Christmas Market Magic: 5 things to do at a European Christmas Market

Ahh, what a wonderful time of year! Christmas is great no matter where you are in the world. I think one of the best parts of a Northern Hemisphere Christmas is the Christmas Markets. They are so festive and cozy, even if the temperature is only in the single figures (or less). It’s a great reason to get out of the house as the weather gets colder.

This year I was extremely fortunate to experience Christmas Markets in Hungary, Belgium, Germany, and England. There was a lot of festive spirit in all these places and of course, the best part is sharing those Christmas-y memories with great friends and family. This blog post is about 5 great festive things to do at a European Christmas Market.

1. Admire the sparkly lights and wooden hut details

These are such an iconic symbol of Christmas markets, rows and rows of small wooden cabins with intricate Christmas-y designs on the rooves. They look and feel so cozy. When you’re visiting in the late arvo or early evening, the lights brighten up the area making it sparkly and magical.

2. Take in the delicious smells

One of my favourite things about a Christmas market is the smells; cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, Christmas trees, wine, hot chocolate, all mixed in, to one big delicious sweet smelling goodness. And of ,course these delicious smells normally mean food around the corner, so follow your nose and find the origin of the smells because it could be Christmas cookies, or sweet chimneys, waffles, gingerbread men, sausages, bread, gluhwein or Christmas-y incense (I wouldn’t recommend eating those though).

3. Go on a ride or play a game

Lots of the Christmas markets we went to had games or rides to try. My top fave was going on the Ferris Wheel in Erfurt. Gliding up on the brightly lit wheel to a wonderful view of the Christmas market from above, defs worth the €5! Another good one was actually one of the rollercoasters at London’s Winter Wonderland, it was fast and furious with multiple loops but also great views over the market – if you were brave enough to have your eyes open!

4. Drink Mulled wine/Gluhwein

Every single Christmas Market we went to in Germany we got a Gluhwein (Mulled wine), and no disagreements here. Especially with the chilly winter temperatures even in the middle of the afternoon, a gluhwein will warm you up from the inside out! A great thing about the German markets in particular (I didn’t notice this as much in other countries with Christmas Markets) was the mugs the wine was served in. Each city or market had several different 200mL mugs, like most places through Europe you pay about €2-3 for the mug and however much the drink is worth, if you want to keep the mug as a souvenir, you can or you can return it and get your €2-3 back. Now, we’ve got a neat little collection of Christmas mugs to bring out again next year.

5. Buy a traditional Christmas decoration

The last two years James and I haven’t really had our own Christmas tree, however, throughout our travels we’ve tried to collect different Christmas decorations as we go. Naturally, Christmas Markets are a great place to purchase one or two or three or more decorations to take home as a anther great souvenir. My favourite part about buying a traditional souvenir is talking to the seller, asking about the decoration and where it comes from and how the tradition is used today. I can’t wait to cover my future Christmas tree with my decorations from around the world.

With Christmas all done and dusted for 2018, we’ll just have to hang out until Christmas 2019. However, this year I think we’ll be having a hot and summer-y Christmas, which is fine by me, as I sign off from London, where we had a high of 3 degrees Celsius today.