Sleigh ride, shop, and dine your way through Germany's winter wonderland at authentic Christmas festivals and crafts markets.

If the wonderful family tradition of Christmas Markets has not reached your hometown, it's hard to imagine just how much fun you can have sightseeing and shopping in the cold winter of Europe's cultural capitals. While tourists come during the day, locals turn out after work and stay late into the evening, sipping mulled wine or cocoa, helping long nights pass during this top-value season.

Old-fashioned Christmas Markets, also known as Chriskindlesmarkt, are located in a variety of big and small towns throughout Europe, but the tradition is perhaps strongest in Germany.

Typically, wood and canvas stalls are set up in town squares and public parks where musicians play, vendors sell their crafts and home-baked treats, wine bars sell 'hot toddies' and food stalls serve up seasonal specialties. The whole family will enjoy the equivalent of an outdoor food court combined with a crafts fair, draped in boughs of evergreen and, often, gently falling snow. There's no better place to have dinner and no more authentic way to enjoy true European culture. Here are some FTF favorites in Germany.

Nuremburg Christmas Market

Considered Germany’s most famous market, this event is centrally located in the heart of Nuremburg, on the main market square. This jovial gala is nicknamed the “Little Town from Wood and Cloth” due to the red and white cloth décor on the temporary booths. Nuremburg's Christmas Market usually begins towards the end of November and lasts until a day or two before Christmas and accommodates about 180 different vendors. This provides guests with a variety of genuine German cuisine as well as an array of homemade Christmas ornaments and crafts. Some of the savory staples that are presented include spicy gingerbread fruit loaves, an assortment of German pastries and baking goods as well as roast sausages and traditional spiced wine mixed with honey and served warm in a mug, a very popular beverage during the winter. Typical Christmas articles such as tree ornaments and toys are also offered, but a favorite souvenir among visitors is the “Nuremburg Plum people” actually made from real prunes.

Hamburg Christmas Market

During Advent, the season of the Christina Church, Hamburg holds their annual Christmas Market at Town Hall, a statuesque and majestic edifice built in 1886. As Germany’s biggest and most prosperous seaport, it is fitting that Hamburg's charming celebration includes about 100 vendors offering an assortment of handmade ornaments, wooden toys, angels, advent wreaths, and woodcarvings, in addition to sweets and baked goods. Also worth noting, the elaborate enclosed shopping arcades throughout this city provide a bad weather option. While adults go shopping, children can join the fun on one of the fairytale-steamers on Alster Lake, where programs of magic tricks, painting, listening to fairytales and baking Christmas cookies are offered. New this year is “Nordic Lane”, a tribute to Hamburg’s traditionally close ties to the countries of Scandinavia and the Baltic region. What Christmas festivity would be complete without Santa Claus himself soaring high above the roofs of the market cottages in his reindeer-driven sleigh?

Thuringia Christmas Market

Thuringia is located in the middle of the country and hosts one of the most unique Christmas markets because of its medieval culture. The town Erfust is known for its medieval Castle Wartburg. Upon entering this Romanesque palace via the original drawbridge (the only entrance throughout the centuries), you’ll marvel at the picturesque Christmas tree and the distinctive nativity scene displaying 14 hand-carved, life-size wooden characters inhabiting an enchanted forest. If you would like to step back and experience this epic time period, the Castle Wartburg offers a luxury hotel stay, fit for any king and queen, prince and princess. You and your family can take advantage of the traditional crafts, medieval musicians and traveling entertainers that will be present during your stay. For more information and seasonal rates, please visit their website. 

Augsburg Christmas Market, a German Tradition

In Augsburg, the theme this holiday season allows you to float back in time by offering a true, old-world style Christmas market. Gleaming lights and traditional yuletide music create the old-fashioned ambiance for this one-of-a-kind celebration. Festively decorated wooden stalls selling crafts and culinary treats will fulfill any family’s Christmas wishes. Another entertaining event replays a traditional holiday story on Augsburg's Fairy Tale Street. The story of "The Nutcracker" is relived in nine extravagantly designed scenes in shop windows all around the Christmas market. To ensure your young travelers are entertained, the children’s land Unter’m Sternenhimmel (“Under the Starry Sky”) at Moritz Square will include special attractions such as a puppet theater, a big merry-go-round glowing with Christmas lights, and the large sugar castle from "The Nutcracker" where children can draw, bake and work on crafts. If that’s not enough Christmas spirit, the Augsburg City Hall is transformed into a monumental Advent Calendar where angels provide musical performances in front of the structure’s windows.

