It is the most beautiful time of the year! Who wouldn’t like to enjoy a glass of mulled wine and a delicious meal while listening to Christmas carols in a market illuminated by hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights? Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Well, like every year Christmas is coming and all cities are trying to find the best Christmas Market the region. Some of them are still a little better and bigger than the others. So if this year you are looking for best Advent in Europe look at our list and prepare for your next short vacation!
1) Zagreb, Croatia
The best Advent in Europe (three years in a row!) is in Zagreb. During the Christmas season, Zagreb offers numerous events that will meet even the most demanding among you. Unique events, rich food and real Christmas spirit await you on the streets and squares of the Croatian capital. The magic begins with the Ice park on Tomislav Square, where you can skate to the rhythm of Christmas carols, and continues with small wooden houses with Advent decorations on Zrinjevac next to the pavilion and on Europski Square (square), where you can taste local specialties and enjoy fantastic mulled wine. The rich program of Zagreb will convince you in a second, be it with many organized concerts and Christmas trains or simply with the magical atmosphere in the whole city.
When: 1. December 2018 – 6. January 2019
2) Budapest, Hungary
The 7. annual Advent festival in the Basilica is a festive Christmas market under the open sky, welcoming everyone with fantastic food (both Hungarian specialties and international delicacies) like the ever-popular "Flodni" – the Hungarian chimney cake, delicious burgers, fish dishes – and much more. Market also offers many attractions, including ice skating for children in a large rink around a massive Christmas tree (free for children under 14), and features some modern elements, such as the best contemporary handicraft products in the country, a fantastic light show that, if you wear 3D glasses, gives a whole new look to the St.-St. Stephen’s Basilica results, and Flash mobs. But even Santa Claus shops for Advent at the Basilica. Do you need more reasons to buy a ticket for Budapest?
When: 27. November 2018 – 2. January 2019
3) Vienna, Austria
Why choose one Christmas market when you can have more than 20 of them? Here’s what to find in Vienna, where festive Advent villages fill the most beautiful squares and stand next to impressive architectural wonders like Schonbrunn and Belvedere. To highlight just a few – the biggest (and for many the best) of them is the Wiener Weihnachtstraum at Rathausplatz with more than 150 traditional stalls in front of the city hall, while for visitors interested in handicrafts and arts and crafts, there is a den Kunst Advent at Karlsplatz. Vienna, one of the three best Christmas markets in Europe, Transforms into a magical Christmas land. Trees, gifts, decorations and warm drinks create a unique Viennese experience you won’t want to miss!
When: 17. November – 26. December 2018
4) Colmar, France
France 1. And the second best Christmas market Europe’s can be visited in the city that combines all the requirements for a dream destination – gastronomy, wines, traditions, culture, architecture and history. For 18 years now, Colmar has hosted a six-week Christmas magic at five markets in a maze of narrow streets with old half-timbered houses. Every Christmas market is a mini-village highlighting passionate and enthusiastic craftsmen. Most of them come from Alsace and were chosen for the quality and uniqueness of their products. So buy at least one souvenir. You can also take part in guided tours, wine tastings, children’s animations, traditional toy exhibitions, and numerous shows and concerts.
When: 23. November – 30. December 2018
5) Brussels, Belgium
Although this Advent market has only been around since 2002, the Christmas market in Brussels is catching on with Plaisirs d’Hiver / Winter Pret Festival from. It features a sound-and-light show at the Grand Palace and Place Sainte Catherine, but that’s not all – more than 200 wooden chalets offer Christmas crafts and souvenirs to visitors at the Brussels Market. Keep in mind that you can’t go there without buying some Moules (mussels) and caricoles (peppery puppies or winkles), Belgian fries and fluffy waffles, seasonal croustillons (sugar doughnuts) and to taste Belgium’s two most popular additions to the world’s cuisine: fine chocolates and powerful beer. Near the fish market you will find a sparkling 50 meter high Ferris wheel. A little further away, on the Place de la Monnaie, you can skate on a 2500 square meter ice rink and dance to the most popular Christmas songs, perfect fun for both younger and older generations, or?
