Best Christmas Markets in Poland (2025 Dates)
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Frankly speaking, November and December are not the nicest months in Poland. Most of the time, it’s gloomy and dull, and the days are very short. In recent years, you can’t even count on snow during this time to make it prettier and lighter.
However, there is one thing that makes this time nicer for me. It’s the season with candles, lights, and decorations. And Christmas markets! This season usually starts in the second half of November.
You can find Christmas markets across all of Europe, and Poland is not an exception here. In fact, you can find great markets in a few Polish cities, one of the best ones in Europe. They are worth a city-break visit.
Every year I visit Polish and other European Christmas markets, so I have a lot to say about them from my own experience.
In this article, I will tell you which Christmas markets in Poland are the best. And what are the dates for Poland’s Christmas markets for the 2025/2026 season.
Best Christmas markets in Europe competition
Do you know there is a special competition that points out the best Christmas markets in Europe? You can read more about it here. Check it out if you want to see which cities won in past years, which are new candidates, and how to vote.
Polish cities appear on the list yearly and quite often get high places. For example, last year (which means Best Market for 2025) Gdańsk won the first place and the title. In past years, it was also Poznań that got a high place during the voting.
Christmas markets in Poland are becoming more and more popular, and they are organised in many cities, not just those most known. In the chapters below I put the information about markets in the most popular, major cities (which you probably have on your potential list to visit) but also those less popular, smaller Christmas markets too.
Christmas markets in major Polish cities
Wroclaw Christmas Market
The Christmas Market in Wrocław is probably the best known and most established Christmas Market in Poland. Wrocław is generally a worthwhile city to visit, with a beautiful old town square. You can organise your city break to visit the city (as there is much more to do than Old Market Square) and participate in the market at the same time.
The Christmas Market takes place on Wroclaw’s Market Square, on Świdnicka Street and Oławska Street and on Plac Solny (Salt Square), so you can see it’s going to be big! You can find the exact map of the stalls on the market here. Apart from many stalls with food, drinks, and products to shop, there will also be attractions for children and different workshops. And, of course, beautiful decorations.
There are many accommodation options in Wrocław, also close to Old Market Square.
You can review them here. I don’t have one special place to recommend (although Puro Hotel is always a good idea), but at the Christmas market website there are mentioned hotels which offer discounts for the market’s guests.
Wrocław Christmas Market dates in 2025: November 21st to January 7th, 2026
Christmas Market in Kraków
Another famous market is Krakow’s Christmas Market. It was even mentioned and recommended in The Times. The market takes place on the Old Market Square, which is magical in Kraków. It looks a bit like it’s from a fairy tale, so both the market and the winter scenery fit here perfectly. The same I can say about Wawel Castle, which is close to the Main Square (Rynek Glowny) and which you have to see when visiting Kraków.
On the market, there are many stalls with Polish and international food, a lot of handcrafted goods, and also artistic shows like Christmas carol concerts.
One more Christmas attraction in Kraków worth looking at is the Christmas concert that takes place in a historical building.
In Kraków, tourist infrastructure is very developed. It’s best to stay somewhere close to the Old Market Square. You can also stay in the atmospheric Kazimierz neighbourhood, from which you can walk to the market in around 20-25 minutes.
Kraków Christmas Market dates in 2025: November 28th to January 1st, 2026
Christmas Market in Poznań
The city of Poznań has another quite well-known Christmas market, which also participated in the Best Christmas Markets competition. In past years, the market has taken place on the Old Market Square. Because of endless reconstructions, it changed locations to Plac Wolności (Freedom Square) and Poznań Expo (Fair). Reconstructions have finally finished, but both locations stayed, so at the moment there are two Christmas markets in the city.
For details regarding the attractions during both markets, you can check here. Details will be announced closer to the date.
Poznań is a city close to my heart (I studied there). I will prepare more information on the visiting city in the next blog posts.
Every year in Poznań, there is one more winter event, the Ice Festival, where you can see amazing ice sculptures. It will take place this year on December 12-14, 2025.
Check here for accommodation in Poznań. As for the other major cities, Hotel Puro Poznań is a good idea. The other one in which I stayed recently is Apartments Old Town Browar.
Poznań Christmas Market dates in 2025:
Plac Wolności: November 21st to January 06th, 2026
Poznań Expo: November 15th to December 21st, 2025
Christmas Market in Gdańsk
Do you want to combine a Christmas market with an interesting historical visit and a walk at the beach? Visit Gdańsk Christmas Market!
