Christmas & New Year

A December trip is usually planned around a single date. You have already picked a city and want to know when the markets open, how late they run and what will be closed on the holidays themselves. Or you are deciding where to spend New Year's Eve and where to watch the fireworks from. These are the questions that bring people to this section.

Most of the articles cover Christmas markets, city by city. There are Dresden, Munich, Nuremberg and Cologne, Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck, Zurich and Basel, Strasbourg and Colmar, Prague, Krakow, Wroclaw, Budapest, Zagreb, Riga, Tallinn, Brussels, Copenhagen and Bolzano. In each one we go through the locations, season dates, opening hours, food and souvenirs. We write separately about everyday details: the mug deposit, paying by card, the price of mulled wine, getting there without a car. Some cities have several articles: a general overview and a closer look at individual markets. There is also a selection of cities near Austria for a winter weekend.

The second large group is New Year's Eve. We describe how the night goes in Berlin, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Amsterdam, Budapest, Prague, Reykjavik, Dubai and on Madeira. The main topics are where to watch the fireworks, whether you need tickets, where personal fireworks are banned and how to get home after midnight. Many articles state what is open and what is closed over the holidays. There is a piece on Hogmanay and one on the hotel surcharge for New Year's Eve. The section is rounded out by overviews of winter cities: Stockholm, Ljubljana, Lisbon, Istanbul, Paris in November.

Each article opens with a short answer to the main question: dates, place, and whether you need to buy anything in advance. Then come the practical blocks in order: how to get there, how much time to allow, what to try, where it is less crowded. Every figure has a source, and every article shows the date it was last checked. We give the names of markets and streets as they are written locally, so they are easy to find on a map. We are direct about the downsides: crowds, lines, holiday prices, closed museums and shops.

The section suits anyone heading to a specific city for a few winter days who wants to put a plan together in advance. It is useful for families: there is a separate article on visiting a market with children. The articles are written for independent travelers who buy their own tickets and choose their own accommodation. If you are looking for a ski trip or a winter on the beach, these texts will not help you much. We write about holidays in the city.

If you have not chosen a destination yet, start with the two overview selections: Christmas markets for the season and destinations for a New Year trip. Then open the article on your city and check the dates against the days of your trip. After that, read the piece on hotels on New Year's Eve, which will help you estimate your budget. The article on mulled wine prices in Germany will come in handy once you are there.

The section is part of "Festivals & Celebrations", which in turn belongs to "When to Travel". Both make it easy to move on to other events of the year. The neighboring section on the same level is "Carnival". It is useful if you are interested in celebrations after the New Year season.

Market dates and the format of New Year programs change every year. Cities move locations, introduce tickets, restrict fireworks and cancel familiar shows. That is why we update the articles for each season and check them against the official websites of cities and organizers. If there is no information for the new season yet, we say so plainly in the text.

Before you travel, still check the opening hours on the official website of the market or the city: hours are often shortened on holidays. Tickets for New Year events and a place to stay that night are best looked for early, since demand is high. The rest can be sorted out on the spot. With a plan in hand, a December weekend goes more calmly.