A Christmas market trip goes well when you can walk back to your room with a cold nose and a warm mug, and badly when you are queueing for a taxi at ten at night. So before writing anything about the markets themselves, I counted how many places to stay sit within a short walk of ten of the world's famous ones.
How I counted
For each market I took the square it fills and counted the places to stay we can book within 500 metres and 1 kilometre in a straight line, and 2 kilometres where it changes the picture. The streets will always make the walk a little longer than the line. The counts are from our own listings on 18 October 2026, so they move as hotels join and leave, and each market's page shows the current picture.
Every date below comes from the market's own organisers or the city's tourist board. Where a market had not published its 2026 dates, I left it out rather than guess, which is why Strasbourg and Copenhagen's Tivoli are missing for now.
Ten markets, and what is within a short walk
| Market | Dates | Hotels within 500 m / 1 km |
|---|---|---|
| Nuremberg | 27 Nov – 24 Dec | 22 / 71 |
| Vienna | 13 Nov – 26 Dec | 8 / 30 |
| Prague | 28 Nov – 6 Jan | 49 / 130 |
| Munich | 20 Nov – 24 Dec | 21 / 51 |
| Tallinn | 20 Nov – 6 Jan | 25 / 57 |
| Edinburgh | 14 Nov – 3 Jan* | 33 / 116 |
| Bath | 26 Nov – 13 Dec | 114 / 264 |
| New York | 28 Oct – 3 Jan | 49 / 166 |
| Toronto | 12 Nov – 3 Jan | 1 / 2 |
| Sapporo | 20 Nov – 25 Dec | 25 / 107 |
\* Edinburgh's dates are for the whole Edinburgh's Christmas festival. Each market name links to its own page.
What the numbers say
Bath is the easiest. The market spreads through the city centre rather than sitting on one square, and 264 places to stay are within a kilometre of it. It is also the shortest season on the list, under three weeks, so the choice is wide but the window is narrow.
Vienna rewards staying a little further out. Only eight places sit within 500 metres of the Rathausplatz, because the square is ringed by the city hall, the parliament, the university and the Burgtheater rather than by hotels. Widen the circle to 2 kilometres and there are 134, and the tram ring stops outside the market.
Prague and New York are the densest big-city markets. Prague's Old Town Square has 49 places within 500 metres, the same number as Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan. New York's Winter Village opens first, on 28 October, and its rink stays open after the shops close.
Toronto is the one to plan. The Distillery District is a pedestrian heritage quarter on the lower east side, and only two places to stay are within a kilometre. Within 2 kilometres there are 38, so the realistic plan is a short walk or streetcar ride in each evening rather than a room next door.
Tallinn and Prague run past Christmas. Both are open until 6 January, so they are the two on this list that still work for a trip between Christmas and New Year, along with New York, Toronto and Edinburgh.
A few things worth knowing
- Nuremberg's market opens with the Christkind reading a prologue from the balcony of the Frauenkirche, and closes at 2pm on Christmas Eve.
- Sapporo's market began in 2002 to mark 30 years of Sapporo and Munich being sister cities, and the stalls sell German food and hot wine in the snow.
- Edinburgh's dates cover the whole Edinburgh's Christmas festival; the market is one part of it, in East Princes Street Gardens.
- Totensonntag, the Sunday before Advent, is a protected quiet day in every German state; in 2026 it falls on 22 November. If your trip includes that day, check the market's own opening times before you book.
Each market above links to its own page, with the places to stay around it on a map and prices for your dates.