The Cologne Christmas market was the biggest market we went to, in terms of both size of the markets and number of people there. They have six markets, each with a different theme. The main market is by the Cologne Cathedral, a gorgeous Gothic basilica.
We stayed at the Cologne Marriott Hotel, near the cathedral, just on the other side of the train station. It was so close that we could easily walk with all of our luggage. We arrived early and our room wasn’t ready. They had someone making waffles in the lobby so we stored our luggage, had a waffle, and then headed out to the market at the cathedral.
The market was absolute chaos. Granted, it was a Saturday, but it was so packed! It was also very poorly designed. Basically one shared entrance and exit on each side, and the majority of the market was fenced in. The walkways were very narrow, making it hard to move and impossible to browse the stands.
After fighting our way through the crowd, we finally found a glühwein stand with a relatively decent wait. There wasn’t a line so much as a cluster of people pushing their way to the front. As a type A perfectionist who thrives on order and fairness, this drove me crazy but I really wanted one of the mugs. Each Cologne Christmas market had a different mug and this one looked so cute.
Pro tip: Be prepared to be a bit aggressive if you go to the Cologne Christmas markets
We wanted to eat at the market but literally couldn’t get close enough to the stands to see what they had so we left the market and walked around the city, looking for lunch. After eating, we went back to the hotel, checked in, and relaxed before heading out for the evening.
Our goal was to see as many of the markets as possible, but we were feeling a little discouraged after the crowded market earlier. We decided to walk to the farthest one on the river and work our way back. It was really cold out so we were hopefully that it wouldn’t be as busy.
But it was. The Cologne Harbour Christmas market was smaller than the cathedral market, but still so packed. We walked down the narrow walkway like human bumper cars, people knocking into each other because there was just not enough room. We got to the end of the market and it just stopped. A dead end. So now everyone was trying to see the stalls and turn around in a small space. It was awful.
We finally got out and found a glühwein stand. Unlike the other markets, where most of the stall sold glühwein, they had specific stalls and very few of them. Like the cathedral market, I wanted a mug so we reminded ourselves we were lucky to be there and got in the line.
We decided to try our luck at the next market, Heinzels Winter Fairyland. They have a large ice skating rink on one side, and at first it didn’t look too crowded, until we realized that we were seeing inside the ice skating area. We walked around the rink, and the entrance was so packed that we couldn’t even get into the market.
So we left and decided to try and see the cathedral market at night. We saw some lovely decorations but nothing compared to Strasbourg.
The cathedral market was impossible to get in to. We walked along the back to get a picture of the tree, then headed back to the hotel.
If I could go back, I would have stayed two nights in Cologne. I’m hopeful that it was so crowded and impossible because it was a Saturday, and I would have liked to go back on a different night. This was also a good learning lesson. For future trips to popular places, we won’t plan one day trips on Saturdays.
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