Cologne, Germany Christmas Markets: Your Perfect Christmas Holiday

Cologne has some of the best Christmas Markets in Germany. There’s other great sights here too, making it the perfect place for a Christmas holiday. Here’s my guide to the Cologne, Germany Christmas Markets.

Last updated: January 2025

Cologne is a small city in the West of Germany. It’s a good city to visit, with a really impressive Cathedral. However, the highlight of Cologne is the Christmas Markets at Christmas. Cologne is one of the best places to visit in Germany at Christmas. The Christmas Markets in Cologne are just great, with so many fun, Christmassy things to do. Here’s my guide to the Cologne, Germany Christmas Markets.

How do I get to and around Cologne, Germany?

The city of Cologne in Germany is really well connected by train. You can fly to Cologne, but the train links to Cologne make it a great place to visit combined with another city or two. You can visit the nearby small German city of Aachen by train as a day trip from Cologne, with another amazing Cathedral. Read more below about taking a day trip from Cologne to Aachen.

You can also get the train from Cologne to other cities such as Berlin and Brussels in Belgium. You can get to London by Eurostar as well. Cologne really is a great place to visit at Christmas, with great Christmas Markets and great train connections to extend your trip.

What is the weather like in Cologne in December?

Cologne is in the West of Germany, so it has similar winter weather to the rest of Germany and nearby Belgium. When you’re visiting Cologne for Christmas in December, you’ll definitely need to be prepared for some cold weather and a high chance of rain. It’s unlikely to snow too much – but you could get lucky and have a lovely, snowy Christmas trip. But the weather is more likely to rain rather than snow.

Make sure you have a warm, waterproof coat you can still explore even if it rains. And even if it doesn’t rain, the weather could still be quite cold. But with a good, waterproof coat and plenty of layers of clothing, you’ll still be able to spend hours outside exploring the city regardless of the weather.

Cologne at Christmas: Cologne, Germany’s best Christmas Markets

Cologne’s vast Christmas Markets stretch across a huge area of the city centre, with the stunning Cathedral as a backdrop. The Cologne Christmas Markets really are some of the best in Germany. The huge Cathedral is a really impressive backdrop to all the Christmas lights and decorations. Cologne’s Christmas Markets are in the traditional German style, with cute wooden huts and lots of Christmas lights.

Christmas gifts and music

You can spend a whole afternoon and evening in Cologne just wandering around the stalls, listening to the Christmas music. There’s Christmas music played from speakers, and there are sometimes some live events where a choir might perform some Christmas music. Cologne at Christmas is really magical, with the Christmas music and all the markets and decorations.

When you’re visiting the German Christmas markets in Cologne, you can also browse the market stalls for some unique Christmas gifts and decorations to take home to your friends and family. The Christmas markets in Cologne sell a wide range of different products. You can find lots of Christmas decorations, and also other hand-crafted wooden decorations as well.

Food and drink at the Cologne, Germany Christmas Market

And of course, no visit to Cologne, Germany’s Christmas Markets is complete without trying the food and drink. There’s lots of German food and drink available, and you can eat and drink for hours. A warm mug of mulled wine is perfect while you’re walking around Cologne at Christmas.

You can get traditional German foods, such as Bratwurst which are huge sausages. And you can also get one of my favourite foods, called Langos. Langos is deep-fried bread with garlic sauce and cheese. It’s so good, especially when it’s served fresh and warm from a Christmas Market stall. Eating the foods at the Christmas Markets was definitely a highlight of my trip to Cologne at Christmas.

Another of my favourite foods you can get at the Cologne Christmas Market in Germany is Kartofflepuffer. These are German potato pancakes, where the potato is deep fried and served with sweet apple sauce. They’re so good, and really warm you up when you’re exploring Cologne at Christmas

The food and drink available at Cologne’s German Christmas Markets are definitely a highlight of the trip. And it’s all a fairly reasonable price as well. You can try lots of different types of foods from different stalls all through the evening.

Top things to do in Cologne, Germany

As well as the German Christmas Markets in Cologne, there’s lots more to do in this small German city. If you’re visiting Cologne at Christmas, make sure you give yourself time to explore the city beyond the Christmas Markets. There are lots of good things to do here, so you can easily spend a day or two exploring the top things to do in Cologne, Germany.

