Diesen Text gibt es hier auch in DeutschThe 2021 Christmas Market in Wroclaw
⇨ The first discounted hotel deals for 2022 have already arrived and are available here! ⇦
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 2021 as the Coronavirus is around?
The quick answer is: Yes! The Christmas Market opened as planned on 19th November, more details below.
When will the Christmas Market open in 2021?
We have a little surprise for you guys! The Christmas Market in 2021 started already a little bit earlier this year! Well, to be precise it is more a catch up on the Christmas Market from last year which unfortunately was cancelled due to covid.
However, from 21st May to 28th June we celebrated the St. John’s Market (also known as midsummer market), which is actually very identical. Even the stalls are the ones used from the real Christmas Market! What could be nicer than a mulled wine in June? Yes, you got us, we are just joking, there is no mulled wine in the summer edition…
Okay, now the Winter Christmas Market 🙂
As the midsummer market is closed now, here already some more information on the “real” Wroclaw Christmas Market 2021:
The Christmas Market 2021 will be open from 19th November 2021 to 31st December 2021.
The regular 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? We will see what is going to happen in 2021 😉
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. If you happen to like Free Walking Tours, they are normally in the morning when it is not too crowed and can be booked online here.
Will the Christmas Market in Wroclaw happen in 2021 due to Covid-19?
We are happy to provide you with a very precise answer now: Yes, it will happen! We have been there during the opening weekend and witnessed with our own eyes that in 2021 the Christmas Market is going ahead.
In terms of covid – as we are getting lots of questions – there are no restrictions locally, no vaccination pass or test is required and it is not obligatory to wear masks outside.
If anything changes: We will keep you up to date on the latest development in our newsletter and on our facebook page!
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.
Evidence for the Wroclaw Christmas Market in 2021!
If you didn‘t believe us yet that the Christmas Market is really going to happen, below in the pictures you can see how it looks like this year, as they was made on the opening day of 19th November 2021…
Maybe a little bit of overview from the sky? No problem, in the drone picture below you should be able to get an overview and also see how crowded it was on the Saturday late evening during the opening weekend in 2021.
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!
During the 2021 season, the price for a mug of mulled wine is 15 PLN by the way, plus a deposit of 15 PLN on top for the mug which will be returned if you manage to bring the mug back 🙂 Be aware that for the mulled wine they only accept cash, it seems easier to handle with the deposit – but you can return them at any stall.
And a secret hint from us which actually is not secret: If you don’t fancy the special mugs in show design, you can get the mulled wine for around 9 PLN from most restaurants and bars around the Market Square…
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 🙂
What to do at the Christmas Market?
If you have not been in Wroclaw at all or want to explore more of it, we always recommend the free walking tours which have to be booked in advance here.
For kids there is a fairly tale forest where you can watch for example Pinocchio like in the picture here. But also some carousels, a roller coaster and some more fun attractions are waiting for you. Lots of opportunities to make pictures with dwarfs, mushrooms, christmas trees and other stuff 🙂
If you are more on the romantic side, try a ride on the horse carriage here.
And of course always worth to check are the guided tours which we recommend here (including free self-guided tours via our blog).
In case this is your first time in Wroclaw, we have to recommend you our blog post about the best things to see and to do in Wroclaw here! That is a quite extensive collection of our top recommendations 🙂
Hidden Gems: Illumination Parks in Wroclaw
We have two recommendations for real hidden gems, related to the Christmas Market in Wroclaw as well. If you like lasershows and illuminations, or are coming with kids, these are for you. Also in case you want to move a bit more off the crowds, these spots are quite off the track for regular visitors.
The first option are the illuminations at the Castle Topacz (Zamek Topacz), around 15-20 minutes by car south of Wroclaw. You will find trains, castles, animals and lots of other objects beautifully illuminated. Even a real travel around the world is waiting here to be taken…
The second recommendation is the Botanical Garden just next to the Cathedral island. During winter time it is beautifully illuminated and in addition on the weekends (Fri-Sun, after 17h) there are laser shows and projections – great stuff! On our Instagram-Channel you can find a small video of the show here (yes, there is fire!), so follow us in case you don‘t yet.
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 🙂
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, 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.
If you decided to stay in a hotel, we have our pre-selection here with some luxury hotels, budget hotels, wellness hotels, romantic hotels and many more: Here are our personal hotel recommendations for Wroclaw.
UPDATE from 2. December 2021:
According to Booking.com, on some of the remaining weekends already more than 85% of all available hotels in Wroclaw are booked out! Click here to see which places to stay are actually still available on Booking.com.
And here we have an overview map of Hotels in Wroclaw for you where it is easy to find central and nice locations close to the Christmas Market:
Where to find more information about the Christmas Market in Wroclaw?
Mit dem Laden des Videos akzeptieren Sie die Datenschutzerklärung von YouTube.
Mehr erfahren
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!
5 Comments
Chuck Pelshaw
Wroclaw is a beautiful city…. I hope to see it this year during the Christmas season! It looks amazing in the pictures
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! 🙂