Christmas markets in Europe 2026: opening dates and where to stay

Official 2026 opening and closing dates for eight of Europe's best-known Christmas markets, checked on the organisers' own websites, with the weekends when all of them are open and the ones that close before Christmas Day.

Destinations8 min readBy Artak GhazaryanPublished

Photo: Palickap / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

At a glance

  • First to open: Vienna's Rathausplatz market and Budapest's Vörösmarty Square, both on 13 November 2026, then Edinburgh on 14 November.
  • Last to open: Nuremberg and Strasbourg on 27 November, Prague on 28 November.
  • All eight are open every weekend from 28 November to 20 December.
  • Closed before Christmas Day: Cologne's cathedral market (23 December), Nuremberg and Strasbourg (24 December).
  • Still open between Christmas and New Year: Edinburgh, Budapest, Prague and Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt.

Vienna and Budapest open their Christmas markets on 13 November 2026, a full two weeks before the rest of the big names in Europe. Nuremberg and Strasbourg wait until 27 November, and Prague opens on the 28th. The dates below come from each market’s own organiser or city website, checked on 13 November 2026. So does the detail most round-ups leave out: three of these markets have shut by Christmas Day, so a break between Christmas and New Year narrows the list to four.

Christmas markets in Europe 2026: dates at a glance

German and French markets keep to Advent and close on or just before Christmas Eve. Vienna stays open to 26 December. Edinburgh, Budapest, Prague and Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt carry on into the New Year week.

Market Opens Closes Season (days) Open 27 to 31 December?
Edinburgh, East Princes Street Gardens 14 Nov 2026 3 Jan 2027 51 Yes
Budapest, Vörösmarty Square 13 Nov 2026 31 Dec 2026 (open to 03:00 on 1 Jan) 49 Yes (craft stalls to 28 Dec)
Vienna, Rathausplatz 13 Nov 2026 26 Dec 2026 44 No
Prague, Old Town Square 28 Nov 2026 6 Jan 2027 40 Yes
Berlin, Gendarmenmarkt 23 Nov 2026 31 Dec 2026 39 Yes
Cologne, cathedral (Roncalliplatz) 16 Nov 2026 23 Dec 2026 37 (closed 22 Nov) No
Nuremberg, Hauptmarkt 27 Nov 2026 24 Dec 2026 28 No
Strasbourg, eight sites in the city centre 27 Nov 2026 24 Dec 2026 28 No
Bar chart of 2026 season length in days, from Edinburgh at 51 to Strasbourg at 28
Season length from opening day to closing day. Edinburgh’s runs almost twice as long as Nuremberg’s or Strasbourg’s. Source: official market and city websites, checked 13 November 2026.

So how do you pick your dates? If you want two markets on one trip, any weekend from 28 November to 20 December works, because every market in the table is trading then. Go earlier, between 13 and 22 November, and only Vienna, Budapest, Edinburgh and Cologne are open (Cologne from the 16th). After 24 December the list shrinks to the four in the last column.

The eight markets, and the catch with each

Vienna, Austria: Rathausplatz, 13 November to 26 December

Vienna’s main market fills the square in front of the neo-Gothic City Hall and runs daily from 10:00 to 22:00, closing at 18:30 on Christmas Eve. The Ice Dream skating rink on the same square opens on 13 November too and stays open to 6 January 2027, though it is shut on New Year’s Eve. Mind the end date. The stalls come down after 26 December, so a New Year trip to Vienna gets the ice rink without the market. For a base, the Innere Stadt (the first district) puts the Rathausplatz within walking distance of most of the old town.

Nuremberg, Germany: Christkindlesmarkt, 27 November to 24 December

Nuremberg is the one people mean when they say a traditional German Christmas market, and its opening is the event: at 17:30 on Friday 27 November the Christkind recites the prologue from the balcony of the Frauenkirche, and trading pauses for half an hour while it happens. On normal days the Hauptmarkt is open from 10:00 to 21:00, and that first evening it stays open to 22:00. On Christmas Eve it closes at 14:00.

Two smaller markets sit beside it. The children’s Christmas market on Hans-Sachs-Platz runs to 30 December. The Market of the Sister Cities, with stalls from Nuremberg’s twin towns, closes on 23 December. Twenty-eight days is the shortest season on this list, and every one of them falls in Advent, so Friday and Saturday nights in the old town go first. Staying inside the city walls keeps the Hauptmarkt on foot; if those rooms are gone, the streets around the main station, just outside the walls, are the next choice.

Strasbourg, France: Christkindelsmärik, 27 November to 24 December

Strasbourg calls itself the capital of Christmas and spreads the market across eight sites in and around the Grande Île, the old-town island, including Place Kléber with its giant tree. The market’s official FAQ gives daily hours of 11:00 to 21:00, with 14:00 to 21:00 on opening day and 11:00 to 18:00 on 24 December.

Christmas tree and wooden market chalets on Place Kléber in central Strasbourg
Place Kléber, one of the eight market sites in central Strasbourg. Photo: Zéphyrios / Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

Strasbourg has the most rules of any market here. Cars are banned from the Grande Île during market hours, bicycles and scooters are not allowed on the market squares, and there are access controls at the bridges into the island. There is also no left-luggage on the market grounds, so drop your bags before you go in. Drivers should use the park-and-ride, which the FAQ puts at €4.20 a day including a return tram ticket. A room on the Grande Île itself means no checkpoint queue at all, while one near the station, on the other side of the river, is still a short walk. No stalls open from Christmas Day to New Year’s Day, although the lights and the ice rink carry on to 3 January.

