The Great Christmas Market Tour of Europe

Christmas time is an open door that permits a brief return to innocence. The magic dwells in the flavours and smells, the glittering lights, the rainbow of colours and the childish laughter. I love Christmas not for what it is or represents, but for the way it makes me feel. For it lets the kid in me surface and it brings back memories.

I really don't mind seeing shop windows decked up by November. I'm just sad to see the magic go at the beginning of January. The holiday season seems too short. So what's the one sure way to get an overdose of Christmas magic? 

A Christmas Market tour through mainland Europe! 

We were faced with so many choices, it was overwhelming. Which are the best Christmas markets in Europe? Suggestions started pouring in and soon enough the list got pretty long. Everyone has their favourites and no two people would come up with the same list of cities.

We also needed to create an itinerary that made sense. Since we were doing it all by train in collaboration with ACPRail, we really wanted to experience the Christmas spirit in various countries and traditions while not spending too many hours on the way. 

Saying that it was tons of fun, it's an understatement. Christmas markets in Europe, and especially in Germany, have an amazing vibe! When it comes to atmosphere, bigger is better. However, the smaller markets were less crowded and we could enjoy them better. The only disappointment so to speak was seeing many of the products repeating over and over again. 

The real twist was however when we ate the best bratwurst in Strasbourg, the best waffles in Cologne and best mulled wine in Lille. Not exactly what we expected!

Well, without further ado, here are the 9 finalists that made it to our Christmas Market itinerary.

Lille's Christmas Market is not very big, but from a culinary point of view, it was our favourite. The Ferris Wheel and the huge Christmas tree placed amidst a winter wonderland create an enchanting atmosphere, especially at night.

Brugge has two Christmas Markets, both surrounded by beautiful medieval buildings. Not too busy at the end of November, we loved the cozy and relaxed feel, the ice ring in the Grote Markt and the Ice Sculpture Festival by the train station. That almost every restaurant in town had an open fire and it was festively decorated, certainly didn't hurt either.

The Christmas Market in Brussels is a young one. Its first edition was actually held this century. But somehow it skyrocketed to the top of 'the most popular European Christmas Markets' list. Its fame might be due to the over 200 chalets lined along various streets and squares. But what we liked best were the two steampunk carousels. The sound and light shows in Grand Place and St Catherine Place were cool too.

Cologne

Cologne has not one, not two, but seven Christmas Markets, each with a different theme. This includes a Gay and Lesbian Christmas Market! Although the tradition of holding a Christmas Market in Cologne is not centuries old, it turns out the 4 million annual visitors put it at the very top of the most popular Christmas Markets in Germany. Our opinion? Definitely our FAVOURITE! The Gnome's Market was the closest to our heart, followed by the Angel's market, the Village of St. Nicolas and the Cathedral market.

Strasbourg

Dubbed the Capital of Christmas, Strasbourg takes pride in hosting the oldest Christmas Market in France, dating all the way back to 1570. Nowadays, there are 11 Christmas Markets held in different squares around the city, but they rather have the same feel. What grabbed our attention in Strasbourg was the amazing light show in Place Kleber and the incredibly decorated buildings. We've never seen anything like this!

Stuttgart

Stuttgart's Christmas Market is one of the oldest in Germany. And truth is, nobody does Christmas better than the Germans! Set in the heart of the city, with the Old Palace as a backdrop, the amazingly decorated chalets caught our attention from the very beginning. Every single one of them was decorated with natural fir branches and many had beautiful scenes on their roofs, along with small trees. There's even a competition for the best decorated rooftop! The model railway and the ice ring were just as magical!

Nuremberg

Nuremberg's Christmas Market is in many people's books the best in Germany. As opposed to the Stuttgart Christmas Market, the stalls here are plain, and not much thought is put into decorating them. That's because in Nuremberg they care more about the quality of the merchandise on sale. This is a market in the true sense of the word, where people come to sell and buy stuff, and the stalls are dropping under the weight of hand-made products. Prune men and golden angels are a must buy! The red and white rooftops which by the way represent the local flag and not a Christmas spirit went overboard, the tradition of the Christkind and the charming stage coach took us back in time.

Innsbruck

We started our day in Innsbruck by taking the cable car up the Nordkette. It was one of those days when the mountain top fog wouldn't let you see more than 10 meters in front of you. The good part? It was snowing! Given it's been over a decade since we played in the snow, we kind of lost track of time and spent most of the day up on the mountain in the company of puffy snowflakes. At twilight we retuned to the city and warmed up with steaming cups of mulled wine at the Christmas Market while exploring the fairytale themed streets of Innsbruck. Magical!

Bern

Bern Christmas Market is the third largest in the country. But despite our fondness for Switzerland, we were a bit disappointed. The merchandise was indeed slightly different, with more knitwear and wood carvings than in other Christmas Markets we've visited, but somehow it lacked the right vibe. We believe this was because of the shortage of food stalls. The one and only food chalet was at the end of the market and it inevitably draw all the action. The same was the case in the smaller market in front of the Cathedral. And though this decongested the traffic in the markets, enjoying our fondue tucked away in a corner didn't feel right.

We are incredibly happy and grateful for having seen this dream of ours come true. It was an amazing trip and we enjoyed it to the fullest. And we didn't freeze our butts off as much as we thought we would, not even on top of the mountain at -3ºC. Oh, and we even make acquaintance with 3 new cities (Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Innsbruck)!