Depending upon where you look on the City of Berlin’s official website, there are “over 60 Christmas markets”, “over 100”, exactly 63, or 73, and on one list we counted 97. I suppose it doesn’t really matter since any one of those figures would be a lot and we had only a week in Germany’s capital. How do you decide which ones to see? Luckily, there are plenty of websites devoted to “the best” and surprisingly there was enough agreement among them to choose a top 10. I’ll put that list below, with a brief description of each market, but then the photos in the gallery will speak for themselves.

Although the apartment we rented was in the center of the city, the advice we saw on one site was generally correct: “Almost all of the main markets are located in the Mitte district, which is right in the city centre. Yet, to get from one to another you’ll have to use public transport, as the distances are big.” With a 7-day transit pass in hand (46€ each), we hopped aboard the S-bahn or U-bahn, riding some days for as long as 45 minutes, but in most cases only a few minutes to those much closer in. There were no barriers or turnstiles since random ticket checks take place onboard.

• Alexanderplatz—large and lively with a Ferris wheel, ice rink, and lots of stalls
• Gendarmenmarkt—luxurious and elegant, fine arts and crafts, gourmet cuisine
• Charlottenburg Palace—romantic, illuminated palace, orchestra, heated food tents
• Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church—traditional, giant Christmas tree, nativity, handicrafts
• Spandau Old Town Market—medieval village with 250 stalls
• Roten Rathaus—family friendly with ice rink, carousel, Santa’s house
• Winter World on Potsdamer Platz—winter sports with toboggan run and curling rink
• Opernpalais Nostalgic Market—nostalgic with historic rides, puppet theater, fairy forest
• LGBTQ+ Winter Days—entertaining and inclusive, stage shows, culinary events
• RAW-Gelände—alternative market with street art, live music, vegan food
• BONUS: Potsdam (City) Old Town —authentic with fewer tourists, magic of Blue Lights

We found the markets even more enchanting after dark with their colorful, sparkling lights easily seen by us early birds since sundown in Berlin in December is around 4:00 PM. Most had no entrance fee and while you had to pay a deposit for an empty mug (2€ to 5€) to be filled with steaming mulled wine (4€ or 5€), it was refunded when returned to the bar. Visiting Germany at this time of year was a great way to be emerged in the festive season. Merry Christmas!