I heard so much about the Christmas markets in Germany and this year I decided to go take a look myself. The flights were pretty cheap, it worked out to £50 on average per person return, cheaper than me catching a train to London. Too good a deal to pass. My destination was Cologne, or Koln as it is known in Germany, one of the few German cities I could fly from my local airport.
Markt am Dom, Koln
My first port of call was Weihnachtsmarkt am Kölner Dom, the Christmas market by Koln Cathedral. I arrived during daytime after visiting the famous Cathedral next door. The market was quiet with just a handful of people around. I was quite disappointed because I thought the vibe would be much better. The fact it was drizzling didn't help either.
Heinzels Winter Fairytale
After wandering around for a little while, I headed off to another market called the Heinzels Winter Fairytale . It was only about 5 minutes walk away. This market is located in Alter Markt, the Old Market and is my favourite market out of all the ones I visited on this trip. All the stalls were decorated like old stalls and the stall owners also dressed up in period costumes. In England we would call this Victorian style, I don't know what the German equivalent period would be. All this added to the atmosphere and it was wonderful.
Take two to the Christmas markets
The next day I went to a nearby town called Wuppertal, but the following day I went back to the Christmas markets in Koln again. On the very day I wasn't in Koln, it turns out that 
Anyway, my second visit to the Christmas market in Koln was very different from my first visit. I think markets, especially Christmas markets are much nicer at night time when all the lights are on.
Koln Cathedral looks extra magical with the Christmas trees in front.
On my first visit, I couldn't appreciate the atmosphere here. Now at dark, everything looks so stunning. The lights overhead were like a net covering the market, like you were indoors, but you weren't, and you could still feel the winter cold. All I needed was some snow to complete the picture. That would have been perfect. The crowd was much bigger now. Normally I don't like crowds, but markets just don't feel the same when there's no buzz and no one around.
I wandered off to Heinzels Winter Fairytale again, my favorite market 😀
The Heinzels Winter Fairytale extends from the Alter Markt to the Heumarkt square just across the road. There are more stalls here and I saw this one selling children's wooden plates. They were so colourful and there were all sort of shapes and objects.
You can even personalise it with a name. The stall holder cuts it free hand on the electric cutter, it was fascinating to watch her do it.
Christmas market mugs
Remember I told you about the mugs at the market? They were all very cute and I couldn't resist buying a couple. Each market has a stall that sells just the mug, so you can get a clean one that you haven't just drank out of. The one of the left is from the Koln Cathedral market, and when I got home I noticed it was the 2022 and not 2023 one! Oh well! I can pretend I went to Germany last year as well. The other one is from the Dusseldorf Christmas market. The two cities are less than half an hour away by train. I'm going to keep using these mugs this month as they will have to be put away after Christmas. Till then, I'm going to enjoy my Christmas drinks for another week whilst Christmas is still here.
