Last year, we exchanged our usual Christmas tradition for one half a world away.
Fulfilling one of Cec's major bucket list items, we bundled up and spent December 2019 in Europe, immersing ourselves in the colorful Christmas markets that come to life in every big city and little town.
Our trip was motivated by a deeper desire to not delay realizing lifelong dreams, a sentiment that's grown even stronger with these markets cancelled due to COVID-19. If the events of any year have granted 20/20 hindsight, it's been 2020.
A round trip KLM flight voucher brought us to Amsterdam, and the rest was up to us. We spent the next 22 days on a self-guided tour by planes, trains, and even a delightfully unplanned road trip through the Alsace region of France.
Drinking from the source
The glühwein just tastes better here
To the uninitiated American visitor, these European Christmas markets are sensory overload, yet familiar. The buzzing crowds, Christmas tchochtke, and omnipresent twinkling lights reminded me of all the commercial attempts to translate these markets stateside.
There's an authenticity to these places, steeped in centuries of tradition, that's impossible to replicate. Perhaps it's the way the hundreds of stalls meander in the shadow of Europe's historic architecture or the intentionally classic fare, conjuring aromas that evoke a different age. The best analogy I can muster is this: Kool-Aid seems fine until you taste real fruit punch.
The first order of business is glühwein.
Its warming notes of cinnamon, cloves, orange, anise, and red wine hang unapologetically in the air, making us forget for a moment that it's a frigid 25 F December night in Munich; a piping hot mug kept us toasty for a mere 2-3 euro. Like blood through the body, glühwein is the sweet, understated fuel that powers the Christkindlmarkt economy, steaming away in the chilled hands of every market goer.
Glühwein is served in reusable ceramic mugs, which can be kept or redeemed for a deposit paid at the time of purchase. To make things more confusing, some (but not all!) glühwein vendors also give you a token that you must also return along with said mug, which can easily be missed along with the change vendors give you, especially when there are twice as many different coins in euro vs USD. Most mugs are pretty generic and lame-looking, but we kept our eyes open for the keepers. This little white boot came home with us.
In the smaller, less traveled markets we found some incredible glühwein variants. At the medieval market at Wittelsbacherplatz in Munich, we discovered feuerzangenbowle -- German fire punch. Douse a sugar cube in rum. Light it on fire. Transport yourself back to the Middle Ages. These chalices came home with us -- 10 euro deposit be damned.
Finally, if you want the hard stuff, there's also a stall for that.
A stroll along the market-lined canals of Strasbourg led us to some tasty vin chaud blanc, a white wine variant of standard glühwein.
The Markets
Where empty stomachs go far
December in Copenhagen is well-suited for these markets -- it's cold, dark, and we didn't have to wait long for the lights to come on: the sun sets at 3:30 PM. The popular streets running from Nyhavn to Tivoli Gardens were loaded with little Christmas markets.
Tivoli Gardens is the second oldest amusement park in the world and is always lit up at night. It’s even more festive around the holidays, albeit very commercial. They strategically place small gas-powered coal pits around the park to warm yourself, which is the smartest idea ever.
When in Copenhagen, enjoy a julefrokost.
Perhaps against our better judgment and with clear intent to defer our diet plans to 2020, we followed up a dinner at Geranium with "The Great BARR Christmas Feast" at Barr. It's a modern take on the classic julefrokost (Danish Christmas lunch) and only occurs on Saturdays in December.
The meal was a delicious parade of klejne, pickled herring, gravlax, pork jaw, Christmas sausage, pork terrine, and duck confit. After all of that umami deliciousness, we were treated to a final buffet of Danish Christmas desserts (not pictured), including vaniljekranse, those Danish cookies from our childhood that came out of those round blue tins Royal Dansk tins. They’re much, much better freshly made.
If there's one country we would return to for a Christmas market encore, it's Germany. We didn't feel like we were in the thick of the markets until we reached Munich. Marienplatz Kriskindlmarkt is the mother of all Christmas markets here and spills out into the streets around Marienplatz.
