This is a small artisan holiday market down the road from the larger Wiehnachtsmarkt at the water…read moretower. Just follow Kunststrasse to reach this smaller market. Unlike the larger market, this is populated by local artisans. Soap, alcohol, wood crafts, metal crafts, and much more. Definitely worth a look. We parked near this smaller market, walked through to see check out their offerings and then returned after visiting the larger market to make purchases. I love that they have a market specifically for local artisans. Definitely check it out!

I went to the Mannheim Christmas Market a few times while I was living in Germany. Their market was…read morefairly large, and they have one of those large candelabra fans, which is pretty neat to see. As with other markets you will find traditional gift booths, delicious food, baked goods and mulled wine.

Our visit to the Mannheim Weihnactsmarkt unfortunately was all too brief, and amidst a light…read moreshower. It is located in a very dense area, buses and cars busily circle round the market. This is right at the Mannheim Water Tower at Friedrichsplatz. It is noted that this is the oldest and largest Christmas market in Germany; however, I did prefer the markets in Speyer and Rudesheim.

This market has a lot going on. The main market is at Friedrichsplatz near the Wasserturm. Here you…read morewill find a giant weihnachtspyramid where you can purchase gluhwein. Plenty of kids rides include a small ferris wheel, merry-go-round and small train. Vendors offerings include ornaments, hats and scarves, wooden household items, holiday décor, lots of food choices including roasted chestnuts, wurst, and so much more. I love the atmosphere German Christmas markets invoke. Small wooden huts decorated with greens and lights. Music. The smell of mulled wine and chestnuts roasting. Snow falling. Kids bundled up. This is not a huge market, but plenty big with lots of vendors and definitely worth the trip. Close enough to Heidelberg and Speyer that you can easily get to all three markets. Check out the Mannheim Christmas market video at https://www.youtube.com/@Travel-with-Ron to get an idea of what to expect.

Heidelberg Xmas Market is just the best. Spanning multiple locations down the busy Hauptstrasse,…read moreyou have to visit all to avoid missing out on the unique offerings. There is an ice rink right below the castle location. The church location offers the Heidelberger Fass experience, where you can chill in giant barrels. The university location has my favorite tea shop, carousel, champignon booth, and the best "steak" sandwich. Next to Cafe Extrablatt, you can get your photos taken with a fake Santa. Last but not least, you haven't lived if you haven't tried the Flammlachs (flaming lox) at the Bismarkplatz location. Maybe I'm biased because I grew up here, but in my book, this is the best Christmas market experience in Germany--period.

It was the highlight of our recent 3-day weihnachtsmarkt trip to West Germany and Luxembourg, and…read moreit was one of the best ones among seven cities (and I'm counting altogether five markets we visited in Heidelberg as one) we visited in total. We parked and started our route at Karlsplatz just under the Heidelberg Castle (photo). Fortunately, the entrance line was not too long since we arrived sort of early in the evening before the crowd. Heidelberg Christmas Markets are the only one that mandated 2G+ COVID Requirement during our trip. That meant you had to have a negative PCR test results as well as vaccination certificate. Due to that requirement the entry point was a little congested and slow for checking everyone with proper paperwork, but once you got cleared to enter, you were given a wrist band that would allow you go to enter any other markets in town. That saved us a ton of time later. There were some PCR Testing sites near some markets, but since we have gotten it done earlier, we didn't have to bother with that, either. As the evening progressed, there were long lines at both testing sites and entrances. Now, weihnachtsmarkts were wonderful. There were some very nice vendor huts and food choices. I enjoyed some potato pancakes, Glühwein and Nürnberger lebkuchen. I believe ice skate rink was very popular. All five markets were nicely placed within about three city blocks along the main street (Hauptstraße) from Karlsplatz to Marketplatz. It was very enjoyable.

The Christmas market in Speyer was a short stroll from where our Viking longship docked. We stopped…read moreinto the Romanesque cathedral, burial place of eight emperors, before enjoying the Speyrer Weihnachtsmarkt. Several streets were festively decorated with booths, and we enjoyed all the lights. This market has a blue phonebooth to call Weihnachtsmann (Santa), although obviously not in the evening. I enjoyed a gluhwein, and we tried waffeln and spaetzle, while shopping. Quite an enjoyable market.

We visited the Speyer Wiehnactsmarkt three days in a row as we are staying in town. The market is…read moreheld on Maximilianstrasse between Dom du Speyer and Postplatz by the city gate. The street is lined with wooden huts occupied by vendor selling all the expected Christmas market wares and foods. During the market season, Maximilianstrasse is a one-way street during daylight hours so vendors can get replenished with food and wares. At night, the entire area is a pedestrian zone. Wooden huts are set up on the north side of the street along the edge of the sidewalk. In some areas of the sidewalk there are also huts. This makes for a very narrow alley where visitors can walk. Maximilianstrasse is a long street and there is plenty of room to line up all the huts in the street. There really should not be any obstructions on the sidewalk. This was particularly difficult on Sunday when many people were visiting. It was so congested it was impossible to see what was available for sale. On Monday and Tuesday the crowds were much less and it was much easier to spend time viewing vendor wares and purchasing foods. The Cathedral at one of the street is a lovely building to visit and the city gate at the other end is a good photo spot. There are also several very good restaurants in Speyer open during the market. I do wish the city would remove the sidewalk huts and only allow the huts in the road in order to make pedestrian traffic on busy nights easier. But there are a good number of vendors as well as rides for the kids. Definitely worth a look if you are in the area.