifts to good children, surrounded by Christmas angels and parades of fearsome Krampus in a marketplace transformed into a true wonderland with a sparkling 14-metre Swarovski crystal tree at its heart. There’s also Christkindlmarkt Maria-Theresien-Straße, in Innsbruck’s luxury shopping street, further illuminated by twinkling trees and modern lights, with stalls offering items from around the world and typical Austrian specialities; the Panorama Christkindlmarkt Hungerburg, offering a panoramic view, situated in the Hungerburg district, which is reachable in just eight minutes via the modern Hungerburgbahn funicular and provides a spectacular view of the city below. There is also the St. Nikolaus Advent Market in Hans-Brenner-Platz and along Innstraße, and the Wilten Christmas Market, in the square of the same name, which showcases the most authentic and traditional Tyrolean crafts.

Everywhere you go, you’ll be able to enjoy Tyrolean Christmas treats, from Kiachln, traditional sweet fried doughnuts, to Glühwein, the warming mulled wine.

Lugano Christmas Markets

In Lugano, in the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland, the traditional Christmas Market opens, filling the city’s pedestrian area. The stalls offer artisanal items, textiles, fragrances, and culinary delights, and the wooden houses in Piazza della Riforma overflow with Christmas decorations. Throughout Advent, the Tree of Lights, the city’s Christmas symbol, will illuminate the square, transforming it into an enchanted space. Between Piazza della Riforma and Piazza Manzoni, countless huts and stalls around the *Chalet del Gusto* serve festive food and local Christmas delicacies. The Christmas Village, built as a traditional village, hosts shows and events for the whole family, while Santa Claus personally greets young visitors in the Grand Cabin. Amongst pipers and handmade Nativity scenes, there are also straw weavers crafting baskets and hats, and you may catch sight of Old Jörg, a musician playing traditional tunes on a barrel organ, while people enjoy polenta, roasted chestnuts, cotton candy, and sip eggnog and walnut liqueur to keep warm.

Füssen Christmas Markets

Situated in Bavaria’s Swabian district near the Austrian border, Füssen is the highest city in Bavaria and the last stop on the Romantic Road. The courtyard of the baroque Sankt Mang monastery, in the heart of the medieval city centre, hosts the Füssen Christmas Market, offering artisan goods, Christmas decorations, and culinary specialities. The city’s streets are lit with torches for the occasion. Nearby, the Hohenschwangau Castle, a former military fortress restored in the Italian Renaissance style, and Neuschwanstein Castle, which inspired the Walt Disney fairytale castle, are also worth a visit. You can enjoy waffles, cheese raclette, apple strudel, and may even encounter Santa Claus and the fearsome Krampus!

Valkenburg Christmas Markets

In Valkenburg aan de Geul, a Dutch town in the Limburg province, Christmas is celebrated underground! In the area surrounding this town, famous for its marlstone houses, various former quarries host Christmas markets across over 200 km of subterranean passages. Christmas in Valkenburg is celebrated both underground and along the charming town’s streets. As you descend into the Velvet Cave, you can meet Santa Claus and explore rooms filled with presents and decorations, alongside fifty stalls featuring local foods and crafts. Meanwhile, the municipal cave of Valkenburg aan de Geul hosts the largest and oldest underground Christmas market in Europe. Above ground, there’s also the Christmas Parade, with dancers and costumed performers.

Nuremberg Christmas Markets

Nuremberg in Bavaria boasts one of the world’s oldest and most famous Christkindlesmarkt. This small city fills with traditional Christmas market wooden stalls, decorated with numerous Christmas ornaments. The use of wood and fabric for the stalls is due to a ban on plastic garlands. The stall that achieves the best decoration wins the Zwetschgermoh, a chimney sweep figure made of plum paste and dried fruit. Nuremberg’s Christmas Angel (Christkind) inaugurates the Christmas Market on the Friday evening before the first Advent day. A golden statue representing the Angel is hung above the main market entrance, but a girl aged 16-19, selected through a strict process, personifies the Angel and embodies the spirit of Christmas for the following two years. Over 2 million visitors come each year to the Nuremberg Christmas Market, which dates back to the 17th century and features over a hundred stalls.

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Christmas Angels and accessories

In this department you will find Christmas figurines in the shape of angels, the Nativity and other symbols of Christmas.

Traditional foods famous worldwide include gingerbread, sausages, and Zwetschgenmännle – little figures made of dried plums, dressed in fabric.

Zurich Christmas Markets

Finally, in Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city, are held four traditional Christmas markets. The Zürcher Christkindlmarkt, located in the main railway station, is the largest, featuring wooden houses and an enormous Christmas tree adorned with seven thousand Swarovski jewels. The oldest market is in Niederdorf, one of the old town’s charming districts. The market at Werdmühleplatz, in a small square behind Bahnhofstrasse, is intimate yet famous for its excellent mulled wine, Bratwurst, and its unique feature: the Singing Christmas Tree, a large stage shaped like a Christmas tree where choirs from across Switzerland perform until 23rd December. In addition to mulled wine, grilled sausages, roasted chestnuts, you can enjoy gingerbread, cookies, baked potatoes, smoked salmon, roasted corn, crepes, cheese raclette on bread, Nideltafeli (butter and sugar sweets), Magenbrot (spiced bread), nougat, crunchy treats, apple fritters, and doughnuts.

Meta description: Christmas markets in Europe attract millions of visitors each year. Fairytale villages with a unique atmosphere in the heart of modern cities.