When: 30. November 2018 – 6. January 2019
6) Prague, Czech Republic
Prague has maintained its long tradition of hosting one of the best Christmas markets in Europe – and it won’t disappoint us this year either. The two best Christmas markets in Prague are located on Wenceslas Square and at the Old Town Square around a giant tree, a Nativity scene and a small zoo. The sparkling markets sell wooden toys, handmade jewelry, Bohemian crystal and classic Czech puppets, but you can also find something sweet – from delicious honeyed gingerbread and vosI hnIzda (nutty cookies with lots of rum) by mead and Svarene Vino ( a sweet mulled wine). The traditional Czech Christmas dinner consists of wine sausages and carp. So do not forget the delicious delicacies. If you find yourself at the 5. December in Prague, you can look forward to a special treat: Santa Claus and his crew roam the city, accompanied by an angel and a demon, and roam the crowd on the Old Town Square to find good and naughty children.
When: 1. December 2018 – 6. January 2019
7) Copenhagen, Denmark
The Danish capital celebrates its "Jul" with the Christmas market and the countless lighted Christmas trees in the city’s famous historic amusement park, Tivoli. Four kilometers of lights illuminate hundreds of stalls hanging on the willows of the lakeshore. Do as the Danes do and protect the cold with æbleskiver (iced doughnuts with blackcurrant jam) and glogg, a steaming hot mulled wine with raisins, almonds, cinnamon sticks and cloves – all full of aquavit or schnapps. Visit one Arts and crafts market along a canal in the historic district of Nyhavn. If you want to see the town crier, visit the market between 5 and 6 p.m. The most important thing, however, is to find nisser, tiny elves who roam Denmark at Christmas time, wearing wooden shoes, red shirts and red pointed caps. They may bring you presents if you leave bowls of porridge in the attic. Who wouldn’t love to get a few more presents, especially from Copenhagen?
When: 17. November – 31. December 2018
Stockholm, Sweden
Stockholm, Sweden Since 1903 Stockholm strengthens its Advent season with four different markets in the city, in the Old Town, Skansen, Kungstradgàrden and Djurgàrden. These markets offer a wide selection of handmade toys, ornaments and specialties of Swedish gastronomy, especially the delicious Glogg (Swedish mulled wine), gingerbread (Pepparkakor), saffron rolls (Lussekatter). Most of these markets close at 6 p.m. So you should continue your tour in Drottninggatan, a long pedestrian street in the city center with numerous stores decorated for this magical occasion, or visit Seglora Church, where beautiful Christmas concerts are held every year. During Advent in Stockholm, visit the Royal Mews (Kungliga Hovstallet), the stables where the royal horses, harnesses and carriages form a traditional Christmas market where you can buy quality crafts and delicacies while exploring the buildings and also looking at the horses.
When: 14. November – 23. December 2018
9) Nuremberg, Germany
Although Germany has several strong competitors, the Christkindlesmarkt in the charming medieval town is Nuremberg for over 400 years without a doubt the number one Christmas market in Germany. The main market, held in the largest square in the city, is rich in lights, Christmas carols, crafts and Mulled wine-Glasses. More than 180 market stalls, all fantastically decorated, invite you to taste the local Zwetschgenmannle to enjoy plums, toys and games made of plums. The Christkindlesmarkt is a fairy-tale dreamland with two carousels modeled on old ones with reindeer and Santa’s sleigh, as well as a mini Ferris wheel, a small carousel and a steam train.
When: 25. November – 24. December 2018
10) Tallinn, Estonia
In recent years, Tallinn’s Christmas market has become increasingly popular in foreign media as one of the best in Europe. This year on the market there are many heart-shaped ornaments, chosen for various reasons for decorating the market (the market itself is also heart-shaped seen from the air!) – the heart is a symbol of love and Christmas is the warmest holiday in general not true? For children there are Carousels and Santa Claus, which gives sweets to those who can recite verses, but there is also mulled wine for children (don’t worry, there are also different flavors for adults). The market has a very rich cultural program – on weekends more than 3000 appear on stage, and during Advent every Sunday a candle is lit and church leaders greet the gathered crowd.