From mid-November, town squares across the Rhine-Main area fill with wooden huts, carousels and the smell of roasted almonds. Kids get Kinderpunsch, a warm spiced juice, while you get a glühwein, and an hour under the lights after dinner is often enough. Here's what we checked, from the big market on Römerberg to a medieval one in the courtyard of Burg Ronneburg.
Frankfurt's Christmas market runs as one long string of stalls through the old center, with a giant tree on Römerberg square. Kids ride the carousels, try Bethmännchen (marzipan with three almonds) and spot trees decorated by local children.
For families, the stretch to aim for is the kids' market on the Mainkai by the river, with a craft room, a historic carousel and a lit-up Christmas ship.
A small Christmas market at the edge of the Stadtwald, right under the Goetheturm, Sachsenhausen's wooden lookout tower. Stalls sell crepes, roasted chestnuts, potato pancakes, raclette and hot apple wine, alongside handmade crafts like glass-bead jewelry and lambskins.
For kids there is a carousel, and the big forest play park sits next door, so it suits families who want a run-around between snacks.
An evening walk through Frankfurt's botanical garden, lit by about 30 light installations. Giant glowing moons, snowdrops and floating hearts hang over the paths and trees, with music, video projections and a few interactive light pieces along the way.
The route is outdoors and on foot, so it suits kids who can walk a while in the cold. Younger ones tend to like the big, bright shapes most.
Mainz's historic Christmas market fills the square in front of the 1,000-year-old cathedral and spills onto the Höfchen and Liebfrauenplatz, under painted Renaissance house fronts.
Kids head for the two old-fashioned carousels, the stalls of handmade toys, and the 11-meter Christmas pyramid crowded with Mainz figures, from a carnival jester to Gutenberg. The life-size carved nativity sits beside the cathedral. Go once the lights come on.
Wiesbaden's main Christmas market fills the square around the Marktkirche with close to 100 stalls of gifts, decorations, jewelry and crafts, plus more than 20 food stands pouring kids' punch and hot drinks. A stage in front of the town hall runs a program, and the city nativity scene stands by the big tree.
A short walk away, the separate kids' market adds an elves' forest, a train and a carousel.
A Christmas market set in and around the walls of Bad Homburg's old landgraves' palace, with each courtyard decorated in its own style. Stalls mix regional food and drink with a large share of handmade crafts.
For kids there are treats, small program moments, a children's carousel and a real miniature steam train running at the foot of the White Tower.
Hessenpark is an open-air museum of old Hessian farmhouses and workshops in the Taunus hills, and in Advent it dresses up for Christmas. Decorated parlors show how families once got ready for the holidays, the forge glows and the bakehouse smells of fresh baking. Kids can ride a steam train, watch a big Märklin model railway, craft ornaments and toast stick bread over fire pits.
A whole medieval castle turns into a Christmas market. Small stalls fill the rooms of Burg Ronneburg with crafts, gift ideas, waffles and mulled wine, and outside the walls a medieval market adds traders and craftspeople. A living nativity play tells the Christmas story.
It suits kids who like castles and costumes, and families happy to wander, browse and snack.
Hanau's main Christmas market fills the Marktplatz around the Brothers Grimm monument with lit wooden stalls that smell of roasted almonds, grilled sausages and mulled wine.
For kids, the draw is the Ferris wheel and a two-level carousel, with local bands, brass bands and choirs on the Christmas stage. It is smaller and calmer than Frankfurt's Römerberg market, which suits a late-afternoon wander with younger kids.
Römerberg is Frankfurt's historic main square. On one side stands the Römer, city hall since the 15th century, with stepped Gothic gables; facing it is the Ostzeile, a row of half-timbered houses, each with its own name.
Kids can spot Justitia on the Justice Fountain, holding scales and a sword without a blindfold. Most buildings are reconstructions: the old town was largely destroyed in 1944.
From mid-November, town squares across the Rhine-Main area fill with wooden huts, carousels and the smell of roasted almonds. Kids get Kinderpunsch, a warm spiced juice, while you get a glühwein, and an hour under the lights after dinner is often enough. Here's what we checked, from the big market on Römerberg to a medieval one in the courtyard of Burg Ronneburg.
Frankfurt's Christmas market runs as one long string of stalls through the old center, with a giant tree on Römerberg square. Kids ride the carousels, try Bethmännchen (marzipan with three almonds) and spot trees decorated by local children.
For families, the stretch to aim for is the kids' market on the Mainkai by the river, with a craft room, a historic carousel and a lit-up Christmas ship.
A small Christmas market at the edge of the Stadtwald, right under the Goetheturm, Sachsenhausen's wooden lookout tower. Stalls sell crepes, roasted chestnuts, potato pancakes, raclette and hot apple wine, alongside handmade crafts like glass-bead jewelry and lambskins.
For kids there is a carousel, and the big forest play park sits next door, so it suits families who want a run-around between snacks.
An evening walk through Frankfurt's botanical garden, lit by about 30 light installations. Giant glowing moons, snowdrops and floating hearts hang over the paths and trees, with music, video projections and a few interactive light pieces along the way.
The route is outdoors and on foot, so it suits kids who can walk a while in the cold. Younger ones tend to like the big, bright shapes most.
Mainz's historic Christmas market fills the square in front of the 1,000-year-old cathedral and spills onto the Höfchen and Liebfrauenplatz, under painted Renaissance house fronts.
Kids head for the two old-fashioned carousels, the stalls of handmade toys, and the 11-meter Christmas pyramid crowded with Mainz figures, from a carnival jester to Gutenberg. The life-size carved nativity sits beside the cathedral. Go once the lights come on.
Wiesbaden's main Christmas market fills the square around the Marktkirche with close to 100 stalls of gifts, decorations, jewelry and crafts, plus more than 20 food stands pouring kids' punch and hot drinks. A stage in front of the town hall runs a program, and the city nativity scene stands by the big tree.
A short walk away, the separate kids' market adds an elves' forest, a train and a carousel.
A Christmas market set in and around the walls of Bad Homburg's old landgraves' palace, with each courtyard decorated in its own style. Stalls mix regional food and drink with a large share of handmade crafts.
For kids there are treats, small program moments, a children's carousel and a real miniature steam train running at the foot of the White Tower.
Hessenpark is an open-air museum of old Hessian farmhouses and workshops in the Taunus hills, and in Advent it dresses up for Christmas. Decorated parlors show how families once got ready for the holidays, the forge glows and the bakehouse smells of fresh baking. Kids can ride a steam train, watch a big Märklin model railway, craft ornaments and toast stick bread over fire pits.
A whole medieval castle turns into a Christmas market. Small stalls fill the rooms of Burg Ronneburg with crafts, gift ideas, waffles and mulled wine, and outside the walls a medieval market adds traders and craftspeople. A living nativity play tells the Christmas story.
It suits kids who like castles and costumes, and families happy to wander, browse and snack.
Hanau's main Christmas market fills the Marktplatz around the Brothers Grimm monument with lit wooden stalls that smell of roasted almonds, grilled sausages and mulled wine.
For kids, the draw is the Ferris wheel and a two-level carousel, with local bands, brass bands and choirs on the Christmas stage. It is smaller and calmer than Frankfurt's Römerberg market, which suits a late-afternoon wander with younger kids.
Römerberg is Frankfurt's historic main square. On one side stands the Römer, city hall since the 15th century, with stepped Gothic gables; facing it is the Ostzeile, a row of half-timbered houses, each with its own name.
Kids can spot Justitia on the Justice Fountain, holding scales and a sword without a blindfold. Most buildings are reconstructions: the old town was largely destroyed in 1944.
