By GlobalDetail.com reader rhode

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Hamburg, in the very north of Germany and Germany’s second largest city after Berlin, is home to some of the best traditional Christmas markets in Germany. Every year the markets attract locals and visitors alike for a wide variety of fare, from Christmas figurines for the festive celebrations to the famous "Glühwein" (Mulled Wine) to keep revelers warm during or after their Christmas shopping...

Germany celebrates the 4 Sundays (Advent) before Christmas and the Christmas Markets usually start on the first Advent. You can find the markets throughout the city centre, as well as some of the bigger neighbourhoods. Often they are huddled together on market squares, outside one of Hamburg’s seven main churches or lining the main shopping streets.

The stalls, stands and wooden chalets offer a staggering amount of goodies. You can find Lebkuchen (ginger bread) in all shapes and sizes. Often it will come chocolate coated or glazed thinly with icing, in different sized hearts with season’s greetings written on them, or purely as biscuit sized pieces. Try some of the wintery assortment of apples – oven-baked with sugar and cinnamon or glazed with sugar or chocolate. Marzipan is another of Germany’s Christmas specialities and is not to be missed. It is popular as “Marzipan Brot”, which literally translated means “marzipan bread” but is really just a large piece of marzipan. Marzipan lovers can also get it in little balls or in different shapes depicting angels, Santa Claus and other festive themes. "Stollen", a distinctly shaped kind of raisin bread will also often have a marzipan centre running through it. Try it with a liberal spread of butter and a cup of coffee or tea.

Most usually associated with Christmas markets, however, and worth its own paragraph is the famous "Glühwein" (mulled wine), which visitors will get at the majority of stalls. Long gone are the days when Glühwein was merely Glühwein. Nowadays you can get Glühwein not only on its own, but also with an option of a huge variety of "Schuss" or little shots of schnapps. Adding ‘eau de vie’ made from cherry, pear, raspberry will put the warmth back in your toes as easily as adding some amaretto or whisky. With most stalls you order the drinks and pay a small deposit for the mugs, which will be refunded when you return them. There are plenty of high tables to stand and enjoy your choice of "Glühwein mit Schuss", although especially towards the end of the night’s shopping (8pm) the stands fill up and you will catch yourself in the middle of shoppers or office workers who have gone straight to the markets with their colleagues. During December this becomes standard practice and the mood very jolly and relaxed.

As mentioned before there are a number of markets throughout the city centre and you would do best in trying all of them as they all have their own feel and unique location. There are, of course, a few markets in particular that stand out, here are some of them:

Rathaus Markt
Open daily from 11am to 9pm. This historic Christmas market, in front of the City Hall, is by far the largest single market and boasts an amazing view from underneath the imposing City Hall building. During the day you will be able to take a tour around the Rathaus, which boasts impressive rooms and the city’s Golden Book.
Take U-Bahn (line U3) to “Rathaus” or S-Bahn (lines S1, S3) to “Jungfernstieg”.

St Petri Church / St Jacobi Church / Gerhart-Hauptmann-Platz / Spitaler Strasse
Open daily from 10am to 9pm. Not far from the Rathaus Markt is the one of Hamburg’s main shopping streets, the Moenkebergstrasse. Lining the street and outside two of Hamburg’s main churches (St Petri and Jacobi) is another Christmas market. This market stretches 600 metres up to the Spitaler Strasse and has over 150 stalls offering a large variety of wares, food and drink.
Walk along from Rathaus Markt or get U-Bahn (line U3) to Rathaus / Mönckebergstraße

Gänsemarkt
On the other side of the "Binnenalster" the smaller of Hamburg’s two inner lakes, around the corner from the impressive and world-renowned 5 Star "Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten" (Four Season’s Hotel) is this third Christmas market. Somewhat smaller in size, this market intimately nestles into the square. What it lacks in size it makes up with small stage performances and interesting craft stalls. Of course you can also get the odd glass of Gluhwein here.
Take the U-Bahn (line U2 for Gänsemarkt or U1 for Stephansplatz)

For Kids
The “Binnenalster” lake has a variety of "Fairy Tale Boats", each with its own children’s program. They are open daily from 11am to 6pm.

For Travel to this destination also read GlobalDetail's Ultimate Guide to no-frills airlines

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