Our first Christmas market was in Florence in 2017, our first winter living in Europe. I spotted the wooden huts going up near Santa Croce during an early morning dog walk and went back almost every day once they opened. We’ve been hooked ever since. We even have a cupboard full of more than 40 Christmas market mugs to prove it.

After years of visiting Christmas markets across Europe, we kept running into the same problem: finding out which markets were actually close enough for a day trip.

So we built a Christmas Market Finder.

Enter a city, town or postcode anywhere in Europe, choose how far you’re willing to go and see Christmas markets within that distance. You can check 2026 dates, find official websites and see where each market is on the map. And because borders don’t matter when you’re planning a road trip, the search works across countries too.

We get asked all the time which Christmas markets are worth visiting from different cities. Living near Eindhoven, we can easily cross into Belgium or Germany for the day. That’s one of the things we love about Christmas market season in Europe. Some of our favorite markets aren’t necessarily the biggest or most famous.

How to Use the Christmas Market Finder

Start with where you’re staying, or where you live. If you’re spending a week in Cologne, search Cologne at 100 km and you’ll find day trips you probably didn’t know about.

The distances are straight-line, as the crow flies. Driving or train time will be longer, sometimes a lot longer if there’s a river or a mountain in the way.

Use the date filter if you already have your trip booked. Some markets run for six weeks, some for a single weekend afternoon in a church square, and it’s easy to show up a week late.

A few things we learned the hard way

Always check the official website before you go. We verify dates every year, but organizers change things, and the market’s own site is the final word.

Weekends at the bigger markets can be packed. If you can visit on a Tuesday evening instead, do it.

It’s colder than you think, even with a hot drink in your hand. Layers, a hat, gloves and shoes you don’t mind getting muddy, because some markets are on hay or sand.

Bring cash and a card. Most stalls take cards now, but not all of them, and it varies from one market to the next.

In most countries your mulled wine comes in a ceramic mug with a deposit, usually around 5 euro. Hand it back for your money or keep it. We keep it. The Netherlands mostly skips the mug tradition.

Our Christmas Market Guides

We’ve been to a lot of these ourselves, and when we have, there’s a full guide with where to stay and what to eat.

• Cologne Christmas markets (Lisa’s favorite)
• Strasbourg Christmas market
• Colmar Christmas markets
• Christmas markets in Germany
• Christmas markets in France
• Christmas markets in Austria
• The best Christmas markets in Europe

Christmas markets near popular starting points

• Christmas markets near Brussels
• Christmas markets near Amsterdam
• Christmas markets near Maastricht

Spotted something wrong?

Tell us at info@thegetawayz.com. If a market has changed its dates or a new one has popped up near you, we’d like to know, and we’ll update it.