With only a limited amount of time in Zurich, a portion of which was dedicated to a lightning fast day trip over to Lichtenstein, we wanted to make sure we got the most out of Zurich’s famed Christmas markets- especially since our stay just happened to overlap with the opening day of most of the Christmas markets. A sign to indulge in some holiday cheer if I’ve ever seen one.
There are several Christmas markets scattered throughout Zurich and its surrounding towns, but we were able to make it to the two main markets before we had to move on to the next city on our schedule.
Christkindlimarkt at Zurich’s Main Station
Nov 23 – Dec 24, 2023
By virtue of its location, the most visited Christmas Market in Zurich is likely the Christkindlimarkt at Zurich’s Main Station.
Since the market is located within the main plaza of Zurich’s Main Station, it is both incredibly convenient to get to, and incredibly crowded at rush hour. It’s important to plan your visit with the daily commute in mind!
With over 100 stalls, it’s one of the largest indoor Christmas Markets in Europe and there’s plenty to see and do. We had fun munching on snacks while people watching from the public mezzanine overlooking the market. The raclette was delicious!
Once we’d finished eating, we burned off a few calories on one of the electricity generating bikes that helped power the lights on the massive and richly decorated 32ft (10m) tall Christmas tree.
The faster you biked, the more energy you generated, and the lights on the tree would brighten in response. I’d be a much more enthusiastic cyclist if I always got such a beautiful reward for my efforts!
The tree changes from year to year so it seems like they’ve done away with this interactive event for the 2023 season, but the gorgeous tree is still an excellent photo opportunity.
Illuminarium at the Landesmuseum
Nov 09 – Dec 30 2023
Since we were in the area, we headed right across the street to the Illuminarium at the Landesmuseum. While not strictly speaking one of Zurich’s many Christmas markets, the Illuminarium simply should not be missed.
We’d had a sneak peak of this earlier on our visit to the museum itself, but getting to see it at night was truly spectacular. While there are several light shows in a separate part of the museum for a fee, the inner courtyard is accessible to all visitors free of charge.
The beautiful lights are worth a visit on their own merit, but there are also several stalls selling food and hot drinks. This is where I was first clued into the idea of spiking my glühwein with a shot of amaretto, and it completely changed the game for me!
While I don’t believe there was any holiday shopping to be done here, there was plenty of seating, and several little semi-enclosed spaces made to look like Swiss mountain chalets. The chalets were adorable and hot commodities in the chilly weather.
Further into the courtyard, the fully enclosed bar area offers a wider variety of drinks and typically hosts a DJ and a dance party, which was a delightful surprise. We spent some time dancing here and I was particularly entertained by the attendees who were clearly coming straight from work- dancing around their briefcases in full work attire.
Wienachtsdorf at Sechseläutenplatz
Nov 23 – Dec 23, 2023
Our last holiday stop was to the Wienachtsdorf just outside of Zurich’s Opera House. The largest and most popular of the market’s we visited, the Winter Village sprawls out into winding alleys of shopping stalls. There was a good mix of food, drink and crafts to browse through while sipping our spiked glühwein. I also really liked their merry go round!
The Christmas tree at this market was my favorite out of every tree we saw on our entire trip- and that’s not something I say lightly!
I did think it was odd that there was a chainlink fence wrapping around the perimeter of the market. Apparently it was instituted the year after lockdown lifted to limit crowds, but at this point it seemed a little redundant, and frankly a little unsightly. With any luck, they’ll have removed it for this year’s market!
There was large Chalet-style indoor seating area to make use of, but we decided to crowd around one of the fire pits with our drinks and chat. These were real flames, which isn’t something we see at a lot of public events.
Worth a Visit
Although these aren’t exactly Christmas market’s we made sure to make a few extra stops to maximize our festive adventures in Zurich.
We swung by Confiserie Spruengli to indulge in one of the best hot chocolate’s I’ve ever had in my life. Thick and rich, with flakes of chocolate embellishing the top, it felt like I was drinking a bar of the fanciest chocolate.
I count myself lucky that they were able to make it with oat milk (halfermilch in Swiss German), otherwise I think I would have been in trouble. It was so fancy, it even came with a tiny square of chocolate on the side!
This treat did rack up a check of 9CHF (about 10.50USD), so it was definitely a luxury I made sure to savor.
Frau Geralt’s Garden is one of my favorite eateries in Zurich, with its unique urban garden style setting and (relatively) cheap eats. I’d last visited in the Spring, so I was pleased to see that they decorated the area for the holidays with Christmas lights and baubles strung up all over. This is an outdoor venue, so it does get cold, but there were heaters and blankets set out all over the area. Still, as the sun went down, it did get to be a little too chilly for us and we ended up leaving earlier than planned.
I’ve been to Zurich, but not during the Christmas market season. There’s definitely something magical about this time of year, when the weather’s cold yet people still go out to enjoy the holiday cheer! Nothing beats pretty Christmas lights and a mug of glühwein to revel in the festivities!
We had such a blast at all of the holiday markets last winter! Definitely missing them this time around!
So festive. I love the decorations at the Landesmuseum – actually we spent an entire day in there on our trip to Zurich, so I can only imagine with the lights there too I’d need a week haha!
The museum was so fun as well! Was the Helvetia sculpture there when you went? It freaked us out!
Beautiful
It is! Thanks for stopping by!