Nuremberg Christmas Market Prices and Times

Daily Opening Times

The table sets out the opening times for each part of the season, taken from the city's official market announcement and the market's own page. Plan around the 21:00 close on every normal day, and around 14:00 on 24 December.

The Market of the Sister Cities and the Original Regional stalls end a day early, on 23 December. If those two are on your list, do not leave them for the last morning.

What Is Free

Walking the Hauptmarkt and the side markets costs nothing on any day of the season. The Christkind's prologue at the opening ceremony is free to watch from the square below the Frauenkirche gallery. The Männleinlaufen clock on the Frauenkirche plays around noon every day, a show of about 4 minutes.

The Lichterzug lantern procession is free to watch as about 1,000 schoolchildren walk from the Fleischbrücke up to the Imperial Castle.

• Stalls and squares: free, 10:00-21:00
• The Christkind's prologue: free, 17:30 on opening day
• Männleinlaufen clock show: free, around noon, about 4 minutes
• Lichterzug lantern procession: free to watch

What Costs Money on the Square

A few things on and around the market carry a price, and each figure below comes from the body that sets it. The table also marks the two costs nobody publishes, so you know to ask at the counter. For the castle with a guide and a tasting, see the Castle Tour with Lebkuchen Tasting.

Market Walks and Concert Compared

The table compares price, length and rating for the walks that fit inside the market's 10:00-21:00 hours, using the figures on each tour page. Two of them cost $28 per person, and only the private tour is priced per group.

Other Options Around the Market

Four more bookable options sit at both ends of the price range. The Christkindlesmarkt Senses Walk is the cheapest at $17 per person, with an optional paid surprise bag on site. The Castle Tour with Lebkuchen Tasting costs $77 per person. The Do Eat Better Nuremberg Food Tour is a full meal on foot at $123.82 per person. From Munich, the Nuremberg Day Trip From Munich costs $88 per person, and the fastest ICE takes 1 h 41 if you go alone.

The Christmas City tour with St. Nicholas at $28 suits families, since St. Nicholas makes an appearance. The local walk at $110 lasts 1 hour and carries a single review, so book it for the private feel rather than a track record.

Season Dates and Fixed Moments

The table lists the dates and the scheduled moments that the market and the city publish. The prologue opens the season at 17:30 on 27 November. The Christkind keeps more than 170 appointments over the season, at the market and at charities.

Who the Christkind Is

The Christkind who opens the market is a native Nuremberger aged 16 to 19, at least 160cm tall and free from vertigo. She is elected for two years and speaks the prologue from the Frauenkirche gallery above the Hauptmarkt. The market itself has roots reaching back to 1530, a first explicit mention in 1678 and a restart in 1948 after the war.

What Fits in Your Time

The main Christkindlesmarkt has about 180 wooden stands with red and white canvas roofs. The Market of the Sister Cities, the Original Regional market and the Children's Christmas on Hans-Sachs-Platz are all within a 2-3 minute walk. The Children's Christmas adds a fairground, a big wheel and the Sternenhaus programme.

The guided options give a sense of scale. The local walk takes 1 hour, the St. Nicholas tour and the private tour take 1.5 hours, and the two tasting tours take 2 hours. The Advent concert in the Meistersingerhalle runs 100 minutes. In December the city averages 1.4 hours of sunshine a day, so most of your visit will be under the lights.

• Christkindlesmarkt on the Hauptmarkt: about 180 stands
• Side markets: a 2-3 minute walk away
• Guided walks: 1 to 2 hours
• Advent concert: 100 minutes

The Classics and the Mug

Nuremberg Rostbratwurst comes three in a bun (Drei im Weggla), or by 6, 8, 10 or 12 on a pewter plate in the Bratwurstküchen. Genuine ones are 7 to 9 cm long. Elisenlebkuchen must hold at least 25 percent nuts and at most 10 percent flour.

Twenty Glühwein vendors share one mug through a joint pool, so one mug works at every hot-drink stand. Nuremberg was the first German market to introduce a reusable-mug deposit system. You pay a deposit at the counter and get it back when you return the mug, or keep the mug as a souvenir. The deposit amount is not published.

Tastings With a Fixed Price

The table compares what each tasting option includes and what it costs, using the figures on each tour page. A tour is the one way to fix your food budget before you arrive.

Fares and Distances

The table compares the VGN fares for a market day, as the transport network lists them, with the distances that set your route. If you come from Munich, the Nuremberg Day Trip From Munich handles the train for you.

Extras Near the Market

The market lists a few paid extras within walking distance: a yellow stagecoach at the market, a city mini-train, a rock cellar tour ending with Rotbier at the Altstadthof, and the Winterdorf at Jakobsplatz. Their prices are not published on the market page, so ask on site. The Market of the Sister Cities gives its proceeds to charities in Nuremberg's 14 twin towns.