- Published
- 31 October 2026
- Reading
- 5 min read
- Where
- Warsaw, Poland
- Prices checked
- 31. Oct 2026.
Warsaw has two Christmas markets in two different places, one in the shadow of the Palace of Culture and one beside Castle Square in the Old Town. Here is what each offers, what you will eat there and the order to take them in.
The Old Town looks like a postcard because it was rebuilt after the war, and in Advent that postcard gets stalls. Warsaw's Jarmark Bożonarodzeniowy is really two events with different moods: crafts and old stone by the Royal Castle, and a programme of carousel, lights and shows on Plac Defilad. Both are free to enter, so the choice is about taste, not budget.
Plac Defilad, beneath the Palace of Culture
Plac Defilad is the wide square at the foot of the Pałac Kultury i Nauki, and its market, already announced officially for the 2026/27 season, is the busier of the two. The organiser, Jarmarki Rzemiosłem Zdobione, calls it the second edition, with over 200 exhibitors. Last year's wheel has been replaced by a carousel with a lookout seat, and there is also a maze for children, Santa in his little house every day, weekend animations and, in the evening, a light show. It suits families and anyone who likes an evening with something happening. Because it runs until Three Kings, it is also a New Year's market, so there is room to come between the holidays. Come after dark, when the Palace is lit and the stalls glow beneath it.
A ticket with a chosen time slot, booked ahead.
Stare Miasto and Zamkowy trg
The Old Town market is the quieter, more crafts-minded of the two. It sits in the Międzymurze, the strip between the defensive walls beside the Barbican, within reach of Plac Zamkowy, the Royal Castle and Zygmunt's Column. The stalls sell decorations, wreaths, ceramics, carved wood and jewellery, and the food leans Polish, with oscypek and cranberry, baked nuts and chestnuts, gingerbread and mulled wine in the Galician style. The schedule for this winter has not been announced, so count on last year's pattern, from the second half of November to Three Kings, and treat the dates as pending.
A ticket with a chosen time slot, booked ahead.
Dates and hours
Plac Defilad runs 20 Nov 2026 – 6 Jan 2027, with hours as follows: daily 11 am–10 pm; 25–26 Dec noon–10 pm; 31 Dec 11 am–6 pm; 1 Jan 2–10 pm. The Old Town edition of 2025/26 ran 2025: 21 Nov 2025 – 6 Jan 2026, with hours: 2025: Sun–Thu 11 am–8 pm, Fri–Sat 11 am–9.30 pm; 25–26 Dec noon–9.30 pm. No official dates exist yet for the Old Town this winter. Weekdays are calmer at both places, while weekends bring crowds that include people who came only for the lights.
What to eat and drink, and what it costs
The drink that opens the season is grzaniec, Polish mulled wine, and at Plac Defilad it costs €4.56 (PLN 20). If you prefer beer, there is warm beer at €5.48 (PLN 24). For children there is the Choinka carousel: €4.56 (PLN 20). In the Old Town, go for oscypek, a smoked sheep's cheese served with cranberry, then baked nuts and chestnuts, and leave the gingerbread for last. Mulled wine in the Galician style goes with all of it.
The ice rink and the rest of Advent
Last season the ice rink stood on the Rynek Starego Miasta beside the Syrenka statue, so after the stalls you can step onto the ice. A big Christmas tree stands on Zamkowy trg, with the Royal Castle behind it. On 6 January, Three Kings, a procession ends on Castle Square after setting out from the Copernicus monument along Krakowskie Przedmieście.
In what order
- Start by day on Zamkowy trg: the Royal Castle, Zygmunt's Column and the big tree.
- Go through the Międzymurze past the Barbican to the stalls and try the oscypek.
- Walk down to the Rynek Starego Miasta and the rink beside the Syrenka.
- Reach Plac Defilad in the evening, when the lights come on and the light show begins.
- From Warszawa Centralna to the Old Town takes a bus or tram, about 15 minutes.
Check the same room on both sites: price and cancellation terms can differ.
Poland, in brief
What now
If this sounds like your trip, start here.
Warsaw
→The Old Town is seventy years old, and UNESCO listed it for exactly that reason
Warsaw in 2 days
→The Old Town, two museums that disagree, and Praga across the river — two days in a city built twice.
