European Christmas Market Anticipation

Join me this week to learn all about the planning process for visiting European Christmas Markets!

What is a European Christmas Market?

  • I recommend heading over to Instagram and searching “European Christmas Markets”! This is a great place to see recent images.

  • These markets are so charming and full of vendors selling decorations and delicious food.

How can I visit the markets?

  • If the planning process seems too daunting, there are options to visit the Christmas Markets with a tour group.

    • I don’t have any recommendations as I’ve never been on a tour here, but there are so many options if you Google “European Christmas Markets Tour”.

    • These tours usually range from 1-2 weeks.

  • Go on a river cruise!

    • There are options to take cruises through the rivers in Europe.

    • This option takes care of your accommodations and travel arrangements.

    • There are specific river cruises that focus on visiting Christmas Market towns.

  • Plan your own trip

    • I started planning this trip in March (9 months before the trip). However, we’ve also had friends start planning 1 year in advance, and another family planned it 3 months before. So it’s never too late (or early) to think about the trip.

How do I plan my own trip?

  • The first thing I did was choose an itinerary. I knew that I needed to choose which cities to visit before we could figure out other details.

    • I took a survey of my family to find out which cities were priorities to them.

    • Go online and look at blogs or social media posts to figure out which markets are your top choices.

    • There are SO many market options. Don’t get too stressed picking cities. Just remember that no matter where you go, it is going to be amazing. 

  • Use Rome2Rio to help you figure out a good route between cities!

    • This helped me figure out the distances between cities, and what was possible or not.

    • I was able to come up with tons of different itineraries using Rome2Rio.

  • Choose your dates and how long you can be gone.

    • Once you know your availability, you can plan out your route more precisely. 

  • Be aware that a lot of the Christmas Markets end around December 22-23

  • Now you can buy your flights!

    • Remember that you can fly into one city and out from somewhere else.

  • Next, book your accommodations

    • Click here to read my post all about how I like to book accommodations!

    • One additional tip is to look for places near the city center if you don’t want to rent a car.

  • Figure out transportation between your final cities

    • I used Rome2Rio again to figure out the best ways to travel between each of our cities.

    • I also like to use My Day Trip! This website allows you to book drivers to get between cities. 

      • It also suggests stops to take along the way!

  • Look for activities that you want to do in each city

    • Make sure that you pay attention to the dates that tickets for each attraction open!

  • Print off any tickets and boarding passes that you need

    • I know this seems old-fashioned, but you might not always have great service to pull up tickets once you’re on your trip.

    • I like to bring a small folder with all of these important documents.

Our Family’s Itinerary

  • London, England

  • Manchester, England

  • Paris, France 

  • Strasbourg, France (Google Strasbourg Christmas Markets! They are the cutest!)

  • Stuttgart, Germany

  • Heidelberg, Germany 

  • Luxembourg City

  • Brussels, Belgium 

  • Amsterdam, Netherlands

Lisa Andrews2 Comments