Most of the big Christmas markets in Germany, Austria and Prague open in the second half of November 2026 and close on 23 or 24 December; the Austrian and Czech ones carry on after Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent is 29 November this year, and by that weekend every market in this guide is open: Vienna's Rathausplatz from 13 November, Munich from 20 November, Nuremberg from 27 November and Prague's Old Town Square from 28 November.
At the other end, Nuremberg, Dresden and Munich trade until 14:00 on Christmas Eve, and Cologne, Stuttgart and Aachen finish on 23 December. Vienna's Rathausplatz runs to 26 December, Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt to New Year's Eve, Salzburg to 1 January, and Schönbrunn and Prague to 6 January 2027. Every date below was read on the organiser's or the city's own website in September 2026; provisional ones are marked.
The 2026 dates, market by market
Hours can change, so check the official page the week you travel.
Germany
- Nuremberg, Christkindlesmarkt: 27 November to 24 December 2026, daily 10:00 to 21:00, until 14:00 on 24 December. Stalls under red-and-white cloth roofs fill the Hauptmarkt, and the official site already lists 2027 as well: 26 November to 24 December.
- Dresden, Striezelmarkt: 25 November to 24 December 2026 on the Altmarkt, the 592nd edition; daily 10:00 to 21:00 (opening day from 16:00), until 14:00 on 24 December. The city calls it Germany's oldest Christmas market; go for the Erzgebirge woodcraft and the Stollen.
- Munich, Christkindlmarkt at Marienplatz: 20 November to 24 December 2026, Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 21:00, Sundays until 20:00, and until 14:00 on 24 December. New this year: the city now opens it on the Friday before Totensonntag.
- Cologne, Christmas market at the cathedral: 16 November to 23 December 2026, dates the organiser still marks as provisional, closed on 22 November. The stalls stand on the Roncalliplatz below the cathedral.
- Berlin, WeihnachtsZauber Gendarmenmarkt: 23 November to 31 December 2026, until 18:00 on Christmas Eve and until midnight on New Year's Eve. Entry is charged outside weekday lunchtimes.
- Stuttgart, Stuttgarter Weihnachtsmarkt: 25 November to 23 December 2026. First recorded in 1692, it has around 250 traders, and its elaborately decorated stalls are what people come to see.
- Aachen, Aachener Weihnachtsmarkt: 20 November to 23 December 2026, the 53rd edition, around the cathedral and the town hall. On 22 November it opens only at 18:00, and on 23 December it closes at 20:00. Take home Aachener Printen, the city's spiced gingerbread.
Austria
- Vienna, Wiener Christkindlmarkt on Rathausplatz: 13 November to 26 December 2026, daily 10:00 to 22:00, until 18:30 on 24 December, in front of the City Hall (official site).
- Vienna, Weihnachtsmarkt Schloss Schönbrunn: 6 November 2026 to 6 January 2027 in the main courtyard of the palace, the earliest start in this guide; until 16:00 on 24 December.
- Salzburg, Christkindlmarkt on Domplatz and Residenzplatz: 19 November 2026 to 1 January 2027, as published by the city's tourist board in August 2026. On 24 December until 15:00, on 25 and 26 December from 11:00 to 18:00, and a New Year's Eve market closes the season.
Czech Republic
- Prague, Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square: 28 November 2026 to 6 January 2027, daily 10:00 to 22:00, according to the organiser and Prague City Tourism. Both squares open the day before the first Sunday of Advent.
Totensonntag, Christmas Eve and the days between
Two dates shape a German market trip more than any opening day. Totensonntag, the Protestant day of remembrance on the Sunday before Advent, falls on 22 November in 2026. Some German states treat it as a quiet day on which markets and other public events are restricted, and the organisers handle it differently: Cologne's cathedral market stays shut, Aachen opens only in the evening, and for Munich the city's own page is the one to check for that Sunday.
Christmas Eve is the second. Nuremberg, Dresden and Munich close for the year at 14:00 that day, and of the German markets here only Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt carries on past it. Austria and Prague keep a different calendar: Vienna's Rathausplatz is open on 25 and 26 December, Salzburg from 11:00 on both days, and Schönbrunn and Prague into January.
Advent weekends tend to be the busiest; a weekday morning is when you actually see the stalls.
Routes that join several markets
The rail network makes some pairings easy.