Day trips from Warsaw
→A palace and a forest on the city bus, Chopin's birthplace outside the city, and Łódź an hour away by fast train.
Where to stay in Warsaw
→Śródmieście keeps everything within walking distance.
What Warsaw costs
→A day in Warsaw per person, in euros — and two days in a row when the three big museums charge nothing.
Warsaw beyond the rebuild: a neon museum and a roof garden
→A roof garden over a library, a cemetery laid out in 1790 and courtyards with wartime shrines — seven things outside the rebuilt centre.
What to eat in Warsaw
→Four dishes eaten every day in Warsaw, and the milk bar where all of them fit on one table at a subsidised price.
The best time to visit Warsaw
→In Warsaw the date sets the temperature, the rainy days and whether there's a Chopin recital in Łazienki that Sunday.
Getting around Warsaw
→A train from the airport, one ticket that covers the metro and the tram, and a single metro line that crosses the river to Praga on its own.
Mistakes everyone makes in Warsaw
→In Warsaw most time is lost at a museum's locked doors, and each of the five mistakes has a fix.
Museums in Warsaw
→Of the five museums on this page, two shut on Tuesdays, a third on Mondays, and a booked time slot is advised for only one.
Poland
→A country where half of what looks old isn't, and that is precisely the point
Strasbourg's Christmas market, and how old it really is
→How old the Strasbourg market really is, when it runs in 2026, where the crowds gather, what to eat from the deposit cup and why so many visitors sleep in Colmar.
Vienna Christmas markets: which one if you only have one evening
→Five markets, the 2026 dates, what a punch and a mug deposit cost, and an order for one evening on foot.
Salzburg Christmas markets: five markets, one day
→Salzburg has five Christmas markets with five sets of dates, and the 2026 dates and hours are already published.
Innsbruck Christmas markets: seven of them, and which comes first
→Seven Christmas markets stand within walking distance in Innsbruck, and Advent there is a route rather than a single square.
Nuremberg Christmas markets: Christkindlesmarkt and three more
→The Hauptmarkt holds the headline market, but a December day in Nuremberg divides better across four.
Dresden Christmas markets: Striezelmarkt and nine more
→The Advent market on Altmarkt gets the attention, yet the city lists ten, from medieval craftsmen in the Stallhof to white pagodas in Neustadt.
Cologne Christmas markets: six markets, one route
→Cologne counts 13 markets for 2026, and six of them repay an evening.
Munich Christmas markets: which to visit and in what order
→Munich has around ten Christmas markets, each with its own theme, and in 2026 the season opens with an ice rink before the main Christkindlmarkt follows a week later.
Berlin Christmas markets: which one to pick and when to go
→The Berlin holiday market worth paying for is the WeihnachtsZauber on Gendarmenmarkt, the one with a gate and a weekday free window.
Prague Christmas markets: which to pick, dates and prices
→Two big Prague Christmas markets fill the central squares while a handful of smaller ones sit in the neighbourhoods.
Budapest Christmas markets: which first, what it costs, when to go
→Two Christmas markets lead Budapest's Advent, and the order you visit them in decides how much of the evening you enjoy.
Zagreb Christmas markets: an advent spread across the squares
→Zagreb spreads its Advent across squares, parks and whole neighbourhoods instead of one fenced-off spot.
Ljubljana Christmas markets: where the stalls are and how to walk them
→Ljubljana's Advent market runs as a string of stalls along the river, from Prešeren Square to Breg.
Bratislava Christmas markets: three squares and a hall
→Bratislava's Christmas markets fill three squares of the old town that sit side by side.
Kraków Christmas markets: the Main Square, Mały Rynek and szopki
→Kraków has two Christmas markets, one on the Main Square and a smaller one on Mały Rynek, plus a szopka contest that gives December its own date.
Timișoara Christmas markets: where, when and in what order
→This guide to the Timisoara Christmas market covers the three squares and the county fair beside them.
Graz Christmas markets: sixteen markets, one walking route
→Sixteen Christmas markets sit within walking distance in the old town of Graz, and one of them is the pick for a single evening.
