Where is the oldest Christmas market in Europe? A holiday journey by train

On a late November morning, my colleagues Shayna, Paulo and I boarded an ICE train from our office in Utrecht and travelled eight hours across the Netherlands and Germany. By the evening, we stepped off the train in Dresden, home to one of the oldest Christmas markets in Europe. 

In 1434, Prince Friedrich II of Saxony issued a proclamation permitting the creation of a market in what is today known as the Altmarkt in Dresden. At the time, only meat was sold, but from those humble beginnings came a market that is visited by 2.5 million people each year, according to Dresden’s city government.  

Today, Dresden is home to at least 10 different markets, including the 590-year-old Striezelmarkt that Prince Friedrich II first permitted. Despite the Striezelmarkt’s expansion, its organisers have found ways to highlight the age-old foods and crafts that give the market its unique flavour.  

"Dresden’s Striezelmarkt is a little bit different from other Christmas markets around the world,” said Dresden local and tour guide operator Anett Lentwojt. “Vendors are only allowed to sell products there when they have a traditional craft work.” 

During our visit to the Striezelmarkt, Anett took us to a workshop set up to highlight traditional crafts from the Ore Mountains. Next door to the workshop is the Striezelmarkt’s Showroom Bakery, where Dresden bakers demonstrate how they create stollen, a sweet bread with a history dating back to the 1300s.  

“When you come to Dresden during the Christmas season, you must taste the stollen,” explained Anett. "Just go from bakery to bakery, tasting different types of stollen, and buy the one you like the most.” 

After eating our fill of Stollen and gingerbread, it was time to hop back on the train and travel southwest through Germany and over the French border. Our next stop? Strasbourg, dubbed Europe’s “Capital of Christmas” and home to France’s oldest Christmas market. 

Today, Strasbourg’s uber-popular Christmas markets are known for their modern, larger-than-life light displays, attracting more than two million annual visitors. But if you look closely throughout the markets, you’ll find subtler connections to Alsatian cuisine and traditions that make Christmas in Strasbourg so distinctive.  

Perhaps the most poignant (and delicious example) is bredele – a simple but irresistible butter biscuit sold throughout Strasbourg’s markets. In fact, the first bredele recipe emerged in the 1300s, roughly 200 years before the start of the city’s Christkindelsmärik (which translates to "market of the Christ child") in 1570.  

Munching on bredele was a helpful reminder that, behind Strasbourg’s Yuletide glitz and glimmer, is a deep sense of history and heritage. Travellers who wish to experience Alsace’s culture in greater depth should make a beeline to a market called Les Irréductibles Petits Producteurs d' Alsace, located in the Petite France district. There, you’ll find holiday decorations produced entirely in Alsace, such as glass Meisenthal ornaments and carved wooden houses.  

After experiencing two of Europe’s oldest Christmas markets in Dresden and Strasbourg, Shayna, Paulo and I were ready to shake things up. That’s when charted our route north, back to the Netherlands, eager to experience one of world’s most unique Christmas market destinations.  

Valkenburg’s Christmas markets aren’t as old as those in Dresden and Strasbourg – but we were left awe-struck all the same. In addition to the town’s outdoor market, Valkenburg’s holiday claim to fame lies deep underground in a series of caves. In total, Valkenburg is home to four subterranean Christmas caves, which house vendor booths, food stalls, nativity scenes and beyond.  

The winding Velvet Cave, made up of corridors from the 11th or 12th century hidden underneath Valkenburg’s castle ruins, was particularly striking. As we explored the Christmas market inside the Velvet Cave, we came across drawings and sculptures left by previous visitors over the centuries.  

Looking at the decorated cave walls, I suddenly felt small. An immense amount of history has taken place in these caves and at the Christmas markets we saw on our Interrail trip. And there is so much more to experience – after all, both Vienna and Bautzen, another city in eastern Germany, compete with Dresden for the title of oldest Christmas market in Europe. As Smithsonian notes, historians don’t typically point to a single-oldest Christmas market that travellers can visit in Europe.  

But as we boarded our final train, leaving Valkenburg to return to Utrecht, a wave of gratitude washed over me. Next year, I might use an Interrail Pass to reach Vienna and Bautzen – and hopefully, a few other off-the-beaten-path destinations I hear about along the way. There’s always more to learn and more to experience. And who knows: maybe next December, I’ll see you on the train, too.