Cologne Christmas Markets, Germany

You can fly directly to Cologne. If you plan to only be in Cologne, public transport will be fine to get about the city.

Cologne is pretty big. It is a large German city with a massive, and I do mean massive, cathedral. Which is on a large square, this was our starting point when we arrived and began visiting. There are multiple markets, with differing themes and they are large, with lots of stands to look around.

The one near the cathedral has the typical foods, drinks and gifts, you zig zag your way through looking around, all the time in the shadow of the huge cathedral which makes it all quite pretty. I’m not sure if the markets here are one or if is a different market, you move to the back of this market which is at the front ish/side of the cathedral and there off to the right leading away from the cathedral, it opens up with more stands.

Carry on down to Alter Markt and Heumarkt and you get to what was my favourite of the Cologne markets, the Heinzelmannchen Market. Let’s start by asking who or what are the Heinzelmannchen? Well, they are little gnomes or elves, unique to Cologne. These little folk are said to have come out at night and performed all of the chores for the residents of Cologne, leaving the population to be very relaxed and lazy, having nothing to do during the day, that was until a lady got curious and wanted to see them, so she set a trap, which made the little fellers very mad and they left the city, leaving all the chores for the residence to now, and forever, complete themselves.

Nice story, right?

The market here is in celebration of these elves and the story. When we were there on this market our mulled wine or Gluhwein was served in beautiful stubby, roundish mugs, each with a different Heinzelmannchen elf, and the name with the story on the back (in German). We did buy a couple to take home as they were very nice.

These markets have an ice rink circuit you can skate around, and plenty more to see and do. They sort of join and merge into the Angels Market with white colours and illuminated stars.

Speaking to locals and looking on the website you will see there is a market at the water side and Harbour Market. We went, and it was cold and wet when we arrived, which may have negatively affect my opinion, however, I am not sure I would call this much of a market and unless we caught it wrong, didn’t see much in this location to suggest going. I mean you should right, if you are in the city, but don’t expect too much. There are a handful of craft stands selling bits and pieces, and there is a handful of drink stands. It's possible, in the evening this area comes alive with people being jolly and festive enjoying drinks, but for us it wouldn’t be a must do.

In this area, at the water, is a Lindt Museum and tour. As we have done the Zurich one, we didn’t bother or feel the need to go to this one. If it is anything like the Zurich one, I do suggest you go and enjoy it. My experience with any chocolate museum and tour, they are done very well, and with the goodies you typically consume inside, it sort of has a net zero cost to enter. Go and enjoy!

I don’t have loads to say about what there is to do in the area and other things to see. For completeness there is another market I haven’t mentioned, Veedelsadvent at chlodwigplatz, we just didn’t have enough time to go during our trip, therefore I am unable to write about it. Other attractions that could be worth checking out, there is local brewery tour you can jump on if you have time, Brauwelt. And of course, you shouldn't only use the cathedral as a landmark and reference for your bearings at the Christmas Markets, go and visit it. On our trip, we combined Cologne with Valkenberg which is kind of an hour’s drive away over in Holland. This would be my suggestion, if you did plan to have a day or two outside of Cologne, nip over and visit Valkenberg.

Back in Cologne, as you stroll through the city you will see various restaurants. It’s always going to be possible and recommended to grab some food at the markets if you don’t mind alfresco, but if you want a roofed and warm option, have a look around, check out the menus and eat whatever takes your fancy. For us, when we are in Germany, typically we like the big beer halls with local beers and heavy German food. There is a couple of places of this style here, like Malzmuhle not much further on from the Angels Market, additionally you could check out Servus Colonia Alpina. The down side to these places, they are likely to be loud and busy, if you don’t mind or maybe that is even what you are looking for, these are going to be great choices, but if you want it a bit calmer, then maybe better to give them a miss and find a quiet place instead.

The city and markets are big, it takes some time to go around, they are really nice, this is a very good market which I don’t think gets listed as a top European market as much as it should. I would put this on the list fairly high as must do markets.