Christmas Markets Near Berlin: Which Day Trip Is Worth the Train
Updated: Oct 25
Berlin has dozens of Christmas markets, and after the third Glühwein at the Rotes Rathaus a lot of visitors start asking the same thing: is there one outside the city that is worth a whole day? There is, and there are several. The problem is that the famous ones are two hours away by train, some of the prettiest only open on a few weekends, and the one everybody recommends in the Spreewald needs a ticket you should have bought weeks ago.
So I went through the organisers' own pages on 23 October and checked the trains from Berlin Hauptbahnhof for a Saturday in December. This is what a Christmas market day trip from Berlin really costs you in hours, and which one I would pick for which kind of day.
The Striezelmarkt on Dresden's Altmarkt in 2023. In 2026 it opens on 25 November, two hours from Berlin by direct train.
Christmas markets near Berlin, by how far you go
The markets worth a day trip fall into three rings. The closer the ring, the more hours you get at the stalls, and the less the train ride decides your day.
Under an hour: Potsdam. Potsdam runs four different Christmas markets this year, all on your Berlin ABC ticket:
Potsdamer Weihnachtszauber on Brandenburger Strasse, from 23 November to 27 December, daily from 11:00, with a big wheel and an ice rink. Shut on 24 December.
The Bohemian Christmas market on the Weberplatz in Babelsberg, only on the first two Advent weekends: 27 to 29 November and 4 to 6 December. Friday is the late night, 17:00 to 22:00.
The Polish Christmas market in the Kutschstallhof by the Neuer Markt, one weekend only: 4 to 6 December.
The Sinterklaas market in the Dutch Quarter, one weekend only: 12 and 13 December, when the Dutch St. Nicholas arrives by the harbour on Saturday and rides into the red-brick streets.
One to two hours: Leipzig, Lübbenau and Cottbus. Leipzig is the surprise of this ring: the direct ICE takes about 1 hour 15 minutes, and the market fills the whole old town from 24 November to 23 December, about 300 stalls, open until 22:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. The Spreewaldweihnacht in Lübbenau is a regional train of about 70 minutes and runs on only four days: 28 and 29 November and 5 and 6 December. Cottbus has the Market of the 1000 Stars from 23 November to 23 December, about an hour and a half away.
Two hours and more: Dresden and Quedlinburg. The Striezelmarkt in Dresden, Germany's oldest Christmas market, runs from 25 November to 24 December, 10:00 to 21:00. A direct train takes a little over two hours. Advent in the Courtyards in Quedlinburg, where about twenty private half-timbered courtyards open their gates, is the furthest: close to three hours (2:45 on the fastest trains) with a change in Magdeburg, and only on the first three Advent weekends.
A street in Quedlinburg during Advent in the Courtyards in 2023. It is the most beautiful of these trips and the longest train ride.
Hours on the train against hours at the stalls
Here is the part most lists skip. If you leave Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 10:00 on a Saturday and want to be back by about 23:30, this is roughly what you get:
Potsdam: at the market before 11:00, and you can stay until it closes at 22:00. The train never decides anything.
Leipzig: at the Markt by about 11:30, and the fast trains back run until after 21:00. Ten hours if you want them.
Dresden: at the Altmarkt around 12:30. On Saturday 5 December the last direct train back leaves Dresden at 20:53 and is in Berlin at 22:58. Miss it and the next way home is past half past midnight. That leaves you about eight hours.
Cottbus: about 11:45 at the market, and the stalls close at 19:00 (food until 21:00). Seven hours is plenty for a market this size.
Lübbenau: the Spreewald markets close at 18:00. You get six or seven hours, and most of them happen on the water.
Quedlinburg: you arrive close to 13:00 and the courtyards close at 19:00. Six hours, and almost six on trains.
