Try This If Visiting Multiple European Christmas Markets

Jul 18, 2024 | Sapphire Blue Travel Blog, travel tips

Have you ever heard once you have been to one Christmas European Market, all the rest will be the same? I was apprehensive when we planned on visiting nine cities and 23 markets in 32 days. We were worried we would burn out before leaving Vienna, our first stop. In a moment of divine inspiration, I created a treasure hunt. The items were based on what I had seen in my research for each location. There were a couple of places where the items on the list gave us the reset we needed.

Weihnachtsdorf Campus Universität Wien

Coming up with a strategy while visiting Multiple European Christmas Markets can help you get past We have had enough; let’s go home. I planned to create a treasure hunt that pushed us to go the extra mile. We searched for local or new things, local arts or decorations, food, or local drinks, primarily warm beverages.

Coming from Australia and heading to Europe for the Christmas Markets, I wanted to ensure Phil and I could handle such a massive undertaking of many markets. Many influencers and friends said they got bored visiting more than a few markets. I had set us an enormous task: What was a girl to do? I also wanted to give my videos some direction. In the end, I only included the list in a few videos as the concept did not work. Still, it pushed us to try new things and spend more time checking out stalls looking for particular items. My sister, who joined us halfway through the trip, also got in the spirit and would seek things out and share her discoveries. The Christmas Market Treasure Hunt was a success for us.

The Christmas Market Treasure Hunt Concept

At the Old Town Square Christmas Markets Prague

We created a simple and locally focused list to enhance our time in each city. Watching videos and reading blogs revealed a fantastic array of things to see, try, and buy in every town that overwhelmed me. Rather than just writing a long list of possible things to remember, I created a list of seven items: five locally focused items and two mystery items. I made a few mistakes in my planning, but I will explain later; even with the errors, often trying to find something added fun and pushed us to explore more, regardless of the reward.

Communication is essential, and I included Phil in the conversation and shared the concept with my sister. She had no desire to be the camera but was happy to get involved. I wanted her to know what I was planning so she would be prepared.

The list would include food, drinks, local crafts, and decorations; the two mystery items were based on the Nativity Scene and the Twelve Days of Christmas song. For some reason, I thought the 12 days of Christmas was based on Europe, but it is the UK, and these items were tricky to find.

Our son allocated the Mystery items, and we learned what was on the list at the markets in each city. Most items on the list were relatively simple to find, and the ones we could not find just added to the fun. As disappointing as leaving a city with undiscovered treasures was initially, we used this as a guide, not a hard and fast rule. There were no prizes or demerits for not finding something. It was fun, and we ensured it did not become a chore.

Check out this link to see me explaining the Concept in our Vienna Video.

Our Christmas Markets Treasure Hunt Lists

Here are the lists I created for each of the cities we visited. We had planned a couple of other stops; Pilsner dropped off the list due to the weather when we were in Prague and Zakopane, where the list was just in case there was a dedicated Christmas Market.

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The Successes and Failures at the Christmas Markets

Phil is Trying the Chocolate-covered apple.

The concept may have worked in person, but in the stories of the videos, they did not work. In most cases, the list pushed us to try new things or things we would have passed on, and we had loads of fun.

We tried lots of different drinks and food. With fantastic decorations and lovely locally-made items, we could not help but pick some up. We would have missed things without looking so closely at the stalls.

We ended up passing some food due to Phil’s MSG issues. In some cases, we found the food, but it was in a restaurant.

We could not find some of the local folk arts, particularly in Poland; this was probably a research failure on my part.

Phil will say we did too many Christmas Markets but still enjoyed discovering the differences.

Lessons We Learnt at a Few Christmas Markets

We found a few sheep. This one was cute but left in Brno.

Many stalls have similar items even across country borders, but you will always find new stuff if you take the time to look for them. Look beyond the stuff that jumps out everywhere. You will find different stuff, and chatting with the stall holders will give you a deeper appreciation for the wares they offer and who they are.

There were a few things on the list that I had seen in previous years’ videos or blogs, but they were nowhere to be found. Mind you, in two cities, whole markets were not operating. This was frustrating but also made us look more in-depth at the stalls. In some cases, we walked further in search of them and saw more of the destination we were in.

Weekends were busier at most markets, and the swell was palpable even in some smaller markets. In bigger cities, this made looking a little more stressful. We found numbers everywhere higher on the weekend, and this is to be expected. Keeping the list simple may be a good idea if you are only at a market on a weekend.
If you are searching for specific things and it is busy in the evenings, shop early and go back in the evening to enjoy the atmosphere.

It’s funny, but after a few markets, I noticed that some of the things that were everywhere and not my ideal item were stalls. I looked forward to checking out how different the stock was. When we started, I wouldn’t say I liked the Shiny decorations, but they grew on me, and I found I looked forward to seeing what different decorations they had on offer.

Another bonus of the List was that it helped us keep our spending in check. We packed light, and I had set a very strict limit on what we could buy, so having this on my list was great.

Alternatives to a Christmas Markets Treasure Hunt

Glogi Stand Tallinn

We may have done a Treasure Hunt, but you could create a game or list; here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

Create a Bingo Card with items to check off and prizes each time a line is filled.

A few years ago, I saw a Flying the Nest video, and they had a bag with balls in it with numbers that matched an activity in destination. In this case, you could have cards of things to find in a market. You pull them out individually and attempt to find the items, try the food, or drink the local drinks.

As mentioned above, I developed the treasure hunt concept to help with the stories in our videos. However, I wouldn’t say I liked the flow of sharing the lists, so I created this post to accompany them. We were often grateful for the list, especially as the trip went on. Having a list helped us push through and get excited when the schedule was packed.