Cologne Cathedral

The main sight in Cologne, Germany is the hugely impressive Cathedral. This immense Gothic structure dates back to the 13th century and in 1996 was declared a World Heritage Site. It looks really impressive from the outside. You can also go inside the Cathedral as well. It’s a huge building, and it’s really impressive from the inside as well as the outside.

Cologne Old Town

Cologne also has a nice Old Town. Cologne Old Town is a traditional old German city, with colourful buildings. There are plenty of cafes, bars and restaurants in the Old Town area of Cologne where you can escape from the cold winter weather and warm up with some nice food and drink.

Lindt Chocolate Museum in Cologne

The best museum to visit in Cologne is the Chocolate Museum. It’s a must-visit museum for anyone who enjoys chocolate. The Lindt Chocolate Museum is definitely worth a visit.

You can learn all about how chocolate is made, and of course there are plenty of opportunities to sample a piece (or two) and buy more! You can check out the latest prices and opening times of the museum here. The museum is quite big, so you can easily spend a few hours here. It’s a great place to visit in the morning, and then you can spend your afternoon and evening at the Cologne Christmas Markets.

Day trip from Cologne to Aachen

I think Cologne, Germany is a great city, especially at Christmas. There’s definitely plenty to do here for two days, with some great sights in the city as well as Cologne’s Christmas markets.

If you’ve got some more time in Cologne, I recommend taking a day trip from Cologne to Aachen. Aachen is another small city in West Germany, close to the border with Belgium. Aachen also has some great Christmas Markets, and another hugely impressive Cathedral. So it’s definitely worth taking a day trip from Cologne to Aachen at Christmas.

How do I get from Cologne to Aachen for a day trip?

The easy train links make Aachen a great day trip from Cologne. The train from Cologne to Aachen only takes about an hour, and you can get a ticket for under £20. Only an hour away from Cologne for under £20, I stopped off here for a day on my way back to Brussels. Check Germany’s train timetables for the most up to date times and prices.

The train from Cologne to Aachen continues onto Brussels in Belgium. So you could also visit Aachen on the way from Cologne to Brussels.

Is Aachen, Germany worth visiting?

I think Aachen is worth visiting for a few hours, or for a day trip. The main highlight of Aachen is the impressive Cathedral. If you visit Aachen at Christmas, you can enjoy some nice Christmas Markets in Aachen as well. Aachen is a good day trip from Cologne, or you could spend a few hours in Aachen if you’re travelling from Cologne to Brussels by train.

Aachen at Christmas

The Christmas markets in Aachen, Germany are just as fun as Cologne, with great gifts, food and drink. The main area of Christmas markets in Aachen are around the impressive Cathedral. Like the Cologne Christmas Markets, there’s a large area of cute, traditional wooden huts. It’s a great place for food and drink as well as some Christmas shopping.

Top things to do in Aachen

As well as some great Christmas markets in Aachen, there’s more to explore as well. Cologne and Aachen both have outstanding cathedrals. Like Cologne, the Cathedral is the focal point of the city, dominating the views. It’s one of the oldest cathedrals in Europe, constructed by Emperor Charlemagne, who was buried there in 814. The inside is equally, if not more, impressive than the exterior.

I really enjoyed visiting Aachen as a day trip from Cologne. Aachen isn’t big, so you only need a few hours to explore the top sights. So it’s a great day trip, or a great place to stop off on your way through. The real highlight of Christmas in Germany is the Christmas Markets in Cologne, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to explore Cologne, Germany’s Christmas Markets for your perfect Christmas holiday.

Enjoy your Christmas holiday to the Cologne, Germany Christmas Markets! If you’re looking for more Christmas Markets to enjoy, check out my guide to the Berlin Christmas Markets. You can also get the train from Cologne to Brussels, so check out my top things to do in Brussels and also my guide to Brussels Christmas Markets.

Want to see a different side of Cologne and Aachen? Jet Lagged and Loving it Travel Vlog have some great episodes in Series 2 of the vlog. Check it out!