Cologne, Germany: the cathedral market, 16 November to 23 December

The market on Roncalliplatz sits directly under the cathedral’s west towers. It opens Sunday to Wednesday from 11:00 to 21:00, Thursday and Friday from 11:00 to 22:00, and Saturday from 10:00 to 22:00. It closes completely on Sunday 22 November, Totensonntag, the German day of remembrance for the dead. Plan around that if you were thinking of a weekend from 20 to 22 November. The cathedral stands beside the main railway station, so a hotel in the old town or near the station puts the market a few minutes away.

The other change this year concerns the cathedral itself. Since 1 July 2026 tourists need a ticket to go inside: €12, or €6 reduced. Children up to 13 go in free, as does anyone attending a service or coming in to pray.

Berlin, Germany: Gendarmenmarkt, 23 November to 31 December

Berlin has dozens of markets. The one on Gendarmenmarkt, between the concert hall and the two domed churches, is the one that charges at the gate. Entry is €2, but it is free from Monday to Friday between 11:00 and 14:00, except on 24 to 26 and 31 December. Hours are 11:00 to 22:00 from Sunday to Thursday and to 23:00 on Friday and Saturday, with an 18:00 close on Christmas Eve. It runs to New Year’s Eve, which makes it the only market in Germany on this list you can still visit after Christmas. Compare hotels in Berlin; Mitte puts you within walking distance.

Prague, Czech Republic: Old Town Square, 28 November to 6 January

Prague’s two main markets, on Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square, share the same dates and hours: 28 November 2026 to 6 January 2027, from 10:00 to 22:00, according to the organiser. That makes Prague the latest-closing market here and the obvious choice for a trip in the first week of January. If Old Town Square is too crowded in the evening, the Wenceslas Square market keeps the same dates and hours. See hotels in Prague; the Old Town and Malá Strana keep you on foot.

Snow-covered rooftops of Prague Old Town and the twin spires of Týn Church at sunset
The Týn Church towers over Old Town Square, where the market runs to 6 January 2027. Photo: Lukáš Konvica / Unsplash.

Budapest, Hungary: Vörösmarty Square and St Stephen’s Basilica, from 13 November

Budapest has two large markets a short walk apart. Vörösmarty Classic Xmas opens on 13 November and runs until the early hours of 1 January. It opens from 11:00 to 21:00, staying open to 22:00 on Friday and Saturday. The craft stalls and the children’s railway finish on 28 December, after which it is mostly food and drink. The Advent Bazilika market in front of St Stephen’s Basilica runs from 13 November to 1 January and stays open an hour later than Vörösmarty on most days. Both have short hours over Christmas: Vörösmarty is open from 10:00 to 14:00 on 24 December and 12:00 to 18:00 on 25 and 26 December. On New Year’s Eve both stay open until 03:00. Both squares are in District V on the Pest side, so a hotel there lets you walk between the two markets and the river.

Edinburgh, Scotland: East Princes Street Gardens, 14 November to 3 January

Edinburgh’s Christmas has the longest season on this list, 51 days from first day to last, and it is the only one in the UK. The traditional market of around 70 stalls sits in East Princes Street Gardens below the Scott Monument, and it is free to enter. The 46-metre Big Wheel is in the same gardens, and the funfair is in West Princes Street Gardens. The season runs into Hogmanay, so a single trip can cover both. Compare hotels in Edinburgh, and check how the city’s visitor levy adds to the room bill. If you plan to drive on into the Highlands afterwards, compare car rental at Edinburgh Airport.

Planning a Christmas market break: what to book and what closes

Book the weekend before anything else. Nuremberg and Strasbourg only have four Advent weekends each, and every trip on this list is competing for the same Fridays and Saturdays. Midweek nights are the easy way round it, and most of these markets keep the same hours on a Tuesday as on a Saturday.

Christmas Eve catches people out too. Every market here that is open on 24 December closes early that day, from 14:00 in Nuremberg to 18:30 in Vienna. Arrive on the 24th expecting an evening at the stalls and you will find them shut. Book refundable rooms where you can (our guide to free-cancellation hotel rates explains what to check). For more on combining a market with a wider city trip, see our winter city breaks in Europe.

Frequently asked questions

Are Christmas markets open on Christmas Day?

Several are. Vienna lists daily hours of 10:00 to 22:00 with only Christmas Eve shortened, and Prague's organiser gives 10:00 to 22:00 for the whole season. Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt also shortens only Christmas Eve, and Budapest's Vörösmarty Square opens from 12:00 to 18:00 on 25 and 26 December. Strasbourg, Nuremberg and Cologne have closed by then. Edinburgh's page gives no Christmas Day hours.

Do you have to pay to enter European Christmas markets?

Most are free. Edinburgh's market in East Princes Street Gardens is free to enter. Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt charges €2, but entry is free on weekdays between 11:00 and 14:00, except on 24 to 26 and 31 December. Separately, Cologne Cathedral, beside its market, has charged tourists €12 to go inside since 1 July 2026.

Sources

Artak Ghazaryan

Written by

Editor, Save60

Rules, taxes and transport links change. Check official sources for anything your trip depends on. Spotted something out of date?

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