How to Plan An Epic Christmas Market Trip to Europe (2024)

Last year, Caleb and I went on an EPIC Christmas market adventure across Europe, where we covered more than 25 cities and 50+ Christmas markets in less than 2 months. Hitting up that much Christmasin a short timerequired us to do a lot of planning in advance! Honestly, I’m tired just thinking about it.

In this guide, we’re sharing literally every single thing we did to plan our Christmas market trip, including the tips that we *wish* we would have known before because our festive vacay would have been a lot smoother and enjoyable!

Let’s get into the festive deets!

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☑️ Quick Tips:

⏰ When to go: early December

🏨 Where to stay: as close to the markets as possible and book in advance

❌ Avoid the crowds: Go to smaller, lesser-known towns for a more festive experience.

🌟 Insider tip: use specific city websites to find unique events at each market.

Step 1: Choose Kind Of Markets You Want To Visit

The first and most important step that no one told us about whenwe wereplanning our European Christmas market extravaganza (which is why we are telling you) is to choose the STYLE of Christmas markets you want to visit.

Do you want to hit all thehuge, over-the-top, most famous marketsthat havetons of people and ALL the food, drink, and entertainment options you can imagine?Or do you want to go to small, local markets that may have fewer options but are quieter, more authentic, and romantic?

Do you want to make sure you are in the main European cities so that there are *other* things to do than see the markets? Or, is your main focus on Christmas market-ing it up, and you’re fine staying in small towns that don’t have a lot of other “attractions?”

If you have NEVER done any markets, we suggest you pick a couple of the most famous markets, like Nuremberg, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, or Budapest, just to visit so you can experience what they are like

Step 2: Research Possible Markets Using Blogs AND City Websites

On that note, once you’ve picked the kinds of markets you want to visit, it’s time to get researching.

While blogs are GREAT (obviously. I AM writing one), we found that a lot of them said the same thing, and most just sang the praises of every single Christmas market in existence instead of being an honest guide about what to expect or sharing which markets to avoid. This is why ours is that honest guide because we wished we had more realistic expectations going in, to be honest.

So, we recommend starting your research with blogs and other articles to start narrowing down the markets where you think you could see yourselves drinking so much mulled wine that you forget how cold your face is.

THEN, search for X Christmas market (where X is the city) and find the official Christmas market website for that city (most have them) to really drill down into the offerings and events.

This will help you figure out what markets sound the most like you guys among the sea of general “BEST CHRISTMAS MARKETS IN EUROPE” posts that you will find that all say the same thing. Just being honest.

Step 3: Pick The Best Month To Visit

This one will take you less time than it takes to drink a glass of mulled wine (can you tell what’s on my brain?) because you just have to choose between November and December.

If you’ve done your research, you shouldalreadyknow the opening dates of the markets you want to visit and can plan accordingly.

Step 4: Choose How Long To Stay At Each Christmas Market

Now that you know which markets you want to visit, you have to start setting your itinerary by planning how long you will stay in each city to experience the said market.

While Caleb and I usually don’t plan anything in advance because we’ve traveled enough to know how to do it on the fly, we don’t recommend this for a Christmas market holiday. So,having an idea of when you’ll be where iskey.

Our general rule of thumb is to plan about 2 days/2 and nights for BIG citiesthat havelots of markets (like Berlin, Dresden, Nuremberg, etc.)We stayed one day in some of these cities and felt too rushed.

If you are going to a small town, like Heidelberg or Esslingen, youreally doonly need one day/night.

Step 5: Set a Budget

Chances are you guys are so excited about all the magical festivenessthat you are going tosee that you haven’t realized that traveling at Christmas is EXPENSIVE.

One of the reasons we say that the Christmas markets are not worth visiting is because they were WAY MORE expensive than we planned, so a tip for you when visiting is to factor this into creating a budget.

We found most mulled wine to be around $7-8 (cheaper in some Eastern European countries like Poland or Bratislava) and “meal” food like sausages, noodles, etc, to be anywhere from $10-$20!

Sweet snacks willprobablyrun you $5-$10.

Hotels also get more expensive, so do your research on accommodation options in the cities you plan to visit. We always use Booking.com to save the most money.

Step 6: Create Your Itinerary

Now that you know when you’re going, where you’re going, how long you’ll stay in each city, and your budget, you can start laying it out in an itinerary.

You’ll either be flying between countries/cities or taking the train, depending on how widespread you’re making this whole Christmas market extravaganza.We use the Trainline app to see what kind of trains might be available and how long it takeswhen weplan our trips.

Step 7: Make a List of Must Try’s/Must Do’s In Each Location

Something most people miss when creating a Christmas Market itinerary is making a list of the food, drinks, and activities in each location! If you just *hope* you remember everything in each city, you run the risk of missing stuff, and we don’t want that!

We always addsomebullet points for any special food, drinks, or activities in each town and then review them before going to those markets tomake surewe don’t miss out.

Step 8: Track Flights Using Open Jaw

The whole purpose of a Christmas market trip is to see lots of Christmas markets! So, unlike other vacations you may have taken, you may start and end in different cities or even different countries.

Once you’ve nailed down your travel dates and itinerary, you can start tracking flights.Our insider tip is to use an “open jaw” flight, meaning you arrive and depart from different locations. This gives you one extra day to enjoy the markets instead ofhaving to get backto your starting location.

They are usually almost the same price as a round trip ticket + the cost of transportation to get back to your arrival city!

We use Skyscanner or our membership for Going.com to track flights and highly recommend them.

Step 9: Book Hotels In Advance

Whew – you’re almost done planning!Now, the second to last step isjustto bookhotels on Booking.com!

The Christmas market season in Europe is VERY busy, and this is one time you don’t want to leave booking to the last minute. We did this in Colmar and almost had to pay $800 for one night…10/10 do not recommend it!

Once you knowall the things, start booking and LOCK IT IN BABY.

Step 10: Make a Packing List & Get Clothes

So, hate to burst your bubble here, but you’re going to be cold in Europe at Christmas. More excuse to drink mulled wine, though, we say!

Calebdid a TON of research onwhat to wear in Europe, and we werevery happywith our choices because wewere mostlypretty warm and super happy with them.

Other Helpful Christmas Market Posts:

• Strasbourg Christmas Market Review
• Berlin Christmas Market Review
• Copenhagen Christmas market guide