Winter city breaks offer a special kind of magic that’s different from summer sightseeing or off-season adventures. December transforms cities into warm, glowing pockets of energy, with a mix of festive sparkle and the comforting rhythm of everyday local life. Here is why we particularly love city breaks during the holiday season:

See the Holiday Lights

Winter gives cities their most dramatic lighting, with twinkling holiday displays and lit streets. Early sunsets turn into long evenings where you can take leisurely strolls and soak in the festive atmosphere.

Even if you’re familiar with where you’re visiting, city streets, squares and landmarks can look transformed during the holidays. We always like to make time to simply wander, usually after dinner, and see what we discover. By this time of night the streets are at their quietest, so you don’t have to deal with crowds and can appreciate all the Christmas decorations. You can also take some unique pictures which will definitely not look like everyone else’s vacation photos.

Take Advantage of Special Events

One of the things we love about winter city breaks is that we can make the most of the seasonal events that take place around the holidays.

Start looking at local listings a few months before your trip to see what special festive concerts, exhibitions or other events are taking place. These are often very popular with locals as well as visitors, so it’s a good idea to secure your tickets as soon as you can.

In recent years we’ve seen an exhibition of beautiful, intricate nativity scenes in Naples, attended a traditional pantomime in London, enjoyed a Christmas concert in Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and taken an evening boat ride along the Danube in Budapest to see the city all lit up. These have all been stand-out experiences for us, and so we always try to include something similarly special when we plan our Christmas tours.

Try the Local Seasonal Food

It’s common to find plenty of dishes that only appear around this time of year. As well as all the delicious fried treats and hot drinks for sale from Christmas market stalls, local restaurants will often have seasonal specials on the menu. Not only are these not generally available during the rest of the year, the colder weather is usually the best time to appreciate the hearty food on offer.

Ask restaurant owners or your tour leader for recommendations on what not to miss, but here are some of our favorite meals from previous adventures:

• Chicken Paprikash in Budapest. While not specifically a holiday dish, this is the ideal time of year to enjoy this classic Hungarian dish. The rich paprika sauce paired with slow-cooked chicken and the nokedli dumplings topped with sour cream feels very festive.

• Flæskesteg (Danish roast pork) in Copenhagen. The juicy roasted pork is topped with the most perfect crispy pork crackling, and goes perfectly with some fragrant red cabbage and potatoes.
• Gulaschsuppe in Vienna. Similar to Hungarian goulash, the punchy beef soup is exactly what you need to warm up in the winter. 

Get in the Festive Spirit at Christmas Markets

Of course one of the most fun things about European winter city breaks are the Christmas markets. Some cities have better markets than others, but at all of them you’re going to find stalls selling locally-made items, festive treats, Christmas decorations and more. 

We love Christmas markets and have spent plenty of time exploring the different options around Europe. The whole historic center of Strasbourg transforms into a winter wonderland, and is easily reached from Paris if you want to visit France. Austria is home to some of the oldest Christmas markets, with lots of markets in Vienna and Salzburg. Eastern Europe doesn’t miss out on the festive celebrations, with large markets in Prague and Budapest, and of course you can’t forget Germany, where these holiday markets originated hundreds of years ago.

If you’d like to learn more about joining us on one of our winter city breaks, including Christmas market visits, check out this post from Sarah with all the details. You can also get in touch with us here to get more specific information.