Christmas markets by coach.

The Christkindelsmärik began in 1570 and was for a long time the only Christmas market in France; the name means “market of the Christ Child” in Alsatian. Over the centuries it moved from the cathedral forecourt via the Place du Château and the Place Kléber to today's Place Broglie, settling there in the early 1870s. The “Strasbourg Capitale de Noël” brand was created in 1992, and the great fir has stood on Place Kléber since 2000. Today around two million visitors come each season. The city counts eight official markets, spread across the Grande Île, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1988.

Here the baking is not a side note but the point: Bredele in dozens of varieties — cinnamon stars, aniseed biscuits, vanilla crescents, Linzer bites — alongside pain d'épices, which once hung on the tree as a decoration, and Springerle, shaped in carved wooden moulds. The official recipe for vin chaud calls for star anise, cinnamon stick, vanilla pod and orange peel. For crafts there are glass baubles, Advent wreaths, music boxes and painted wooden toys. The Marché OFF on Place Grimmeissen is another world entirely: a social-economy market built from shipping containers, with vintage furniture and upcycling workshops — nobody else writes about it.

Colmar spreads Advent across six separate markets rather than one large square, and each has a different character. On the Place des Dominicains the stained glass of the 14th-century Dominican church lights up from dusk. At the Place de l'Ancienne Douane stand the illuminated Koïfhus and Bartholdi's Schwendi fountain — the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty was born in Colmar. The Place Jeanne d'Arc plays an Alsatian village complete with its own herd of goats, while inside the Koïfhus a heated indoor market gathers potters, glassblowers and wood carvers. Dates for 2026: 23 November to 29 December.

The children's market sits in the Petite Venise quarter: rabbits and sheep in the corners of the chalets, a mechanical nativity, a carousel, a giant letterbox for Father Christmas — and hot apple juice, “jus de pommes chaud”, which the city itself lists as part of the children's programme. The Marché gourmand on the Rue de la Montagne Verte brings together nine chalets run by nine maîtres restaurateurs, from oysters to dessert, with a cook show in the middle. Photographically there is no way past the Petite Venise, where the half-timbered houses are reflected in the Lauch.

Amsterdam marks winter with art rather than stalls. The Light Festival runs its 15th edition from 26 November 2026 to 17 January 2027, showing installations by international artists along the canals. The walking route is about 6.5 kilometres and can be split in two; the works are designed to be seen from the water, which makes the boat trip along the Amstel, Herengracht and Oosterdok (75–90 minutes, at extra cost) the intended perspective. The theme of the 15th edition had not been published when this page was written, so we do not name one.

On food, honesty pays: erwtensoep, the thick pea soup, is genuine winter fare. Oliebollen and appelbeignets, however, belong to New Year rather than Christmas — looking for them in early December is looking a week early. Hot chocolate and mulled wine are there; during the St Nicholas period the orange version is called “bisschopswijn”. Photographically the routes lead to the Magere Brug, the seven-bridge view along the Reguliersgracht and the Golden Bend of the Herengracht.

Two Flemish old towns in one day, at very different speeds. Bruges' historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site; the markets sit on the Markt in view of the 83-metre Belfry with its 47-bell carillon, and on the Simon Stevinplein among craftspeople and regional producers. Contrary to many listings the ice rink is not on the Markt but in the Koning Albert I park. Ghent is more of a student city and stays awake longer: the Gentse Winterfeesten run from Sint-Baafsplein along the Botermarkt and — the street name is real — “Klein Turkije” to the end of the Korenmarkt, with over 150 wooden chalets.

The Liège waffle, with its pearl sugar and caramelised pockets, is a different thing from the light, rectangular Brussels waffle — worth looking closely. The fried dough balls are called smoutebollen in Flemish, not oliebollen. Ghent's real speciality is the cuberdon: a cone-shaped violet sweet with a liquid raspberry centre, invented by accident in a Ghent pharmacy in 1873 and, because it keeps so briefly, barely found outside Belgium. Alongside it: Trappist beer — Belgian beer culture has been on the UNESCO list since 2016 — and Bruges bobbin lace, which sustained the city in the 17th century.

The smallest and closest destination: a half-timbered town in the Eifel, wedged into the narrow valley of the river Rur, with over 330 listed buildings and a townscape that has barely changed in some 300 years. The roughly 35 stalls spread across the Marktplatz, Gerberplatz, the Rur bridge and the area around the “Haus am Turm”. Above the town stands the medieval castle, today a youth hostel; the Rotes Haus, built around 1760 by the cloth merchant Scheibler, shows thirteen furnished rooms.

Confirmed on offer: mulled wine and cherry mulled wine, hand-roasted almonds with Eifel honey, and the Monschau mustard liqueur from the Senfmühle, which has worked since 1882 and gives guided tours. On baking, precision is due: Aachener Printen carry a protected geographical indication and may only be made in Aachen and five neighbouring municipalities — Monschau is not among them. What is sold here is therefore bought in or generic. After dark some 60,000 LEDs light the half-timbered façades; the shot of the day is from the Rur bridge around 17:00, with the castle behind.