The Best Christmas Markets in Cologne: Five Worth Your Time

Most cities have one big market and a few small ones spread out. Cologne has several genuinely different markets within walking distance of each other, all in a compact centre, with a cathedral in the middle that does the work of decoration on its own.

They usually run from late November until shortly before Christmas, and the practical trick is to plan a loop rather than a single stop. In some years a small shuttle train runs between several of the markets, which is worth checking if you are walking with children or grandparents.

The market on Roncalliplatz sits directly beneath Cologne Cathedral, and that setting is the whole point. The cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site that took more than six hundred years to finish, from the thirteenth century to 1880, and standing under those two spires with a mug of Glühwein is the image most people come for.

It is also the busiest by a wide margin. Come on a weekday, or early, and accept that you will be shuffling rather than strolling on a December Saturday.

In the old town, around the Alter Markt and Heumarkt, this market is built on the legend of the Heinzelmännchen, the little house gnomes who supposedly did all of Cologne's work at night, until a tailor's wife scattered peas on the stairs to catch a look at them and they left forever. The city has never quite forgiven her.

It is the most fun of the markets, with craft stalls, gnome figures everywhere and an ice rink at the Heumarkt end. If you are here with children, this is the one to build the afternoon around.

On the Neumarkt, the Markt der Engel goes for white and gold: a canopy of lights above the stalls and costumed angels moving through the crowd. It is the prettiest of the group and the best one after dark, and it feels calmer than the cathedral market even when it is full.

Down at the Rheinauhafen, beside the Chocolate Museum, the harbour market takes a maritime theme, with the water, the old harbour buildings and the converted crane houses behind it. It is a different atmosphere from the old town: more open, more air, fewer people packed into narrow lanes.

Combine it with the museum if the weather turns, and walk back along the river rather than taking the tram.

Away from the centre, the smaller neighbourhood markets, such as the one at the Stadtgarten, are where Cologne residents go for an evening drink rather than for shopping. Fewer stalls, more locals, no queues. If you have done three markets already and had enough of crowds, finish here.

Cologne drinks Kölsch: pale, crisp and served in small straight 0.2-litre glasses called Stangen. In the old brewery pubs, the waiter, known as the Köbes, will replace your empty glass without being asked and mark your beermat. To stop, put the beermat on top of the glass.

At the markets you will mostly drink Glühwein, usually from a mug you pay a deposit on and can keep as a souvenir. Eat a Reibekuchen, a fried potato pancake with apple sauce, which is the regional market food and better than it sounds.

And as in Düsseldorf, do not praise the other city's beer. The rivalry between Kölsch and Altbier is a running joke that everyone commits to.

The walk between markets passes most of what matters: the cathedral, the Roman remains around it, the Hohenzollern bridge with its padlocks and the riverbank. A city game turns that walk into something with a purpose, sending you through the old town solving clues so the children stay warm and the adults notice more than the next Glühwein stall.

If you want the city as well as the markets, walk it with a playing route. Here is how it works, and for team outings and larger groups we have formats on this page. Questions about dates, group sizes or routes? Get in touch. Half an hour up the Rhine, and the rival: Düsseldorf.