11 daysplan for
7stops
~1,350 kmon the road
Cologne Bonn (CGN)fly into
Seven Christmas markets on one loop through Germany, and each is the best at something. Cologne has the cathedral as its backdrop. Gengenbach turns its town hall into an Advent calendar. Esslingen goes back to the Middle Ages. Rothenburg sits inside its town wall. Nuremberg has probably the most famous market in the country. Dresden's goes back to 1434. Quedlinburg opens its courtyards.
This order is the shortest way round, and the dates follow the markets. Gengenbach opens its windows from 30 November. Quedlinburg's courtyards are open on Advent weekends only, so the trip ends there on a Sunday. With the drive back to Cologne that makes about 1,800 km, and never more than four and a half hours in a day. Book early, because these towns fill up in December. Germany requires winter tyres in snow and ice, so ask for them with your rental car.
Day 1–3
Cologne
2 nights · Travel guideFly into Cologne Bonn and pick up the car, or drive in from home. In the evening, start at the market at the foot of the cathedral, on Roncalliplatz: up to 140 stalls around a 25 metre Christmas tree, with a tent of 50,000 lights beside it. Open until 22:00 on a Friday.
Climb the 533 steps of the cathedral's south tower in the morning (last entry 15:30). Then walk through the old town to Heinzels Wintermärchen on the Alter Markt and the Heumarkt, named after the house gnomes of a Cologne legend, with an ice rink in the open air. The Markt der Engel on the Neumarkt hangs hundreds of stars over its stalls. End on the Rhine, at the harbour market by the Chocolate Museum.
Things to do
Nearby: Christmas Market at Cologne Cathedral · Cologne Cathedral · Heinzels Wintermärchen · Markt der Engel
Day 3–4
Gengenbach
1 night · Travel guideAbout four hours south, into the Kinzig valley in the Black Forest, so leave Cologne by noon. Gengenbach calls its town hall the world's largest Advent calendar house. From 30 November one of its 24 windows opens every evening at 18:00. In 2026 the town hall is under scaffolding, so a full-size copy of the front stands before it with the windows built in. The Advent market is open until 20:00. Afterwards, walk through the half-timbered Engelgasse.
Things to do
Nearby: Gengenbach Town Hall · Engelgasse
Day 4–5
Esslingen
1 night · Travel guideTwo hours east, just past Stuttgart. Esslingen holds two markets in one. In the medieval part, blacksmiths, potters and leatherworkers show their craft, and after dark fire artists whirl their torches through the old town. The Christmas part has over 80 stalls, a nostalgic carousel and a living nativity scene at the Postmichelbrunnen. Both are open until 20:30 tonight.
Things to do
Nearby: Rathausplatz · Hafenmarkt · Marktplatz · Postmichelbrunnen
Day 5–6
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
1 night · Travel guideTwo hours northeast. Park outside the town wall and walk in. The Reiterlesmarkt fills the Marktplatz, the Grüner Markt and the Kirchplatz until 19:00. The German Christmas Museum on Herrngasse tells where the customs come from. Try a Schneeball, the local pastry, and walk a stretch of the wall. Sleep inside the walls: when the day visitors have gone, the lanes go quiet.
Nearby: Reiterlesmarkt · German Christmas Museum · Plönlein · Rödertor
Day 6–8
Nuremberg
2 nights · Travel guideJust over an hour to Nuremberg, so you have the whole afternoon. The Christkindlesmarkt on the Hauptmarkt is probably the most famous in Germany: up to 180 stalls under red and white cloth roofs, with the Frauenkirche behind them. Eat three small bratwursts in a roll and buy Lebkuchen. The classic souvenir is a little figure made of prunes. Open until 21:00.
Walk up to the Imperial Castle for the view over the roofs. Back down, the Market of the Sister Cities on the Rathausplatz sells crafts and food from countries such as Nicaragua, China, Scotland and Ukraine. With children, go to the Kinderweihnacht on the Hans-Sachs-Platz: historic rides, stagecoach rides, and the Christkind comes by at 14:30 from Tuesday to Friday.
Nearby: Christkindlesmarkt · Market of the Sister Cities · Kinderweihnacht · Imperial Castle
Day 8–10
Dresden
2 nights · Travel guideJust over three hours east, into Saxony. The Striezelmarkt on the Altmarkt goes back to 1434. Striezel is the old word for Stollen, so buy a slice. Its Christmas pyramid stands 14.61 metres tall. The stalls sell wooden candle arches and carved figures from the Ore Mountains. Open until 21:00.
A day on foot through the old centre. See the Zwinger, then walk to the Frauenkirche, rebuilt after the war and reopened in 2005. The Advent market on the Neumarkt stands around it. Go back to the Striezelmarkt after dark, when the tree and the pyramid are lit.
Things to do
Nearby: Striezelmarkt · Frauenkirche · Advent on the Neumarkt · Zwinger
Day 10–11
Quedlinburg
1 night · Travel guideTwo and a half hours northwest, so leave Dresden after breakfast. Quedlinburg opens more than 20 historic courtyards on the first three Advent weekends, Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 to 19:00. In 2026 that is 28 and 29 November, 5 and 6 December, 12 and 13 December. Behind doors that are normally closed you find crafts and food. The market stands by the town hall, under a giant fir. Up on the castle hill, Advent im Stiftshof is open until 19:00 today. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with over 2,000 half-timbered houses. Tomorrow it is about four and a half hours back to Cologne.
Things to do
Nearby: Advent in den Höfen · Stiftskirche St. Servatii
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