Last year, it won first place as the Best European Christmas Market 2025 (and it had quite strong opponents, for example, Vienna, Prague or Edinburgh). The market takes place in the city centre in a few locations; the main one is Targ Węglowy. It will have a lot of wooden stalls where you can find traditional Polish food and goods from international cuisine and make Christmas shopping.
Every year, it also has additional attractions; usually the most popular one is Moose’s Corner with ‘talking moose’.
Additionally, you can walk in the whole old town to see beautiful Christmas lights and decorations.
Gdańsk is a quite touristic city, so you will not have problems finding good accommodation. Of course, it would be most comfortable if you stayed around Old Town and the city centre. Check options here.
Gdansk Christmas Market dates in 2025: November 21st to December 23rd, 2025
Warsaw Christmas Market
This market is less famous, but I obviously didn’t forget about the Polish capital, Warsaw, which also has Christmas time attractions.
Warsaw’s Christmas Market takes place in the Old Town, around the Barbican area, which is close to the Royal Castle. Next to Mermaid’s Monument (pomnik Syrenki), there is usually an ice rink. And a lot of Christmas trees and Christmas decorations.
When it comes to accommodation, there are many options and places. The city centre is big, so not every hotel is close to the market.
If you prefer calm accommodation, I recommend looking at this flat. I recently stayed there when I wanted to stay outside the centre and really liked it. It was clean, modern, and in the safe building and location.
Warsaw Christmas Market dates in 2025: November 21st to January 6th, 2026
Christmas Markets in Other Polish Cities
These were the biggest and the most well-known Polish Christmas markets, but it’s not only them. More and more cities organise good and big Christmas markets, which are gaining popularity (while still being able to be a little less crowded).
Especially it’s worth looking at cities with regional airports:
Katowice Christmas Market: 21.11.2025-06.01.2026
Olsztyn Christmas Market: 11.12.2025-14.12.2025
Szczecin Christmas Market: 28.11.2025-21.12.2025
Toruń Christmas Market: 21.11.2025-21.12.2025
(The city doesn’t have an airport, but there is an airport in city of Bydgoszcz close by).
Christmas Market in Bydgoszcz
Bydgoszcz lies exactly ‘between’ Poznań and Gdańsk, and it’s the 8th largest city in Poland. It used to have a nice, but small, Christmas fair. Since around 2 years ago, Christmas Market in Bydgoszcz has been getting bigger and more attractive. And it’s the only Christmas market in Poland that takes place on the bridge. Absolutely worth a visit. There will be stalls on Old Market Square, Mostowa Street, and on the bridge. In past years, there were amazing decorations too. Find more details here.
More information and tips about visiting the city of Bydgoszcz you can read here.
Here you will find accommodation.
Bydgoszcz Christmas Market dates in 2025: November 21st to December 21st, 2025
Christmas Markets in Poland Itineraries Ideas
4 Christmas markets on one train line
If you have more time, you can make a circuit trip and visit a few cities and Christmas markets in one go.
For example, you could start in Wrocław and finish your trip in Gdańsk (or in the opposite direction). Both cities have international airports with a lot of flights. Between cities, you can travel by plane as well (look at Ryanair). But you can also take the train. In one go, it takes around 6 hours. However, I have even better idea for you! Make 2 stops on the way and see… 4 great cities and Christmas markets.
From Wrocław, go to Poznań. There is a lot to see in Poznań itself, and the Christmas Market is absolutely worth it too.
From Poznań, go to Bydgoszcz. The Christmas Market is getting bigger and more beautiful every year. The city is less known but worth seeing as well.
From Bydgoszcz to Gdańsk. Gdańsk is amazing, and here you can walk on the beach as well.
All of these cities are on the same train line, so you will not add any additional time to your journey. And it’s around 2 hours between the mentioned stops, with a lot of trains going daily.
Other ideas
Another idea is to combine Wrocław with Kraków (around 3 hours by train) or Kraków with Warsaw (around 2-3 hours by train).
You can also fly from Gdańsk to Kraków (or take a train, which takes you around 6 hours), although I honestly think it’s better to separate both destinations for different trips.
What else you could do is to visit Wrocław Christmas Market and combine it with Prague in the Czech Republic. Both cities are not that far from each other (around 4-5 hours).
Hopefully, this post has helped you plan your visit to enjoy Christmas Markets in Poland in 2025/2026.
Read here to get to know more about Christmas traditions, food, and celebration in Poland.
