Did you ever watch Polar Express as a kid and love how magical the North Pole looks with all of the Christmas lights, decorations, old architecture, and holiday vibes? We did! And we finally decided to take a trip based on those themes. Cologne was one of the top cities we visited for Christmas markets! The perfect location for holiday cheer! If you are looking for Christmas markets look no further than Cologne!
- Why Choose Cologne?
- Christmas market at Cologne Cathedral
- Heinzels Winter Fairytale
- Cologne Harbour Christmas Market
- Market of Angels
- Village of St. Nicholas
- Christmas markets in the Stadtgarten
- Our Recommendations
- How Affordable are Christmas Markets
- Best Snacks and Food Awards
- Final Thoughts
Why Choose Cologne?
Cologne has so many Christmas markets to choose from, each one more special than the last! With colorful lights, adorable shops, amazing food, and great gifts and souvenirs, there is so much to choose from. Not to mention how adorable the city is and with the Cologne Cathedral looming over everything looks unreal in winter!
Here are the 6 Christmas markets in Cologne!
📍 Christmas Market at Cologne Cathedral
📍 Heinzels Winter Fairytale
📍 Cologne Harbour Christmas Market
📍 Market of Angels
📍 Village of St. Nicholas
📍 Christmas Markets in the Stadtgarten
Christmas market at Cologne Cathedral
This Christmas market is so magical due to the size of it and the fact that the Cologne Cathedral looms over the market in all of its magnificence! This was one of the bigger and more magical markets with the cute red accents and adorable pine décor.
This market had so many different food options to choose from! Some of our favorites snacks and souvenirs of all the markets in cologne were found here.
Heinzels Winter Fairytale
This is the biggest of the 6 markets in Cologne! It is split into two different markets, the Alter Markt (Old Market) and the Heumarkt (Gnome Market) which has a massive ice skating rink!
Alter Markt (Old Market)
The Old Market is adorable with arches and chandeliers hanging from it! This is the perfect market for gifts. There are tons of different shops with awesome souvenirs and gifts for all different kinds of people. Our favorite food from this market was the chimney cake (3rd photo!) It was so delicious and fun to see them making it.
Heumarkt (Gnome Market)
The Gnome market is perfect for activities! From ice skating, ice games, and a merry go round, this is the perfect market to keep your kids entertained! Not to mention some fun on the ice for adults. We enjoyed drinks and crepes at this market! We also tried the roasted chestnuts but were not the biggest fan…
Cologne Harbour Christmas Market
The Harbour Market is fun due to its location! It is on the edge of the river, right next to the Lindt Chocolate Museum. In this market, you will find a Ferris wheel with incredible views along with the BEST salmon we have ever had! Not to mention the potato spiral was delicious!
Market of Angels
The Market of Angels Christmas market was one of the cutest markets. One of the most adorable things about this market is the lights dangling from the trees! It feels magical. Not to mention each stall has a star and Christmas decorations! We found some great snacks here as well, from Glühwein, spiked Kakao, fresh pasta made in a cheese bowl, and Cologne Cathedral waffles! (The pasta was delicious!)
Village of St. Nicholas
The Village of St. Nicholas (Weihnachtsmarkt Köln Rudolfplatz – Nikolausdorf) was another fun market with lots of food! In addition to the market stalls, there are also food trucks outside of the market for more options. This had the most versatile food opportunities of any market in Cologne.
Christmas markets in the Stadtgarten
This was the only one of the six markets we did not visit! It looks adorable like the others and from what I have seen it has tons of shopping and great eats as well. There are some lights in the trees and of course the typical adorable market stalls.
Our Recommendations
- Our strongest recommendation is to choose a hotel that is walking distance to everything! We stayed at a central hotel that was about a 10 minute or less walk to everything. The location was perfect but the hotel was less than so we will not say the name, but we do recommend a central location!
- Don’t eat dinner if you plan on snacking at Christmas markets! If you eat dinner you will fill up so easily and will not be able to snack as much as you want. Eating at Christmas markets is also cheaper than a restaurant.
- It gets cold in December and January! So pack warm.
- Bring a rain jacket and umbrella! It is off and on rainy almost daily.
How Affordable are Christmas Markets
The Christmas markets in Cologne can be more affordable than you think! Here are some ideas to save money:
✈️ Use Google Flights to find the best deal on flights! Using the explore setting will help you find the cheapest flights and tacking the flights will let you know if prices increase or decrease.
🏨 Use Hotels.com and Expedia to book rental cars, flights, and hotels! When you sign up or a membership you can get discounts and use rewards from your bookings.
🌭 Specific to the Christmas markets, you can eat dinner at the markets cheaper than eating at a restaurant!
🚂 For transportation, walking everywhere and trains are the cheapest way! Choose a hotel that’s walkable to everything and get a rail pass if you are going long distances a lot.
Overall we spent about €100 on food and souvenirs at the markets for 3 days, around €300 on the hotel, €100 on additional food and drink, and €0 on transportation since we walked everywhere! This is for two people.
Best Snacks and Food Awards
We ate so much amazing food during our trip and have to share what was the best! Below we have listed our favorite foods and which market we found them at.
(Old Market)
All found at the Christmas market at Cologne Cathedral
Food items and snacks found at multiple markets
Final Thoughts
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Cologne! The Christmas markets were everything we hoped for from the food to decorations! The city was adorable with tons of shopping and fun places to check out in addition to many delicious restaurants. When it comes to activities, our top three are the Christmas markets, exploring the Cologne Cathedral and visiting the Chocolate museum. We had such a great time and hope that you will too.
Guided by Adventure 