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The 2020 Christmas Market in Wroclaw – will it happen?
One of the most popular events of Wroclaw is certainly the Christmas Market. The fairytale atmosphere attracts not only a lot of foreign visitors from Germany, Czech Republic and Ukraine. Also the Polish people from all over the country love it and start their pilgrimage to Wroclaw in late November.
In this post, we will provide you an overview of the Christmas Market, including opening hours, the areas where it takes place, which local food you should try, where you will be able to buy nice souvenirs, where to stay and of course most important:
Will the Christmas Market in Wroclaw even happen in 2020 as the Coronavirus is around?
Let us start with the opening days and hours…
When will the Christmas Market open in 2020?
The Wroclaw Christmas Market in 2020 will NOT open from 20 November 2020 till 31 December 2020 this year.
The normal opening hours are:
- On regular days from 10-21h
- On 24th and 25th Dec closed
- On 26th December from 13-21h
- On 31st December the shops will close on 17h and gastronomy at 2am
In the picture you can see how it normally looks on a weekend 🙂 Hard to imagine that in Coronavirus time, right?
But even in normal years, we strongly recommend you to visit the Christmas Market during weekdays as on the weekend it normally will be super crowded! During the week it is much more fun.
Will the Christmas Market in Wroclaw happen in 2020 due to Covid-19?
On 13 October 2020 it was finally confirmed that the Christmas Market will go ahead this year with some modifications.
UPDATE from 5 November 2020: Now it was confirmed that the Christmas Market will NOT take place at all.
We will keep you up to date on the latest development in our newsletter and on our facebook page!
Who knows, maybe some cafés will sell hot wine to go 😉
If you plan to visit Wroclaw during the Christmas Market, we recommend you to book a stay that is refundable in case something unforeseen will happen, so you will be on the safe side.
Where will the Christmas Market take place?
The Christmas Market in Wroclaw will be taking place in four main areas:
- The Market Square (Rynek)
- The Salt Square (Plac Solny)
- Świdnicka Street
- Oławska Street
Believe us, it will be hard to miss it and all four areas are connected with each other. And needless to say that a lot of small businesses have their own special Christmas events, offers and products.
You cannot escape Christmas, don’t even try! 😉
What food and drinks should I try at the Wroclaw Christmas Market?
Of course you will have plenty of opportunities to try the local and regional cuisine.
We strongly recommend to try Oscypek. That is a special smoked cheese from the polish mountains you won’t find anywhere else than in Poland. It comes with cranberries and is super delicious! You see it on the picture.
You prefer the classics? No worries, you will be able to find plenty of sausages, bigos, skewers, potato pancakes and more typical dishes from Poland.
Or should it be international? Churros, Fries, Langos, Sweet chestnuts, Crêpes, Chimney Cake and much more will be waiting for you.
Did we mention the mulled wine already? How could we not! There will be many, many different flavours to try, so you better plan some more time! And do not miss the tasty honey based alcohol!
Don’t get scammed by the meat skewer stall
In the past years there always was one very special stall, selling meat skewers for only 11 PLN. But unfortunately they did not make very visible that it was 11 PLN per 100 grams! That meant for just one normal sized skewer they easily charged more than 50 PLN. Watch out for that one 🙂
Where to buy souvenirs in Wroclaw?
Good question! You need to be aware that the Christmas Market is probably one of the most expensive places to buy souvenirs.
The sellers need to pay a lot (really, a lot!) for their licence to sell on the market. You will pay that eventually! This was also the justification for the expensive meat skewer stall, confronted by the local newspaper, they just said that they have to pay so much rent and that is why they are so expensive…
We recommend to check out the Old Butcher’s Stalls (“Stare Jatki”) where you find local galleries which operate all year round from there. Well, on the picture they look closed because we got up early to make some pictures 😉
Of course the cold winter time is also always a great opportunity to buy some nice calendars – like the ones that we created here 😉
What about a risky investment?
If you like to invest and you look for some insider information… In 2019 the special mulled wine mugs (in shoe-form, with special edition every year) were traded very successfully. Many people did not return them despite the deposit and were able to sell them online for more than 100 PLN.
As the stalls were running out of them already very early, they had to take some leftover mugs from previous years. Quite grotesque and funny at the same time to drink from 2017 mugs in 2019 🙂
Ordering the 2020 Christmas Mugs from Wroclaw
Indeed, you can order the 2020 Christmas Market mugs online as the event will not go ahead… Here the official shop from the organisers.
As shipping is only available to Poland, contact us if you live outside of Poland and are interested in a set.
Where to stay during the Christmas Market?
Well, the question is if you want to stay directly in the middle of the city when it is hard to move around. We recommend to stay just north of the old town in vibrant Nadodrze or in the Four Denomination District.
You will find specific recommendations in our accommodation guide to Wroclaw where we compare hotels, hostels, Airbnb flats and camping.
If you prefer to have your own space in an apartment from AirBnB, you will be able to find our specific recommendations here. In this post we made a pre-selection of amazingly located apartments for couples, groups, budget travellers and luxury stays.
Where to find more information about the Christmas Market in Wroclaw?
We recommend you the official page of the Wroclaw Christmas Market here. There you will find the latest updates and event schedules too.
On the left side you will find a nice video from a previous year which gives you a feeling about the amazing atmosphere. Just the smell of cinnamon and mulled wine is missing.
If you are interested in a guided tour of the city, also in winter the electric golf carts operate and bring you to the best places in the city – with heating 🙂 Here you can find the available schedules and latest online fares.
We hope that you will enjoy the Christmas Market in Wroclaw as much as we do! Don’t forget to check out our post about the best 15 FREE things to do and see in Wroclaw!
You want to plan your trip to Wroclaw? Don’t miss out on our planning guides with the best places to stay, the best ways to travel to Wroclaw by car, train, bus and a lot of further useful information!
Do you have some comments on this article? Help us and also help other visitors by leaving your feedback in the comment section below!
4 Comments
Glynis Perkin
Dear Mirko,
Thanks for your response regarding purchasing mugs in the UK. I’m happy to pay shipping costs and it doesn’t matter when they arrive! Thanks for your response and the newsletter which I enjoy.
Best wishes,
Glynis
Glynis Perkin
Is it possible to purchase the Christmas hot wine mugs from the UK and have them posted to the UK ?
Mirko
Hey! It looks like the official shop only supports a delivery in Poland and as well Polish payment options. The shop is also designed in a quite strange way and you need to purchase packaging twice and then pay shipping on top. Two mugs are around 60 PLN. If you really, really want them, send us a message via contact form and we try to manage somehow, but also shipping to the UK might be expensive then (plus Brexit and customs risk if delivery is late)…
Ceci
Can’t wait! This website always has such wonderful information about Wroclaw and events, especially for foreigners 🙂
Keep up the good work! 🙂