Christmas Markets in Europe 2026: Dates for 24 Cities

Europe’s big Christmas markets open between 12 and 28 November 2026, and 13 of these 24 stay open after Christmas. This is the calendar of the cities Luxury.it has covered this season, in order of opening, with the closing date of each main market and a link to the full guide: hours, the other markets in town and the MICHELIN Key hotels within reach. The dates are those published by each city or organiser.

The 2026 calendar: 24 cities in order of opening

Opens	City	Main market	Closes
12 November	Paris	La Défense, then the Tuileries from mid-November	31 December
13 November	Budapest	Advent Feast at the Basilica	1 January
13 November	Vienna	Christkindlmarkt on Rathausplatz	26 December
14 November	Edinburgh	Princes Street Gardens	3 January
Mid-November	Copenhagen	Tivoli Gardens	Into the new year
16 November	Cologne	Cathedral market on Roncalliplatz	23 December
18 November	Hamburg	Jungfernstieg and Gänsemarkt, Rathausmarkt from 23 November	23 December
19 November	London	Hyde Park Winter Wonderland	3 January
19 November	Salzburg	Christkindlmarkt on Domplatz and Residenzplatz	1 January
19 November	Zurich	Bellevue Noël and the station market	23 December
19 November	Geneva	Noël au Quai	24 December
20 November	Munich	Christkindlmarkt on Marienplatz	24 December
20 November	Montreux	Montreux Noël on the lakefront	24 December
21 November	Stockholm	Stortorget, in Gamla Stan	23 December
23 November	Berlin	WeihnachtsZauber on the Gendarmenmarkt	31 December
23 November	Colmar	Six markets in the old town	29 December
25 November	Dresden	Striezelmarkt on the Altmarkt	24 December
25 November	Reims	Hautes Promenades, by the station	27 December
26 November	Basel	Barfüsserplatz and Münsterplatz	23 December
26 November	Amsterdam	Amsterdam Light Festival	17 January
27 November	Strasbourg	Eight markets, with the Christkindelsmärik	24 December
27 November	Barcelona	Fira de Santa Llúcia	23 December
27 November	Brussels	Winter Wonders, around the Grand Place	3 January
28 November	Prague	Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square	6 January

Closing dates in January are in 2027. Where a city has several markets, the table follows the main one, and the guide lists the rest.

The early openers, from Paris to Cologne

Paris starts first, at La Défense on 12 November, and the market in the Tuileries follows a few days later. Budapest and Vienna open the next day. Budapest’s Advent Feast fills the square in front of St Stephen’s Basilica. Vienna opens its Christkindlmarkt on the Rathausplatz, and the market at Schönbrunn Palace has been trading since 6 November. Edinburgh follows on 14 November in the gardens below the castle, Cologne on 16 November at the foot of the cathedral.

Berlin belongs here too. Its market at the Memorial Church opens on 13 November, ten days before the Gendarmenmarkt.

The last week of November, when Alsace and Prague join

The second wave is the bigger one. Dresden’s Striezelmarkt, which counts 2026 as its 592nd edition, opens on 25 November. Basel follows on the 26th. Strasbourg opens on Friday 27 November at 14:00, on the same day as Barcelona and Brussels, and Prague closes the list on 28 November. Colmar, half an hour from Strasbourg by train, is already open by then, from 23 November.

Thirteen markets that carry on after 25 December

A trip between Christmas and New Year narrows the choice. Budapest and Salzburg run to 1 January. Edinburgh, London and Brussels run to 3 January, Prague to 6 January, and the lights on Amsterdam’s canals stay on until 17 January. Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt and the chalets at La Défense close on New Year’s Eve. Colmar is open on Christmas Day and until 29 December, Reims until the 27th, Vienna’s Rathausplatz until the 26th. In Copenhagen, Tivoli keeps its Christmas season into the new year.

Where Christmas Eve is the last day

Strasbourg ends on 24 December, when the stalls close at 18:00, and nothing reopens before the new year. Dresden and Munich both stop at 14:00 that day. Montreux closes at 17:00. Geneva’s quay also ends on Christmas Eve. Cologne, Hamburg, Basel, Barcelona and Stockholm are gone a day earlier, on the 23rd.

For Italy’s markets, a separate calendar

This series stops at the Alps. Italy’s own markets, from Bolzano and Merano to Trento, Verona and Florence, are dated one by one in Holiday.it’s calendar of Italian Christmas markets.

The Luxury.it perspective

The date decides the city more than the city decides the date. Before 18 November the choice is Paris, Budapest, Vienna, Edinburgh or Cologne. After Christmas it is Prague, Brussels, Budapest, Salzburg or London. In between, almost everything is open, and the question becomes the hotel. Every guide in the table lists the MICHELIN Key hotels within reach of the market, and in the smaller cities, Colmar, Reims, Basel and Montreux, there are few of them and they fill first. The quietest days are Monday to Thursday in the first two weeks of December. The weekends before Christmas are the opposite.