Best Christmas markets in Poland

If you’re looking for a hefty Christmas market in Poland to explore, you can’t go wrong with the capital city, Warsaw. Its festive gathering runs from the middle of November all the way through December, giving you plenty of time to check out its collection of wooden-hut-style stalls and nearby sites.
 

On the festive front, you can expect the likes of Christmas-themed amusement park rides and souvenir stations to steal the spotlight. The latter deal in the likes of handcrafted baubles, as well as woollen jumpers, scarves and caps. There’s plenty in the ways of seasonal snacks, too – take your pick from freshly-baked gingerbread, creamy hot chocolate, mulled wine and more. And, let’s not forget about Warsaw Christmas Market’s centrepiece, a sky-high Christmas tree that’s decked out with thousands of colourful fairy lights – it’s regarded as one of the prettiest of its kind in Europe.
 

Most of the market’s bundled next to Warsaw’s Castle Square, in the UNESCO-rated old town. One side of the market rubs shoulders with the Royal Castle, a cherry-tinted palace built in the 1970s – the previous 300-year-old version was destroyed during the Second World War. Nowadays, rather than housing Poland’s ruling royals, the palace is a museum, where over 500,000 people a year come to get a look at its ornate halls, gold-gilded throne and art collection – original Rembrandt paintings are on show here.
 

The Royal Castle isn’t the only leading landmark the Warsaw Christmas Market neighbours. During your city break to Warsaw, you can split up your time around the stalls with short walks to the old town’s restaurant-lined cobbled lanes and St John’s Archcathedral. The latter’s one of three in the city, and is home to the tombs of some of Poland’s leading royalty, statesmen and artists. The former, meanwhile, are the perfect places to sample some hearty Polish cuisine, like pierogi. These dumplings can come stuffed with everything from meat and vegetables to fruit and chocolate.
 

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Despite being Warsaw’s little sibling, the city of Kraków actually tops the leaderboards when it comes to Poland’s Christmas market game. The market here is the biggest and best in the country, drawing in tourists by the thousands each year between 25 November and 26 December.

You’ll find the Kraków Christmas Market nestled in a 13th-century public square in the city’s old town, meaning just like in Warsaw, your Christmas shopping is never far away from the city’s mainstays. For example, the UNESCO-protected St Mary’s Basilica is a short stroll from the Christmas market. It was built in 1347 and is home to one of Poland’s national treasures, the Altarpiece by Viet Stoss – this Gothic wooden ornament is over 13 metres tall.

Kraków Christmas Market’s most well-known for its nativity competition, so expect to see plenty of miniature mangers and tiny wise men set up in shop windows and in public plazas throughout Kraków. There are hundreds of timber hut stalls, as well, where you can stock up on the usual festive handicrafts – think nutcrackers, wooden toys and tree ornaments.

A good proportion of the market’s also dedicated to serving up a variety of international and Christmassy treats, including cheese selections, meat-stuffed sandwiches and chocolate-covered churros. If it’s a hearty sit-down meal you’re after, however, there are plenty of nearby cellar bars surrounding the market – bigos, a stew made with meats and both pickled and fresh cabbage, is a Kraków favourite.

Find out more about our city breaks to Kraków