- Munich and Salzburg. ÖBB runs direct long-distance trains between them during the day, and the two markets overlap for all of Advent.
- Vienna and Prague. ÖBB's Railjet runs directly between the capitals every two hours, and both cities keep their markets open after Christmas.
- Dresden and Prague. Direct trains link the two, and both markets are open from 28 November to 24 December.
- Cologne and Aachen. Direct trains link the two cities, and both markets close on 23 December.
This is where the phone does most of the work. Train times and platforms come from the rail apps, tickets often sit in those apps as QR codes, and the walk from the station happens in the dark: by five in the afternoon in December it is night or close to it. Add the photos sent home each evening, card payments at the stalls that take them, and the messages that find whoever stopped for mulled wine.
Do you need a data plan in Germany, Austria or Prague?
It depends on where your SIM was issued, not on where you are going.
A SIM issued in any EU or EEA member state puts Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic under roam like at home, the EU rule of that name, within your operator's fair-use terms, which on some tariffs cap your data abroad. Read that part of your tariff before you leave; when EU roaming is enough covers the edge cases.
With a SIM from the UK, Switzerland, Turkey, the Gulf, the Americas or Asia, all three countries count as roaming on terms your operator has set, written in your contract. That group is who a travel eSIM is for: a separate data line beside your usual number, which goes on handling calls and bank codes.
For one country, start from the Germany eSIM, Austria eSIM or Czech Republic eSIM page. For a route over two or three of them, the Europe eSIM page lists all three countries on one plan; check the country list on your listing. A long weekend of maps, tickets, messages and photos usually fits in a few gigabytes, while a week of trains between three or four cities, with video sent home every evening, is where 10 GB over 30 days makes sense. The pages list the current sizes, and who needs a Germany eSIM goes deeper on Germany.
Cold, crowds and the battery at six in the evening
Apple designs the iPhone for air temperatures between 0 and 35 degrees Celsius and says colder conditions can shorten battery life for a while and may turn the phone off; the battery recovers once the phone warms up, and a very cold phone may not charge. December evenings in Nuremberg or Salzburg can drop below freezing, so keep the phone in an inside pocket between photos, carry a small power bank, and let a cold phone warm up before you plug it in.
On the busiest evenings, thousands of phones gather around one square, and mobile data can slow down or stall for minutes at a time, depending on the square, the hour and the network. Save the tickets, the hotel address and the train home on the phone before you walk in, and agree a meeting point with your group instead of trusting a location pin sent into the crowd.
Install at home, switch on after landing
The eSIM part of the trip belongs at home, a few days before you fly.
- Set it up before you leave, on your own Wi-Fi. The QR code and the details for manual entry come in the order email; keep a copy of that email off the phone you are setting up. The installation guide walks through the steps.
- Read the validity line on the listing. It names which event opens the plan's window, and buying, installing and first use can fall on different days.
- Switch the line on landside. Once through passport control with your bags, pick the travel line for mobile data, enable data roaming on it and nowhere else, and take mobile data off your home line, which remains on for calls and texts.
- Save the evenings offline. Market addresses, train times and tickets go into screenshots and offline maps before the first night out.
Short answers
When do the Christmas markets open in 2026? Between 6 and 28 November for the markets in this guide, from Schönbrunn on 6 November to Prague on 28 November. All of them are open by the first Sunday of Advent, 29 November.
When do they close? In Germany on 23 or 24 December, except Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt on 31 December; Vienna's Rathausplatz on 26 December, Salzburg on 1 January, and Schönbrunn and Prague on 6 January 2027.
When is the Nuremberg Christmas market in 2026? From 27 November to 24 December, daily 10:00 to 21:00 and until 14:00 on Christmas Eve.
Is Munich's market earlier in 2026? Yes. It now opens on the Friday before Totensonntag, so it runs from 20 November to 24 December.
Which market is the biggest? There is no neutral count. By their own figures, Stuttgart has around 250 traders and reported about 3.5 million visitors in 2025, and Dresden's Striezelmarkt has more than 200 traders.
Do I need a data plan for Germany, Austria or Prague? With an EU or EEA SIM, roam like at home applies within your tariff's fair-use terms. From the UK, Switzerland, Turkey or further afield, your operator's own roaming terms apply, and the Europe eSIM lists all three countries on one travel line.
Hotspot sharing is free on every Horizon plan.