My advice: if you have one free day and want the big classic market, go to Leipzig, not Dresden. It is an hour closer each way, the old town is just as Christmassy, and you are not watching the clock for a 20:53 train. Go to Dresden if the Striezelmarkt itself, the Stollen and the Ore Mountain wood carving, is the reason for your trip, and then make a full day of it.
The Christmas market in front of Leipzig's Old Town Hall. It is about an hour and a quarter from Berlin on the direct ICE.
Pick your day and see what is open
Not every market is open on every day, and that is where most plans go wrong. The weekend markets in Babelsberg, Lübbenau and Quedlinburg cluster on the first Advent weekends, and the Polish and Sinterklaas markets in Potsdam are one weekend each.
Set the date you are free and when you need to be back in Berlin. The board ranks the markets by the hours you actually get at the stalls, shows which ones are shut that day and when they open next, and draws the train time from Berlin Hauptbahnhof on the map. Tap a market for the day plan.
The Spreewald trap: book the punt now
The Spreewaldweihnacht is two markets joined by a winter punt ride: a maritime market at the Grosser Spreewaldhafen in Lübbenau and a farm market in the open-air museum in Lehde, with blankets on the boat between them. It is lovely, and it is the one trip on this list you cannot do on a whim.
The punt and the museum work on timed tickets. Sales started on 1 September, the popular afternoon slots go first, and the organisers release any unsold places on 1 November. The harbour market itself is free, but without a punt ticket you miss half the day. My move: if Lübbenau is on your list, look at the ticket shop this week, and if your slot is gone, set a reminder for 1 November.
The train is the easy part. The regional train from Berlin Hauptbahnhof takes about 70 minutes, and the Deutschlandticket or a Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket (EUR 36.50 for up to five people) covers it. My Spreewald day trip guide has the walk from the station to the harbour.
The Sinterklaas market in Potsdam's Dutch Quarter. It runs for one weekend only, this year on 12 and 13 December.
Which ticket for which market
The ticket decides more than the train. Three simple rules:
Potsdam is inside Berlin's ABC zone. A Berlin ABC day ticket or the Deutschlandticket is all you need, on the S7 or the RE1.
Lübbenau and Cottbus are regional trains inside Brandenburg. The Deutschlandticket covers you, and for a group the Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket is cheaper than single tickets for two or more people.
Leipzig, Dresden and Quedlinburg are realistic only with a long-distance ticket. The regional route to Leipzig takes about three hours and to Dresden almost four, which kills the day. Book the ICE or EC early, because Advent Saturdays sell out the cheap fares.
If you are working out whether a Deutschlandticket pays off for your whole stay, my post on the Deutschlandticket for Berlin tourists does the maths, and the train tickets for day trips post covers group tickets.
Gingerbread hearts at a German Christmas market stall. You will find them in every town on this list.
My move for a Christmas market day trip
If you only have one Advent Saturday free, I would do this. Look at the date first: if it is 28 or 29 November or 5 or 6 December, every weekend market is open, and that is the moment for Quedlinburg or the Spreewald. Any other Saturday, take the 10:00 ICE to Leipzig, walk from the Markt to Augustusplatz as the lights come on, and be back in Berlin before 22:00.
And keep one evening for Potsdam. It is the trip I recommend most to visitors who are short on time, because you can leave after lunch and still have five hours of market. The Berlin Christmas markets cover the evenings you stay in town, and Berlin in December has the closures around the holidays. If you want to compare the markets inside the city by price, size and opening dates, open my Berlin Christmas markets map. For what is worth doing in Berlin each weekend, my weekly newsletter is where I put my short list.
Image credits
Source and licence details for the 4 photographs used in this article.
The entrance arch of the Dresden Striezelmarkt at night, 2023: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
A street in Quedlinburg during Advent in the Courtyards, 2023: Wilhelm Zimmerling PAR, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Christmas market in front of the Old Town Hall in Leipzig: Dguendel, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Sinterklaas market in the Dutch Quarter, Potsdam: Angel Miklashevsky, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.