Christmas Market Holidays 2026

Every Christmas market break at a glance

All 24 packages, cheapest first. Every price is per person and includes return flights from London, your hotel and ATOL protection.

Single-city breaks

Twin-centre breaks

Which Christmas market should you choose?

Nearly every European city puts on a Christmas market, and they are not interchangeable. The difference between a vast German market town and a compact Alsatian village is the difference between two completely different weekends. Pick the atmosphere first and the price second.

If it is your first Christmas market

Go to Germany or Alsace. Nuremberg, Dresden, Cologne, Strasbourg and Colmar are the markets that set the template everyone else follows, and they deliver exactly what you are picturing. Nuremberg from £329pp and Strasbourg from £379pp are the two safest choices.

If you want the prettiest

Colmar, without much argument. The stalls run along the canals of the old tanners' quarter, the houses are timber-framed and painted, and the whole thing is small enough to walk in an evening. £429pp for three nights, or £449pp paired with Strasbourg.

If you are travelling with children

Nuremberg has a dedicated children's market with a carousel and a steam railway. Berlin's markets almost all have rides and ice rinks. Brussels runs a big wheel and a nightly sound-and-light show on the Grand-Place. Bear in mind these markets come alive after dark, which in December means from about four in the afternoon — plan the day around an early evening rather than a late one.

If you want a romantic weekend

Colmar, Strasbourg, Salzburg and Tallinn. All four are compact enough to wander without a plan, and all four look their best in the dark with the lights on. Tallinn at £399pp is the one most people have not been to.

If you are watching the budget

Budapest at £139pp and Milan at £149pp are the cheapest, and Prague at £199pp puts you in a 5★ hotel. Eastern and Central European cities also cost less once you are there — food, drink and transport in Budapest and Prague run well below German or Nordic prices, which matters more than the headline package cost over three days.

If you want snow

Nothing is guaranteed, but Innsbruck, Salzburg and Basel sit high enough and far enough into the Alps to give you the best chance. The Salzburg and Innsbruck twin-centre at £499pp is the strongest bet on this page.

If you have been before and want something different

Tallinn, Ljubljana and Basel. All three are excellent, none of them are on the standard list, and all three are noticeably less crowded than Cologne or Vienna on a December weekend.

The regions, and what each one is actually like

The grand German markets

Germany is where the tradition is oldest and the scale is biggest. Dresden's Striezelmarkt was first held in 1434 and remains one of the country's oldest. Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt is the most famous of them all, filling the main square with wooden stalls and Lebkuchen. Cologne spreads several markets around the cathedral, so you can walk between them in an afternoon. Berlin is the outlier — with around 80 markets across the city you can choose between traditional, alternative and enormous.

Expect crowds, particularly at weekends, and expect the food to be a genuine part of the experience rather than an afterthought. German breaks run from £159pp in Berlin to £349pp in Dresden.

The fairytale markets of Alsace

Strasbourg has been running its market since 1570 and calls itself the Capital of Christmas. Colmar, half an hour down the road, is smaller, quieter and arguably prettier. This is the region most people have in mind when they picture a Christmas market — narrow lanes, timber-framed houses, lights over the water.

Strasbourg is £379pp and Colmar £429pp for three nights. The four-night twin-centre covering both is £449pp, which is the better value of the three and the one we book most often.

Alpine and Austrian

Salzburg and Innsbruck pair their markets with mountains and, often, real snow. Vienna's Rathausplatz market is the grandest civic setting anywhere on this list, with the city hall lit behind it. Basel adds Swiss precision and Switzerland's largest market.

Vienna starts at £199pp for two nights. Salzburg, Basel and Innsbruck are £399–£449pp for three, or £499pp for the four-night Alpine twin-centre.

Nordic, Baltic and Central European

Tallinn's Town Hall Square market is regularly voted among Europe's best and is small enough to feel genuinely intimate. Copenhagen pairs its markets with Tivoli Gardens, which is worth the trip on its own in December. Budapest, Prague and Ljubljana deliver the most atmosphere for the least money.

Budapest is the cheapest break we run at £139pp, Prague £199pp in a 5★ hotel, Ljubljana £389pp, Tallinn £399pp and Copenhagen £449pp.

One city or two?

A single city over two or three nights is the standard Christmas market break, and for most first-timers it is the right call — you see one market properly rather than two in a rush.

Twin-centres make sense where the two cities are genuinely close and genuinely different. Strasbourg and Colmar are thirty minutes apart. Cologne and Düsseldorf are twenty. Vienna and Budapest are a short hop with markets that feel nothing alike. All five of our twin-centres run four nights, from £399pp, and the transfer between the two cities is built into the package. The same idea applied year-round, and further afield, is on our multi-centre holidays hub.

