America’s best old world Christmas markets

Revelers unable to hop the pond before the 12 days of Christmas can find a slew of old-world-inspired festive markets across the United States.

Before you deck the halls and check the list twice, take a look at some of these Christmas markets in the United States that are taking notes from “Europe’s holiday playbook.”

Open: Nov. 18 – Dec. 23, 2022

Held at Civic Center Park, the Denver Christkindlmarket brings the festive spirit of an outdoor European Christmas Market in Colorado. Visitors can sip hot chocolate or mulled wine from steaming mugs while listening to polka music and browsing the wooden huts with local and international crafts and arts.

Open: Nov. 19- Dec. 10, 2022 (Weekends)

Old-World Christmas fans will love Holland, Michigan— one of the most festive domestic destinations. The town’s annual Kerstmarkt— dutch for Christmas market features more than a dozen wooden booths with traditional food, arts and crafts, and whatnots.

Open: Nov. 26 2022 – Jan. 6 2023

Solvang Julefest takes place in the Danish-American town of Solvang, which has continued to uphold Danish tradition since its foundation in 1911. Considered one the best Christmas markets in the United States, Julefest offers everything from seasonal Danish foods such as “æbleskiver—” pancakes dipped in jam and sugar, to gløgg, the Danish version of mulled wine.

Open: Nov. 18 –  Dec. 23, 2022

Every year from mid-November to Christmas Eve, the bustling Downtown Holiday Market in the nation’s capital turns F Street NW into a holiday extravaganza. With more than 70 minority-owned businesses, various food vendors, and live music, the Downtown Holiday Market is a unique experience for the whole family.

Open:  Nov.19 – Dec. 23, 2022

Every year, from late November to Christmas Eve, locals and visitors can enjoy the festive season in downtown Pittsburg’s Peoples Gas Holiday Market. Located in the Market Square, shoppers can hum to the live Christmas music while wandering around the wooden huts filled with goods like German-made ornaments and handmade Polish folk art, and delicious Austrian strudels.

Open: Nov. 25– Jan., 2022

Modeled after a traditional Salzburg Christmas market, Savannah Christmas Market offers a soul-warming experience of the classic European market with a touch of Southern charm. Visitors can enjoy seasonal food, arts and crafts, live holiday music, and various street performers in a festive setting.

Open: Nov. 19 – Dec. 18, 2022 (Weekends)

Over 800 vendors and performers dressed in Victorian costumes will transport visitors to Dickensian London at Daly City’s annual The Great Dickens Christmas Fair.While strolling through the shops filled with handmade goods, you can listen to live festive music, enjoy a pint at Mad Sal’s Dockside Alehouse, and sample some festive foods like Christmas pudding or roasted chestnuts. Meanwhile, you will encounter many beloved Dickens characters such as Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and Father Christmas.

Open: Nov. 24–Dec. 24

From Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, visitors to Baltimore’s Christmas Village will experience a true German festive spirit. The city’s Inner Harbor is covered with thousands of twinkling lights, including the Geman wooden Christmas tower known as “Weihnachtspyramide”. The Christmas village features both indoor and outdoor markets with beer gardens and an amusement park. You can browse through the many local and international vendors and keep yourself warm with some delicious Belgian fries or mulled wine.

Open: Dec. 2– Dec. 11, 2022

If you are in the mood for a quaint market in a luxury setting, head to off-the-beaten-path  Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin. Every year, the Osthoff Resort rekindles the traditional  German Christkindlesmarkt in a giant heated tent. The charming timbre booths adorned with twinkling lights and freshly cut balsam trees feature everything from  handmade ornaments and jewelry to potato pancakes. You can also snap a photo with Father Christmas and have a ride in a horse-drawn carriage.

Open: Nov. 18 – Dec. 24, 2022

Christkindlmarket Chicago brings to mind a 16th-century Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg, Germany, with its whimsical boots housing Christmas ornaments, wooden nutcrackers, savory and sweet treats such as pretzels, roasted nuts, bratwurst, and mulled wine. The market is so popular that this year will take place at three locations in Chicago which you can find here.

Open: Nov. 25- Dec.23,2022

An ode to a traditional German Christmas market, Christkindl in Atlanta offers a charming holiday shopping experience. The market is officially kicked off by a Nuremberg Christkind (the symbol of German Christmas markets, a fairy-like figure dressed in white and golden dress and a golden crown).

The market is brimming with German-inspired crafts and arts, including handmade wooden toys and trinkets, tree ornaments, and fine laces, as well as traditional German food like currywurst, bratwurst and spiced mulled wine.

Open: Nov. 25 – Dec. 23, 2022

A family-friendly German-inspired market, Arlington’s Christmas market offers a variety of holiday gifts, decorations, and other traditional festive items, as well as live entertainment. Children will enjoy seeing the Christkindl Angel and getting their picture taken with Santa in the Warming Haus. Additionally, the market claims to be the only place in the southwest to buy Käthe Wohlfahrt’s renowned Christmas decorations from Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Open: Dates unconfirmed

Part of a broader celebration called “Macy’s Light Up the Square,” the market located in Fountain Square is authentically German in style.

While you do your holiday shopping, browsing through the charming half-timbered stalls, you can indulge in one of the many festive delicacies, including Glühwein(German-style mulled wine), hot chocolate, sweets and baked goods.

Open: Nov. 12 – Nov. 13, 2022

Located within the grounds of the Harmony museum, the unusual venue for a Christmas market does not deter crowds from enjoying the unique atmosphere and slew of whimsical gifts. You can be confident that the items you’re browsing are genuine German imports because there’s a high level of quality control, which means vendors and artists are selected based on their offerings. Additionally,  WeihnachtsMarkt features live music, carol singing, quilting demonstrations, traditional German food and drinks, and a Reindeer Express Mailbox where kids can write to Santa.

Open: Nov. 25- Dec 11, 2022 (Weekends)

For an authentic German Christmas market, head to the quaint town of Frankenmuth, also known as “Michigan’s Little Bavaria.” While the city has the market all year round, it really comes into the spotlight in late November. The entire city is adorned with lavish festive decorations and dazzling lights, and the market features vendors that offer all kinds of holiday goodies. You can also take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage that will take you to the 40-foot Christmas tree and enjoy one of the many music performances that run several times a day.

Open: Dec.3- Dec. 11, 2022 (Weekends)

Residents and visitors to Georgetown, Colorado, during the holiday season, will witness a festive time travel to the day of yore. The city’s Christmas market offers everything from Victorian antiques and horse-drawn carriages to carol singers and roasted chestnuts.

Open: Nov. 19 to Dec. 24, 2022

Get a taste of a German Christmas market without ever leaving Philadelphia. The Christmas Village in Philadelphia, taking place at the iconic LOVE park and City Hall, offers a charming old-world Christmas experience. Starting from Nov. 19 to Christmas Eve, visitors can expect more than 60 vendors in timber booths selling everything from bratwurst and waffles to ornaments and arts and crafts. The heartwarming scent of mulled wine is followed by thousands of twinkling lights and live music performances of Christmas classics.