Christmas markets 2026: opening dates, city by city

Most of Europe’s big Christmas markets open between 13 and 28 November 2026 and close on 23 or 24 December. The exceptions are the ones to plan around: Vienna (from 21 Nov) runs to 26 Dec, Budapest’s Basilica market to 1 Jan, and Prague (from 16 Nov), Tallinn and Zagreb carry on to 6 or 7 January. Every date below was read from the market’s own site or city hall on 30 Oct 2026. Where a 2026 detail was still missing, we say so rather than guess.

Germany’s Christmas markets 2026: Nuremberg, Munich, Cologne, Dresden

German markets keep the strictest calendar. They open in the second half of November, skip Totensonntag (22 Nov this year, the Protestant day of the dead, when Munich and Cologne both shut for the day), and finish on Christmas Eve at lunchtime or the day before. If you want Germany on 25 or 26 December you will be looking at closed huts.

Market	Opens	Closes	Hours
Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt	Fri 27 Nov, ceremony 17:30	Thu 24 Dec	Daily 10:00 to 21:00
Munich Christkindlmarkt, Marienplatz	Fri 20 Nov (closed Sun 22 Nov)	Thu 24 Dec, to 14:00	Mon to Sat 10:00 to 21:00, Sun 10:00 to 20:00
Cologne Cathedral market	Mon 16 Nov (closed Sun 22 Nov)	Wed 23 Dec	Sun to Wed 11:00 to 21:00, Thu and Fri to 22:00, Sat 10:00 to 22:00
Dresden Striezelmarkt (592nd)	Wed 25 Nov, 16:00 to 21:00	Thu 24 Dec, 10:00 to 14:00	Daily 10:00 to 21:00 from 26 Nov

Nuremberg’s opening ceremony on the Frauenkirche balcony is the one people fly in for, and it is also the single most crowded hour of the season. Dresden has the odd distinction of being the market with the most to see on the way in: the 23 m tree goes up on the Altmarkt on 31 Oct, the lights are tested on 20 Nov, and the market itself follows five days later.

Vienna, Prague, Budapest and the markets that run into January

East of Germany the season is longer at both ends. Vienna and Budapest open on 13 November, two weeks before Advent, and several cities stay open through New Year because the stalls double as the city’s winter festival.

Market	Opens	Closes	Hours
Vienna Christkindlmarkt, Rathausplatz	Fri 13 Nov	Sat 26 Dec	Daily 10:00 to 22:00, 24 Dec to 18:30
Prague, Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square	Sat 28 Nov	Wed 6 Jan 2027	Daily 10:00 to 22:00
Budapest, Advent Bazilika	Fri 13 Nov	Fri 1 Jan 2027	Sun to Thu 11:00 to 22:00, Fri and Sat to 23:00; 24 Dec 11:00 to 15:00
Budapest, Vörösmarty Classic Xmas	Fri 13 Nov	Thu 31 Dec	Mon to Thu and Sun 11:00 to 21:00, Fri and Sat to 22:00; crafts stalls to 28 Dec
Tallinn, Town Hall Square	Fri 20 Nov	Wed 6 Jan 2027	Not yet published
Zagreb, Advent in Zagreb	Sat 28 Nov	Thu 7 Jan 2027	Not yet published

Vienna’s ice rink in front of the Rathaus (Ice Dream) keeps going to 6 January, closed only on 31 Dec, so the square still has something on it after the stalls come down. Prague’s smaller squares are shorter: Republic Square 25 Nov to 24 Dec, Tyl’s Square 26 Nov to 24 Dec, and Peace Square in Vinohrady 20 Nov to 24 Dec. There has been no market at Prague Castle since 2022.

Strasbourg, Colmar and Basel: the Alsace and Rhine dates

Alsace sells itself as the capital of Christmas and its dates behave like Germany’s: open late November, close by Christmas Eve, with one exception in Colmar. Basel, 45 minutes down the line in Switzerland, closes a day earlier than anyone.

Market	Opens	Closes	Hours
Strasbourg Christkindelsmärik	Fri 27 Nov, from 14:00	Thu 24 Dec, to 18:00	Daily 11:00 to 21:00; closed 25 Dec
Colmar, six markets	Mon 23 Nov	Tue 29 Dec	2026 hours not yet published
Basel, Barfüsserplatz and Münsterplatz	Thu 26 Nov	Wed 23 Dec	Daily 11:00 to 20:30; 23 Dec to 20:00 and 18:00 respectively

Colmar is the one Alsace market you can still visit between Christmas and New Year. The villages around it are on their own clocks: Eguisheim and Turckheim run 27 Nov to 30 Dec, Riquewihr 27 Nov to 20 Dec. Basel’s Märliwald, the children’s forest on Münsterplatz, finishes a day earlier again on 22 Dec.

