“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”

– Norman Vincent Peale

My mum is a big lover of Christmas and everything that goes with it – especially Christmas markets, and since Germany is famous for their festive markets all over the country, it has become a tradition for our family to go on a small trip to Germany every Christmas. This year, our city of choice was Hamburg.

Hamburg during the Christmas time is the perfect winter wonderland. With colourful decorations, glittering lights, parades, entertainment, old-fashioned carousels for children to enjoy and stalls with everything the heart desires, Hamburg is the perfect place to get into the Christmas spirit.

There are 12 Christmas markets in Hamburg, and we spent all of Saturday going through some of them, including the White Magic of Jungfernstieg, a luxurious and modern market located on the promenade by the artificial lake and the Historic Market on Rathausmarkt, situated in front of the beautiful Town Hall in the Hanseatic City of Hamburg. I prefer markets with a historic feel to them, which is why the market on Rathausmarkt was my favourite this year.

The stalls at the Christmas markets offer a wide range of homemade crafts and arts, including woodcarvings, ceramics, jewellery, knittings and photographies. Among them are stalls with warm mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, roasted almonds, gingerbread, cookies, sweets, chocolates and fruitcake – and those are just some of the Christmas delicacies found at the markets.

The atmosphere at the Christmas markets is ethereal, warm and joyous. The stalls are all set up beautifully and nothing is left undecorated. So much effort has gone into making the city center a magical place for both children and adults and will leave even the biggest Scrooge among us excited for Christmas. There is something for everyone and I would say that it’s impossible to not get into the Christmas spirit after a visit to the Christmas markets of Hamburg.

Have you been to a Christmas market in Germany? Tell me about it in the comments below!