If you're like us and primarily explore the world through your stomach, a Christmas market of this size is a giant paradox of choice: limited meals facing a large-enough-to-be-infinite array of sausage and carbs. Our advice is this: lean in, be bold, Google Translate the menus, and be prepared to waddle home.
Some of the highlights: sausage and sauerkraut, currywurst (it tastes better than it looks and was also the only spicy thing we could find during our time in Germany), reiberdatschi (basically a potato latke), rahmschmankerl that lured us in with the unmistakable and intoxicating scent of butter and bacon, and an airy and crispy freshly baked schoko-waffel mit kirschen und sahne (chocolate waffle with cherries and cream).
After a few nights of eyeing this stand and wondering what all the fuss was about, we also finally braved the perpetually long line for flammlachs -- beech-broiled salmon, which came with a pretty legit baked potato.
The markets reward those who wander.
Our favorite market was a small medieval market off the beaten path at Wittelsbacherplatz. It had a medieval/renaissance fair vibe that diverged far from the mainstream twinkling lights, Christmas tchotchke, and glühwein. Where else can you go to feast on roast pig, purchase a bow and arrow, and throw back a few chalices of met (mead) and feuerzangenbowle (fire punch)?
Salzburg is just a two hour train ride away from Munich and well worth the day trip. We spent the afternoon touring some beautiful churches, enjoyed some legit käsekrainer (Austrian street sausage stuffed with ementhaler cheese and then smoked), and regret not trying the authentic looking baumkuchen (tree ring cake). A live choir dialed up that Christmas vibe.
We spent a few days in Strasbourg, the self-proclaimed “Capitale de Noël”, taking in an Alsatian Christmas. There’s nothing like wandering the streets here for the very first time and internalizing the Christmas decor unique to this region. In Germany, the city had Christmas markets. In Alsace, the Christmas market is the city.
A spiraling climb up the cathedral spire of Cathédrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg rewarded us with a beautiful view of the city, just as the streets and markets started to light up for the evening.
Upon arriving in Strasbourg, we learned that trains running between Strasbourg and Colmar had been cancelled, putting our plans to day trip to Alsace the next day in jeopardy. Sacré bleu.
What’s a couple of avid roadtrippers to do when the trains don't run on time? Rent a hatchback and drive the Alsace wine route, of course. We ventured south from Strasbourg through the French countryside to the towns of Colmar, Kayserberg, and Riquewihr.
This savvy shop owner in Colmar handed out free piping hot chocolate macaroon samples. They were delicious and rejuvenating on a cold winter day. We bought more -- chocolate and pistachio -- for the road, and restocked again in Riquewihr for the long drive back to Strasbourg.
Leaving room to be surprised is a fun part of any extended trip. Antwerp was that wildcard for us. It wasn't on our original itinerary, but it happened to be on the way back to Amsterdam from Strasbourg. Why not spend a few days there?
It's a charming city with an attractive mix of old and new architecture, really fashionable stores (come here if you need a wardrobe revamp), and, strangely, the best falafel we’ve ever eaten.
We spent an evening wandering the main Christmas market that runs from Groenplaats, through Grote Markt, and all the way out to Steenplein. We were a little burnt out on Christmas markets at this point, but managed to find something local to keep things fresh — in this case, liege waffles!
When we first arrived in Amsterdam at the beginning of the trip, we were jetlagged, sick, and busy navigating the fact that in The Netherlands a drogist (drugstore) is distinct from an apotheek (pharmacy), and neither of them carry the wonder drug that is pseudoephedrine (e.g. Sudafed).
We had a second chance to enjoy the city with clear eyes the day before we flew home to San Francisco. A beautiful Christmas market and ice skating rink pops up at Museumplein, with a gorgeous view of the Rijksmuseum.
© 2026 Steven Yan
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