Leipzig Christmas markets: from the Markt to Augustusplatz
→Which areas make up the Advent market in Leipzig, when they open, how the mug deposit works and how to walk them in one evening.
Brno Christmas markets: five squares and when each one runs
→Brno spreads its Advent market over five squares in the old centre.
Sibiu Christmas market: dates, food and one-evening plan
→One square, one Christmas market in Sibiu, Romania, and a short list of things that cost money.
Wrocław Christmas markets: the Rynek, Plac Solny and Kraina Koni
→Wrocław has two Christmas markets, and only one of them has official 2026 dates so far.
Gdańsk Christmas markets: Targ Węglowy and the six zones
→Gdańsk has one Christmas market, the Jarmark Bożonarodzeniowy, spread over several zones around Targ Węglowy.
Paris Christmas markets: which to pick, dates and ice rinks
→Paris has three big Christmas markets, at Tuileries, La Défense and Notre-Dame, and each suits a different kind of evening.
Lyon Christmas market and Fête des Lumières: how to see both
→Lyon has one big Christmas market and a four-night festival of light that matters more.
Rome Christmas markets: Navona, nativity scenes and lights
→Rome has one craft market, a Vatican exhibition of nativity scenes and a lot of light.
Naples Christmas markets: the street of the crib and what else opens
→Naples answers the question of the Christmas market with one street of nativity workshops, San Gregorio Armeno, where red huts stand in front of the shops.
Verona Christmas markets: from Piazza dei Signori to the Arena
→Verona spreads its Christmas markets over four places, from the Arena square to the old Arsenal, and one evening is enough to walk the best of them.
Milan Christmas markets: Duomo, Oh Bej and one evening in order
→Milan has three events that pass for Christmas markets, and they differ in age, size and price of admission.
Madrid Christmas markets: Plaza Mayor and what else is worth it
→Madrid's main Christmas market sells decorations rather than mulled wine.
Barcelona Christmas markets: Santa Llúcia, the port, Sagrada Família
→Three Christmas fairs, a Catalan idea of what one should sell, and a route for one December evening.
London Christmas markets: Winter Wonderland and where else to go
→London has no single Christmas market, only a ticketed amusement park, a riverside walk and a few lit squares.
Christmas markets in Europe: which city suits which trip
→Thirty-one cities compared on dates, size and character, with a pick for one evening, for children, for after New Year and for anyone tired of mulled wine and wooden huts.
Linz Christmas markets: Hauptplatz and Volksgarten
→Two free Linz Christmas markets, one for crafts on Hauptplatz and one for families in the Volksgarten, with dates, hours and a sensible order for one visit.
York Christmas markets: St Nicholas Fair and what to pair it with
→York's main Christmas market is St Nicholas Fair, set along Parliament Street, and this page explains where it sits, when it runs and how to fit the Shambles and the Minster into the same evening.
Bath Christmas market: a short run, so pick your day
→Bath Christmas Market is short and compact, with chalets in the historic centre beside the Abbey.
Maastricht Christmas market: Magisch Maastricht on the Vrijthof
→Magisch Maastricht turns the Vrijthof into a winter park with a covered ice rink, a 45 m Ferris wheel and Austrian-style chalets.
Trieste Christmas markets: the mercatini around the Borsa and Ponterosso
→The Trieste Christmas markets are a handful of streets and two squares near the Borsa and Ponterosso, with an ice rink and the San Nicolò fair nearby.
Turin Christmas markets: a small village and a city of lights
→Turin has no single big Christmas market.
Bologna Christmas markets: five small fairs, the oldest under a portico
→Five small Bologna Christmas markets, the oldest under a portico roof, with dates for 2026/27, what to eat on the way and a simple order for one evening.
Debrecen Christmas market: Kossuth tér, ice rink and Advent
→Debrecen's Christmas market is a citywide Advent with its centre on Kossuth tér, where an ice rink and ten thousand lights share the square.
Hamburg Christmas markets: Rathausmarkt, Jungfernstieg, Santa Pauli
→Hamburg runs several Weihnachtsmärkte at once, from the historic Rathausmarkt to white tents on the Alster and an adults-only market on the Reeperbahn.
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