London, Edinburgh and Copenhagen: ticketed and long

The northern three are not Christmas markets in the German sense. They are winter festivals with a market inside, which is why they run to 3 January and why two of them charge to get in.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland in London runs 19 Nov 2026 to 3 Jan 2027, every day except 25 December. Entry is timed and ticketed. Off-peak sessions on Monday to Thursday throughout November cost £1 (about US$1.30); the organisers say booking online with a £25 spend in one transaction brings entry free and saves “up to £9.50 per person”, which tells you roughly what a peak ticket costs. Edinburgh’s Christmas runs 14 Nov 2026 to 3 Jan 2027 with the traditional market in the city centre free to enter; 2026 opening hours were not on the official site when we checked, so look again before you fix a day.

Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen opens its Christmas season on 13 Nov and closes on 3 Jan. You pay to enter the gardens, tickets are tied to a date, children under 3 are free with a paying adult and 3 to 7s pay half. Tivoli publishes its day-by-day opening calendar on its own site and the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day pattern was not shown on the pages we read, so treat 24 and 25 Dec as unconfirmed.

Christmas markets 2026 in the USA: Chicago and New York

Chicago’s Christkindlmarket turns 30 this year. Daley Plaza runs Fri 20 Nov to Thu 24 Dec, Sunday to Thursday 11:00 to 20:00 and Friday and Saturday to 21:00, with 11:00 to 16:00 on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. The Wrigleyville market at Gallagher Way runs to 31 Dec and the Aurora one, Thursdays to Sundays, to 24 Dec. All three are free to enter and many stalls are cash only.

New York’s Winter Village at Bryant Park has already opened: 28 Oct 2026, with the holiday shops running to 3 Jan 2027 and the rink to 28 Feb. Shops are open Monday to Friday 11:00 to 20:00 and weekends 10:00 to 20:00, with shorter hours on Christmas Day. Skating is free if you bring your own skates and reserve a slot; rentals start at $18.72 before tax.

Which markets close before Christmas, and which stay open after

If your trip straddles 25 December, this is the only list that matters.

Shut by Christmas Eve: Nuremberg, Munich, Dresden (all 24 Dec, Munich and Dresden at 14:00), Cologne and Basel (23 Dec), Strasbourg (24 Dec at 18:00, nothing open on 25 Dec), Chicago’s Daley Plaza and Aurora (24 Dec, early close at 16:00).

Open between Christmas and New Year: Vienna to 26 Dec, Colmar to 29 Dec, Budapest’s Vörösmarty square to 31 Dec and the Basilica market to 1 Jan, Chicago Wrigleyville to 31 Dec.

Open into January: London and Edinburgh (3 Jan), Tivoli (3 Jan), Bryant Park shops (3 Jan), Prague and Tallinn (6 Jan), Zagreb (7 Jan).

Budapest is the useful one for a trip over the holiday itself. Both markets open on 25 and 26 Dec, the Basilica from 11:00 to 20:00 and Vörösmarty from 12:00 to 18:00, and both stay open until 03:00 on New Year’s Eve.

Weekday or weekend: when the markets are quiet

Strasbourg’s organisers are unusually frank about this in their FAQ. Mondays, Tuesdays and mornings are the quietest times; Wednesday afternoons, Friday evenings and all weekend are the busiest. That pattern holds in every German-speaking market we have looked at, with two amplifiers: the opening weekend, and the four Advent weekends, when locals come in from the whole region. The weekend of 12 and 13 Dec, the third Sunday of Advent, is usually the busiest of the season.

The practical version: arrive on a Sunday evening, do the markets on Monday and Tuesday, and spend the weekend somewhere the market is not the main event. Markets that open at 10:00 or 11:00 are at their best in the first hour, when the glühwein stands are quiet and you can see the stalls rather than the backs of the people in front of them.

Five days, three markets, one train line

The easiest trio to string together is Strasbourg, Colmar and Basel. They sit on one regional line, the trains are frequent and cheap, and you cross from France into Switzerland without changing. Fly into Basel’s EuroAirport or Frankfurt, or take the TGV from Paris to Strasbourg.

The same shape works for Nuremberg, Munich and a village in between, or for Vienna, Prague and Dresden if you have seven days rather than five. For the longer legs, the night-train guide covers the sleepers that save you a hotel night, and if your trip spills into 2027, this list of city tourist taxes explains the extra line on your hotel bill. US passport holders still do not need any pre-travel authorisation to enter Europe this winter; here is where ETIAS stands (from 2 Nov).