Frankfurt Christmas Market, Gateway to Germany

Travelers transiting through Frankfurt Airport (Fraport) should spend a day to enjoy the city in winter, when the usual fast-paced metropolis of Frankfurt transforms into a quiet, festive town exuding holiday charm. Visitors find the massive Christmas tree located in the center of Frankfurt’s historical hall one of the most appealing attractions during this time of the year. The Frankfurt Christmas Market located in the Römerberg Square debuted in 1393, and today has 200 decorated stalls offering the finest of Frankfurt’s specialties including creative arts, crafts and unique gift ideas. While you stroll through this market and embrace the holiday spirit you can also experience many of Frankfurt’s traditional holiday treats such as the Bethmaennchen, a Christmas cookie made of almonds, marzipan and rose water and the popular Quetschemaennchen, a miniature confection also filled with the almond flavored marzipan, dried plums and nuts.

If you desire more knowledge of Frankfurt’s history and traditions, a guided tour provides information about this timeless holiday market and, of course, reveals some of the special ingredients in the assortment of treats you’re going to sample. Your family can also experience a nostalgic ride on one of Frankfurt’s antique carousels, and then warm yourself with a hot beverage while admiring the perfectly illuminated Christmas tree. If you’re lucky, you and the kids may even steal a glimpse of jolly Old Nick himself.  Tours are available in English from the 1st Advent, from the fourth Sunday before Christmas onwards.

Dresden Christmas Market & China Shops

The Dresden Striezelmarkt, considered the oldest Chriskindlesmarkt, is the region that concocted the savory Dresdener Stollen (a rich fruit-filled holiday yeast bread.) The Dresden Christmas Market is located in the historical part of the city center between the recently rebuilt Frauenkirche and the famous culinary highlight of Münzgasse. Radiating a romantic and sophisticated vibe, this exceptional market is for those interested in excavating more avant-garde treasures. Local artisans make the most time-honored holiday presents out of iron ore, a metallic iron rich in colors and textures. Also, you’ll find hidden gems such as Christmas pyramids, smoking figures and candleholders from Erzgebirge Mountains, indigo-dyed printed textile products and pottery from Lusatia, gingerbread from Pulsnitz, filigree lace products from Plauen, blown glass tree decorations from Lauscha, and of course specialties from Dresden itself, such as the traditional ‘Pflaumentoffel’, a chimney-sweep figure made of dried prunes. But the most compelling image of the Striezelmarkt is the soaring Christmas pyramid, a 45-foot-tall wooden carousel with life-sized angels and scenes from the nativity.

Heidelberg Christmas Market is more Contemporary

New to the Chriskindlesmarkt tradition is the city of Heidelberg, the first one held in 1987. This market extends over five town squares and is ideal for a laid-back stroll, as families can peruse regional delicacies and crafts as well admire stunning views of the city. New this year, the Christmas On Ice event allows your family to link arms and glide across the open-air rink surrounded by shimmering trees, iridescent star-lit skies, while listening to the whispering hymn of Christmas melodies.

Munich Christmas Market

Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is known for its Chriskindlesmarktthat catering especially to kids. In the Town Hall, a Heavenly Workshop is available to children between the ages of 6 and 12 so they can create their own arts and crafts, as well as bake their own German Christmas cookies. All bite-sized cherubs will be given sheer angel wings to wear. Girls can also try on lustrous, floor-length gowns, transforming them into divine and godly beings (at least until after they’ve received their Christmas presents.) This event is supervised by professional artists and instructors and is free for all who attend. For those who simply can’t wait to hear their favorite holiday tunes, each day from the balcony of Munich’s Town Hall you and your family can enjoy an exceptional Christmas Market Concert.

More than a Christmas Market, for the third year in a row Munich will also present “Tollwood,” an unconventional winter festival located in Olympia Park. Tollwood explores the fascinating phenomena that make up the universe. Upon entering this mysterious venue you’ll be surrounded by a massive array of contradictions such as landscapes of fire and ice intertwined with each other, and sculptures of angels and demons enthroned high above this extraordinary gala. Crafts and cuisine are offered as well as performances by international musicians and various drama groups.

For more information on what other attractions these towns have to offer, visit the >Historic Germany tourism Office website.