Which days are worth travelling for?

Weekdays, especially the first full week. The second and third Advent weekends are the busiest and the most expensive by a wide margin.

Can I combine it with other markets?

Easily. Bamberg and Erlangen are half an hour by train; Vienna, Strasbourg and Cologne run on the same Advent calendar and are all reachable in a few hours.

How cold does it get?

Below freezing most evenings in December, and the market is entirely outdoors. The Glühwein is a practical measure.

Is it worth staying in the old town?

Yes — it is small, it is the whole attraction, and walking back from a market at 9pm in the cold is better than a tram ride.

Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt 2027

Name: Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt 2027
Start: 2027-11-26
End: 2027-12-24
Location: Hauptmarkt

Nuremberg, Germany

26 Nov – 24 Dec 2027

Confirmed by organizer

The Christkindlesmarkt always opens on the Friday before the first Advent and closes on 24 December; the city's own calendar gives 26 November to 24 December for 2027.

391days to go

Hotels for these dates

Right Weekend earns a commission when you book through links on this page. It never affects which days or districts we recommend.

Our verdict

Go: Any weekday; the second and third Advent weekends are the ones to avoid
Stay: Altstadt
Book by: May 2027 for an Advent weekend, September for a weekday

A month-long market where the price of a bed swings by three times depending on the day of the week. Weekday nights in early December are the same stalls, the same Glühwein and half the people; Advent Saturdays are shoulder-to-shoulder from eleven in the morning.

Illustration: a German market square at dusk in December, wooden stalls with striped awnings, strings of lights, steam rising from mugs, light snow — Illustration — a generated image of the kind of scene, not a photograph of the venue.

Which days to go

Day	What happens	Hotel price	Our call
Opening weekend26–28 Nov 2027	The Christkind's prologue opens the market on the Friday evening	×2.4	Atmospheric and packed; come for the opening or come for the quiet, not both
First week29 Nov – 3 Dec 2027	The full market, open daily, with the city going about its business	×1.3	The cheapest and the best — this is the week to book
Second and third Advent4–12 Dec 2027	Peak weekends; coach parties from across Europe	×3	The two weekends everything triples. Weekdays in between are still fine
The last stretch13–23 Dec 2027	Quieter again as locals shop; shorter queues, colder evenings	×1.8	A good compromise if you want December without the Advent crowds
Christmas EveFri 24 Dec	The market closes at lunchtime and the city shuts for Christmas	×1.6	Only worth it if you are staying for Christmas itself

Hotel price is what the same hotel costs on these dates against its rate four weeks before the event. Crowd and price are our estimates from how the event has run, not live rates.

Where to stay

HauptmarktNorth is up. Numbers match the table.A number too close to read sits beside its dot, on a thin line.

#	District	To the venue	Price	What it is
1	Altstadt	5 min walk	$$$$	Inside the walls, the market on the doorstep; the whole reason to pay more
2	Around the Hauptbahnhof	15 min walk	$$$	Chain hotels by the station, ten minutes' walk from the Hauptmarkt
3	Gostenhof & the west	20 min metro	$$	Two U-Bahn stops out, residential, and the best value in the city
4	Fürth	30 min metro	$$	The next town, on the same U-Bahn line, with its own smaller market
5	Erlangen & Bamberg	45 min train	$$	Half an hour by train, two more markets, and midweek rates

Hotel	What it is	Book
Altstadt
Hotel Drei Raben	In the old town, a few minutes from the Hauptmarkt	Booking Expedia
Hotel Elch	A half-timbered house under the castle; small and gone by summer	Booking Expedia
Around the Hauptbahnhof
Le Méridien Grand Hotel Nürnberg	Opposite the station and ten minutes' walk from the market	Booking Expedia
Gostenhof & the west
Novina Hotel Wöhrdersee Nürnberg City	Two stops out, and the price difference pays for the Glühwein	Booking Expedia
Fürth
Mercure Hotel Nürnberg West	On the U-Bahn line, half an hour door to market	Booking Expedia

When to book

9 mo beforeFebruary 2027
Altstadt hotels for the second and third Advent weekends
6 mo beforeMay 2027
The rest of the old town, and Fürth on Advent Saturdays
3 mo beforeAugust 2027
Station hotels on peak weekends; Erlangen and Bamberg follow
1 mo beforeOctober 2027
Nothing much — midweek nights stay bookable all the way in

Getting there

Nuremberg’s airport is twenty minutes from the centre on the U2. The city is also two hours from Munich and three from Frankfurt by ICE, which makes it an easy add-on rather than a trip of its own.

Everything is inside the medieval walls and walkable. The Hauptmarkt is ten minutes from the station; the Kinderweihnacht and the craft market are a few streets away.

Markets in Strasbourg, Vienna and Cologne run on similar Advent calendars, and the train connections make a two-city trip realistic — Nuremberg and Bamberg in a weekend, or Nuremberg and Vienna in four days.

Flights to NUE Trains and buses

Tickets

Opening times and programme (christkindlesmarkt.de)Official

Also on these dates

Cologne Christmas Markets22 Nov – 23 Dec 2027 · Cologne
Strasbourg Christmas Market26 Nov – 24 Dec 2027 · Strasbourg
Vienna Christmas Market12 Nov – 26 Dec 2027 · Vienna

Questions

When is the 2027 Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt?: 26 November to 24 December 2027. It always opens on the Friday before the first Advent and closes at lunchtime on Christmas Eve.
Which days are worth travelling for?: Weekdays, especially the first full week. The second and third Advent weekends are the busiest and the most expensive by a wide margin.
Can I combine it with other markets?: Easily. Bamberg and Erlangen are half an hour by train; Vienna, Strasbourg and Cologne run on the same Advent calendar and are all reachable in a few hours.
How cold does it get?: Below freezing most evenings in December, and the market is entirely outdoors. The Glühwein is a practical measure.
Is it worth staying in the old town?: Yes — it is small, it is the whole attraction, and walking back from a market at 9pm in the cold is better than a tram ride.

Updated 2026-10-29 ·See every event in 2027