Berlin celebrates the holiday season with 60 Christmas markets all throughout the city. From romantic, and historic, to organic, and fun, there is a Christmas market for everyone in Berlin.
Christmas Market at Gendarmenmarkt
Framed by the illuminated French and German Cathedral and the Concert House, you can wander the Christmas booths or visit the heated craftsmen tent where you can watch toymakers, goldsmiths, and wood carvers at work. There is also a stage, where musicians, dancers, jugglers, and acrobats keep you and the children entertained. (1 Euro)
- Dates: November 21 - December 31, 2011
- Subway: U6 Franzosische Strasse
Spandau Christmas Market
A 20-minute train ride away from central Berlin, the district of Spandau celebrates the season with one of the largest Christmas markets in Germany: In the picturesque Old Town of Spandau, there are over 400 booths, merry-go-rounds, and a beautifully decorated Christmas tree from the Black Forest. (free)
- Dates:December 25-23, 2011
- Subway: U Rathaus or Altstadt Spandau
Christmas Market at the Berlin City Hall
Held in front of Berlin’s City Hall close to Alexanderplatz, this Christmas market features historic rides, a ferris wheel, an ice skating rink, a life-seized nativity scene with real animals, and traditionally decorated booths with Christmas treats. It's a fun place for kids!(free)
- Dates: November 21 - December 26, 2011 (closed December 24)
- Subway: U and S-Bahn Alexanderplatz
Christmas Market at the Berlin Opera
The illuminated opera house is the backdrop for the “Nostalgic Christmas market”, right at Berlin’s main boulevard “Unter den Linden”. This fair is a great place to hunt for German arts and crafts, from nativity figurines, and Christmas decoration, to candles, and toys. You can also hop on a romantic horse drawn carriage, which will take you through Berlin’s historic center.
- Dates: November 23 - December 26, 2011 (closed December 24)
- Subway: U2 Hausvogteiplatz
Christmas Market at the Berlin Memorial Church
Set around the Memorial Church (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche) in the west of Berlin, this Christmas market attracts 2 millions visitors each year, who enjoy rides, German food and drink, and 170 booths with arts and crafts and Christmas decoration. The adjacent Ku'damm is one of Berlin's most popular shopping streets, packed with international shops, restaurants, and movie theatres.
- Dates: November 21 - January 1, 2011
- Subway: U1 and U9 Kurfuerstendamm
Lucia Christmas Market
In the heart of Berlin’s hip neighborhood Prenzlauer Berg, the Lucia Christmas market is a great place for young families; in the courtyard of the Kulturbrauerei, an old brewery, which is now home to theatres and restaurants, this Christmas market offers booths with international delicacies, Christmas wares, Scandinavian music, a huge trampoline, carousels, and a cultural program for kids of all ages.
- Dates: November 21 - December 22, 2011
- Subway: U2 Eberswalderstrasse
Christmas Market at the Charlottenburg Palace
The impressive Charlottenburg Palace is the romantic backdrop for this Christmas market in the west of Berlin; with wooden booths, offering gourmet food and handcrafted Christmas gifts, and a baroque music program, the atmosphere here is festive and sophisticated. There is also a “royal children’s Christmas market” with historic carousels and pony rides.
- Dates: November 21 - December 26, 2011
- Subway: U7 Richard Wagner Platz
Environmental Christmas Market Sophienstrasse
This “green” Christmas market is set in a quiet and charming backstreet of bustling Berlin Mitte; natural products and organic food are sold here, as well as arts and crafts from around the world.
- Dates: only on weekends, November 26 - December 18 2011
- Subway: S-Bahn Hackescher Markt
