It was early spring of 2022, and the possibility of traveling abroad again was starting to become a real possibility after 2 years of COVID. Karen and I were more than ready to do something after my tour season ended in October. The question was, “where to go?”

The strong dollar was making Europe look amazingly cheap, and it had been a decade since we were last there. Our inspiration came in the form of a small town in the Washington Cascades we visited for one snowy night in December 2021. Leavenworth is a Bavarian-style city known for its incredible Christmas displays during the holidays. We visited it on our way to a few pet sits in western Washington state, and we were smitten. The town was quaint in the best sense of the word, and the heavens even opened up and treated us to a few beautiful inches of snow. What a night that was!

While we were holed up on the Olympic Peninsula being entertained by three cats, we began dreaming of what we wanted to do later in the year. One of the things we decided is that, as enchanting as Leavenworth was, we wanted to experience the real thing: Christmas Markets in Europe.

Soon, we devised a plan for late fall and early winter. Fly to Lyon to spend a month immersed in its unique culture and renown cuisine. Then, spend the next 4 weeks visiting some of the best Christmas Market towns in France and Germany. After having our fill of Glühwein, sausage and cold weather, we would retreat to the warmth of Seville in the south of Spain for a relaxing month and the holidays, Spanish style.

Where did we decided to go and how did it work?

First, we did some research regarding the top Christmas Markets – particularly what makes each unique and interesting. From there, we mapped out a travel plan which was basically a hub-and-spoke approach. We identified 4 cities known for their Christmas Markets which would be our bases and allow us to take easy day trips to some of our other favorites Christmas Market towns. The four hub cities were Colmar, Heidelberg, Würzburg, and Cologne. They each contain interesting sites and excellent train connections, and they allowed us to stay very near their Christmas Markets at reasonable prices. That enabled us to avoid the worst of the holiday crowds.

Christmas Market Tips

Here are some tips for navigating a Christmas Market adventure of your own.

• Understand the start and end dates for the Christmas Markets you’re considering as they do vary. Popular small village day trips likely will have later start dates and may only have Christmas Markets open on weekends.
• Definitely try to visit a Medieval Christmas Market, they are very unique and fun.
• Traveling by train is the easiest way to visit various Christmas Markets. Plus, it eliminates the need to find parking, which can be real bear for the more popular markets.
• Each German state offers a regional train service with daily unlimited rides at a fixed price. It limits your options to regional trains only, but provides a major savings and great flexibility. You can find options on the DB Train app under Regional Options.
• Hot Mulled Wine is available at all Christmas Markets – Vin Chaud in France & Gluhwein in Germany – although slightly different recipes are used from one market town to the next.
• Every Christmas Market has designer 2cl mugs for your drinks. For your first drink, you pay for the drink and pay a deposit for the mug. You can keep the mug as a souvenir or return it to get you deposit back. Some Christmas Markets use all the same mugs across all stands while other markets have stand-specific mugs. Just make sure you know where to return your mug.

Visiting European Christmas Markets is a fabulous way to drench yourself in the holiday spirit. Some people choose to go on organized tours, but it’s easy to create your own personal tour. Using a hub-and-spoke approach to incorporate immersing yourself in the holiday vibe of your base cities while getting a good taste of other Christmas Markets in the region is a wonderful approach. And it makes for holiday experiences you won’t soon forget.