Best Christmas Markets for 2024

Christmas is a time for celebration, a festive time of the year when people like to meet up with friends and family and revel in the celebrations taking place around the world! One favourite Christmas-related activity is visiting Christmas markets, experiencing the gifts on offer, sampling food and drink, and enjoying the spectacular decorations and lights adorning Christmas trees in and around the markets. 

Many British and European cities put on Christmas markets annually to cater to the festive needs of locals and tourists alike, but which is the best one to attend if you love a Christmas market? By comparing over 60 different destinations across Europe, we have identified the best Christmas markets for 2024, and there have been some big changes since our study last year! 

The best UK Christmas markets in 2024

1. Birmingham, Christmas market score of 7.86/10:

The ‘second city’ of England, Birmingham, is number one when it comes to the quality of its Christmas markets, once again securing the top spot in the rankings. Birmingham’s markets are located in the city centre and are very easy for visitors to get to, as they are just a five-minute walk from the city’s main train station. 

On top of this, Birmingham has the cheapest average three-star hotel price, at just £88 per night, and its markets are open for 54 days, the longest in the country. 

2. Edinburgh, Christmas market score of 7.50/10:

Edinburgh’s Christmas markets light up the beautiful historic city in Scotland, and in this year's report, they have shot up the rankings from the fourth to the second best in the country!

The much-loved markets on Princes Street are just an eight-minute walk from the main train station. They are very popular on social media, as the Edinburgh markets are featured in the most TikTok posts (2,726) and the second most Instagram posts (55,295). 

3. Manchester, Christmas market score of 6.55/10:

Just like last year, the Manchester Christmas Markets are still incredibly popular. Interest in the markets is high, as the Manchester markets have the highest number of Google searches (782,800). 

The markets are located in several locations, including Market Street and Exchange Square, and they have captured the imagination of Instagram users, as they have the highest number of posts there (62,173). 

The UK Christmas markets closest to their local station

Although many of the Christmas markets are located in multiple locations in the city, we have taken the walking distance from the main location to the biggest station in the city. Compared to other locations, Birmingham’s markets are the closest, just a five-minute walk from ‘Birmingham New Street’ station. 

The longest-running UK Christmas Markets 

Just like last year, Birmingham’s markets are the longest-running, meaning 54 whole days of festivities! Although this is one day fewer than last year, it is still three days longer than second-placed Bristol. 

Most affordable nearby Christmas market accommodation in the UK

Once again, Birmingham is the best-performing city for a factor, and this is the average price of its three-star hotels, which is just £88 in December! Newcastle, which ranked first last year, has dropped to third with an average nightly price of £93. 

Most Instagrammable UK Christmas markets

In the past year, Manchester has overtaken Edinburgh as the most snapped Christmas market on Instagram. There are over 62,000 posts for the markets in Manchester — perfect for anyone looking for inspiration when planning their next market trip.

Most posted UK Christmas markets on TikTok

Although Edinburgh has lost its crown as the most Instagrammed UK Christmas market, it is still very popular on social media. There have been over 2,700 posts on TikTok, where people have shown off the food, stalls, and decorations of the market held in 2023. 

Most popular UK Christmas markets

Manchester’s markets are once again the most searched for on Google, and the number of searches has increased by 4% from 755,100 to 782,800. Interest in Leeds’ Christmas markets has increased the most in the past year, increasing by 45%. 

The best European Christmas markets in 2024

1. Tallinn, Estonia, Christmas market score of 8.27/10:

Tallinn, Estonia's capital, has the best Christmas markets to visit in Europe this year, moving up from second place in last year's rankings!

The Baltic nation often gets snow at Christmas, which helps create a wonderful festive atmosphere amongst its historic buildings and vibrant Christmas markets. The popularity of the Talinn markets has improved drastically over the last year, with a 60% increase in Google searches for them — going from 66,100 in 2022/23 to 164,700 in 2023/24. 

2. Cologne, Germany, Christmas market score of 7.26/10:

Cologne’s Christmas markets have seen the most dramatic rise in the rankings, climbing from tenth place to second. The city of Cologne is one of the most iconic in Germany, with its ancient Gothic cathedral dominating the historic city.

Although Cologne does not excel in any of the ranking factors, its solid score across all of them makes the markets a complete visit for the festive tourist. The city performed particularly well for the number of Google searches (298,000) and Instagram posts (5,939).

3. Prague, Czech Republic, Christmas market score of 7.14/10:

Prague is another city improving in the rankings, having moved up from seventh place last year to third in 2024. The historic capital of the Czech Republic is famous for its beer, beauty and brilliant atmosphere for tourists.

The Christmas season only adds to the city's appeal, and the markets are incredibly popular, with over 380,000 Google searches. 

The closest Christmas markets to their local station in Europe

Brussels and Bolzano are the joint winners in this regard, with both of their markets being just a five-minute walk from the city's main train station! 

The longest-running European Christmas Markets 

The City of Light and Love tops the rankings for the longest-running, with the markets in Paris lasting 53 days from mid-November to early January. 

Most affordable nearby Christmas market accommodation in Europe

The most affordable city to stay in for Christmas markets is the western Polish city of Poznan. The average price of a three-star hotel in the city is just £56 per night. 

Most Instagrammable European Christmas markets

Strasbourg in France has, by far, the most popular Christmas markets on Instagram, with over 30,000 posts of the markets, over 10,000 more than the second-highest-ranking city of Vienna. 

Most posted European Christmas markets on TikTok

It would appear that European Christmas markets have yet to take the world of TikTok by storm, as no city’s market has more than 1,000 posts. Of these, Budapest is the top, with 596 posts. 

Most popular European Christmas markets

The markets in Vienna are the most popular, with 526,700 annual searches, a 34% increase from last year. The markets in Tallinn have seen a 60% increase in searches, the highest growth of any market! 

Methodology 

• We collated a comprehensive list of 61 major Christmas markets across Europe and the UK to study. 

• Using the addresses of the markets and the city’s main train station, we used Google Maps to find the estimated time it would take to walk to the market from the station.

• We discovered the number of days that the markets will run for. Where multiple markets are running for different lengths in the city, we took the start date of the earliest opening and the end date of the latest closing. 

• We used Kayak to source the average nightly price for a three-star hotel room in December.

• We used Google Keyword Planner to find the number of searches for the markets, and compared the figure to the year before to see how much the interest has changed. 

• The number of Instagram and TikTok posts were found by looking at the number of posts for ‘#citychristmasmarket”

• Each market was given a normalised score out of 10 for each of the above factors before an average of these four scores was taken for the overall Christmas Market score out of 10.