German Christmas markets

[Take2]

Hi all. We’re planning on taking a first time trip to see some Christmas markets in north western Germany then visiting Amsterdam before we return home later this year.
Anyone got any firsthand knowledge of said markets.
We’ve pencilled in, Cologne, Aachen,Essen and Düsseldorf’s
Thanks in advance
Cheers Ray

 

[scousebird]

We've been to Cologne Christmas market, there are 5 or 6 of them around the city and it's wonderful. We didn't camp there but at Valkenburg in The Netherlands and went to Cologne by coach.

 

[orridge]

Cologne is really good spread out across the city. There is a stellplatze about 30 minutes walking along the river.

 

[denisejoe]

Aachen has a good market but a fair walk from aire

 

[Lazyboy]

Valkenburg is well worth a visit. Markets in the old maristone caves. Trier. Monschau is a small town but very inviting.

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[EuroTrotters]

Valkenburg is well worth a visit. Markets in the old maristone caves. Trier. Monschau is a small town but very inviting.

Campsite now closed in Valkenburg

 

[Derek’soldvan]

Went to Berlin a few years back sans van, lovely, want to do cologne this year

 

[Chipster]

Did Cologne a couple of years back but took Eurostar to Brussels then train to Cologne. Excellent trip. Great market.

 

[Nigel P]

Used to live in Cologne, the markets are well served by the tram system, they have a slightly different theme so worth visiting a few. As others have mentioned there is motorhome parking up by the zoo with an easy walk to the tram stop. Gets very busy, very friendly with great food and drink options at most. Can't comment on the other locations for Xmas markets as only visited out of Xmas season.

 

[Lenny HB]

Went to Berlin a few years back sans van, lovely, want to do cologne this year

We we have done some of the Berlin ones they were really good.

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[Nigel P]

The main city centre ones in Cologne are at Heumarkt, Neumarkt and outside Kolner Dom, easy walk between them and all next to public transport stops.

 

[Take2]

Thanks all, great info, bit of planning to do and looking forward to it

 

[ElliesBoss]

Sorry to resurrect the thread but I was wondering Take2, did you find a suitable campsite/stellplatz for your journey. If so which market was it, was it outside the clean air zone (if there is one) and was there public transport nearby (that is running that time of year). Look forward to your answer as I'm struggling to find somewhere.

 

[CazPaul]

Traditional Christmas markets are the best in Germany not the tourist ones. We did the Valkenburg one, I have never seen so much tourist orientated, overpriced, cheap quality trash in my life.

 

[Soycd]

Lived in Germany for quite a while and have always found the smaller towns have the best markets. Personally I'd keep away from Koeln, its way to crowded. My wife went once on day trip and found it way to crowded to the extent you could barely move between the stalls. The problem is there are lots of package tours go there from UK, Netherlands etc. We went to Aachen winter before covid. Lovely town but again the market was packed. It was also very corporate. There were no individual food/drink stalls, they were all run by the same company. Dusseldorf, not too sure about in recent years. Dortmund pretty good. Going a little further East, it becomes less attractive to package tours. Soest has an excellent Stellplatz and we enjoyed the market. In truth you'll be unlucky if you don't find a small town with a decent market that doesn't have a stellplatz. I think it all depends what you want form a market. If you want Christmas 'stuff' then the bigger markets will have plenty of that. If like me you are only interested in food/drink/atmosphere, then small towns every time.

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[ElliesBoss]

Thanks Soycd. Didn't intend spending money on tack. Like you, atmosphere, food and drink are the main prerequisites .

 

[Rapido925M]

One of the nicest scenarios which I came across was in Recklinghausen (staying in a hotel) where they had a large flatbed trailer and kids came up to GIVE Father Christmas a present to be passed on to less fortunate children. The market stalls were also fairly mixed with a good selection of different offerings.

Our most "magical" one was in Hamelin (of Pied Piper fame) which we visited after attending a family wedding. Just as it got dark it also started to snow: very Christmassy (but it can't be guaranteed). Minden was also interesting, with a huge Advent Calendar, being the shutters on one of the large houses, and a riding ring in the centre of the market place.

Munster was probably our favourite, for a mixture of atmosphere, variety and number of stalls.

Gordon

 

[Take2]

Sorry to resurrect the thread but I was wondering Take2, did you find a suitable campsite/stellplatz for your journey. If so which market was it, was it outside the clean air zone (if there is one) and was there public transport nearby (that is running that time of year). Look forward to your answer as I'm struggling to find somewhere.

We intend to try Cologne for the experience, staying at the stellplatz by the zoo as suggested, using the tram. Then onto smaller towns doing a little route before heading to Bruges on the way home.
We have a clean air zone sticker which we ordered online cost about £4.

 

[Johnny Be Good]

We've been to Cologne Christmas market, there are 5 or 6 of them around the city and it's wonderful. We didn't camp there but at Valkenburg in The Netherlands and went to Cologne by coach.

Thanks, looks like we will come into HVH and head up through Holland to Germany and then Denmark to Norway, hence trying to find something up north, Cologne is a bit of a long detour and am guessing 4+ hours in the opposite direction to our planned route.

 

[Soycd]

Thanks, looks like we will come into HVH and head up through Holland to Germany and then Denmark to Norway, hence trying to find something up north, Cologne is a bit of a long detour and am guessing 4+ hours in the opposite direction to our planned route.

Bremen, Münster, Osnabrück, Bielefeld, Hannover, Hamburg are roughly in that direction? Depends what you like. The big city markets are now pretty 'corporate' in that nearly all of the food stalls will be run by the same company, that was the case in Aachen a few years ago. We'll be going back to the town we used to live in, nice and small market probably no more than 25 stalls. It's probably not to everyones taste as it is small, but we love it!

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[rolosroller]

Another

for Munster

 

[Johnny Be Good]

Thanks for that, prefer the smaller markets ourselves and have actually heard there is a town by town list of these markets, hoping to get this sent to me as I found nothing online.

 

[bigwood]

We have been to Cochem and Rudeshiem Christmas fairs. Management recommends the gluewine in Rudeshiem for keeping the cold out.