Europe Travel Blog

Cologne has an impressive number of Christmas markets, most of which run daily from late November up until Christmas itself. Here in Cologne you will see Yuletide scenes that you normally only see on Christmas cards – groups of carol singers well wrapped up in thick coats with colourful hats and scarves, children running down cobbled streets, half-timbered shops with window displays of pretty crafts, stalls selling good things to eat, and snow covered fir trees.

Cologne’s oldest Christmas market is held on the Neumarkt, which is the city centre market in the shopping district. A speciality of this market is the decorative plates with illustrations of the Christmas markets, which are sold there alongside many other arts and crafts.

One of the most attractive Christmas markets in Cologne is the one held on Alter Markt in front of Cologne Town Hall, in the Old Town. This market has a particular appeal for children, as it has a traditional children’s roundabout, puppet theatre, Santa’s grotto, and numerous toy stalls.

Cologne’s major landmark is its magnificent Gothic cathedral, and here too you can find a market, with 160 pretty wooden pavilions. Here you will find the largest Christmas tree in the Rhineland, and there are all the traditional Christmas delicacies on offer, as well as mulled wine out of festively decorated mugs. Looking at the cathedral lit up at night while drinking a cup of mulled wine and munching on stollen makes for a great Christmas experience.

There is even a Medieval Christmas market next to Cologne’s Chocolate Museum, on the banks of the Rhine, which offers a recreation of the Middle Ages. And if the Middle Ages is not your thing, then you are not far from a supply of delicious chocolate - not forgetting, of course, that chocolate also makes a much appreciated Christmas gift.

Cologne is one of the most perfect destinations for Christmas shopping, especially given its variety of Christmas markets.

Filed under: Christmas markets, Germany