Where to go at Christmas: markets, or somewhere warm

"Where to go at Christmas" is really two different questions, and it is worth settling which one you are asking before you compare any prices. A European market break is short, inexpensive and specifically festive. Two to four nights, nineteen cities, £139pp to £499pp with flights included. You are going for the lights, the mulled wine and the cold — an atmosphere that only exists for about six weeks a year. Budapest at £139pp, Milan at £149pp and Berlin at £159pp are the cheapest ways in. Winter sun over Christmas is the opposite holiday, and December is its most expensive month because everyone else wants it too. For scale: Dubai from £649pp in December, Thailand from £1,199pp, the Maldives from £1,749pp, and the Caribbean from £1,769pp for eight nights all-inclusive in Jamaica. Set side by side, the cheapest market break is £139pp and the cheapest Caribbean Christmas is £1,769pp. They are not really competing — they are different holidays that happen to fall in the same month. If it is the festive atmosphere you are after, the markets do it better and at a fraction of the cost. If it is a beach on Christmas Day, nothing in Europe will do. If the answer is somewhere warm, all sixteen of those trips sit on the winter sun holidays page with their December and January prices set out together.

When the markets open and close

Most European Christmas markets open in the last week of November and close on 23 or 24 December. A few run longer — Vienna and Budapest typically continue past Christmas into the New Year, and Tallinn usually runs into early January. Exact opening dates shift each year with the Advent calendar, so we confirm them for your specific dates when you book.

The cheapest and quietest time to go

Weekdays in late November. The stalls are all open, the lights are up and the crowds have not arrived. You will pay noticeably less for both flights and hotels than you would two weeks later.

The busiest and most expensive

The first two weekends in December, by a distance. If those are the only dates you can travel, book early — hotel availability in the small cities like Colmar and Bruges-scale old towns tightens long before flights do.

The sweet spot

The week between the two. Early December midweek gives you the markets in full swing, properly festive, without weekend prices or weekend crowds. The monthly price calendar on each deal page shows the difference date by date — it is worth comparing before you commit.

What is included, and what is not

Every break on this page includes return flights from London, your hotel and full ATOL protection under licence 10713. Regional departures are available on request across all 24 packages — tell us your nearest airport and we will price the same break from there.

Hotels are 4★ as standard, with Prague at 5★. Board is either bed and breakfast or room only depending on the package, and it is stated on each deal page. Breakfast is worth having in December, when it is dark until eight and you will not want to go hunting for it.

Not included: airport transfers unless specified, travel insurance, and anything you spend at the markets themselves.

What to budget once you are there

Entry to every market on this list is free. Plan for the following on top of the package:

• Mulled wine — around €4–5 a cup in Germany and Austria, usually with a deposit of €3–5 on the mug. Return it and you get the deposit back, or keep the mug, which most people do.
• Food — £6–10 a head for something substantial: bratwurst, tartiflette, langos, raclette. Eating at the stalls is part of the point.
• Airport transfers — most of these cities run a train or tram from the airport for a few euros. We can arrange private transfers if you would rather not work it out after an evening flight.
• Cash — many stalls take cards now, but not all, and mug deposits are usually cash. Carry €30–50 in small notes.

As a rough guide, allow £40–60 per person per day in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia, and £25–40 in Hungary, Czechia, Estonia and Slovenia.

Practicalities for UK travellers

Every destination on this page is in the Schengen area, so British passport holders need no visa for a short break — you can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

Two passport rules apply, and the first catches people out every year. Your passport must have been issued within the last ten years of the date you arrive, and must be valid for at least three months after the day you leave the Schengen area. Check the issue date, not just the expiry — a passport renewed early before October 2018 can carry extra months that no longer count.

The EU's Entry/Exit System is now being rolled out across the Schengen area. It replaces passport stamping with a biometric record: expect to give fingerprints and have a photo taken the first time you enter. There is no charge, and your record lasts three years, so subsequent trips are quicker. Allow a little extra time at the border on your first crossing under the new system.

Confirm the current position on GOV.UK before you travel.

Dress warmer than you think. You will be standing outside in the evening in temperatures that are frequently below freezing in Germany, Austria and the Baltics. Proper boots, a hat and gloves are the difference between an enjoyable evening and a short one. Tallinn and Copenhagen in particular are genuinely cold after dark.

Booking, deposits and how we work

Christmas market breaks sell out from the outside in — the first two December weekends go first, then the rest of December, then late November. Hotel availability in the smaller old towns tightens well before flights do, so the earlier you book the more choice of location you get.

All 24 packages can be held with a low deposit, and a dedicated UK travel consultant handles the booking end to end — flights, hotel, transfers and any changes along the way. Everything is ATOL protected under licence 10713, so your money is secure and you are covered if anything happens while you are away.

If the exact combination you want is not listed, we will build it. Different dates, a different pairing, an extra night, a regional departure — these 24 packages are a starting point, not the limit.

Outside the market season these same cities run as ordinary short breaks from £129pp — Venice, Rome, Prague, Budapest and the rest are on our city break holidays hub.