Cologne Christmas Markets
The Cologne Christmas Market in Germany is probably the best market that we've been to in Europe, and by that I mean it is definitely the best by far.
With its extravagant decorations, it's smart layouts and set up, and it's copious amounts of food, drink and gift options, its quite clear that the city really knows how to put on a great Christmas extravaganza.
There are at least seven different markets scattered around the city, as well as a few smaller pop ups here and there. Needless to say, it's a particularly large market with plenty to explore.
We managed to check out five of the seven official villages a few weekends ago and I took a few photos at at least four of them. I hope you enjoy.
I should also mention that this post is my entry for #Marketfriday which is hosted by 
Cathedral Market
We started our christmas walking tour at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter. We also ended up there at the end of the night, which was good because the area was super impressive in the dark with all of its lights and decorations.
Along with the usual huts selling crafts, food and ornaments, there was a large stage with live music playing at its center. Two musicians were there singing Christmas songs and entertaining the crowd. They were definitely the highlight of this particular market. They mostly spoke English too so we could even understand what they were saying.
Something that I've noticed in Europe that is kind of funny is that most of the Christmas songs played live and on the radio tend to be in English.
It was no different in Cologne. Some of the songs were sang in German and some in French but the majority seemed to be in English.
Gingerbread hearts on ribbons are a tradition in Germany and you see them in most markets, not only at Christmas. They have cute sayings on them and people traditionally give them to friends, family members and lovers to express their feelings for them. The person who receives one is supposed to wear it around their neck as they walk through the market. The unfortunate thing is that it's often raining in the winter during markets so wearing them can be a bit challenging.
Heinzels Winter Fairytale
The Heinzel market was the largest of the villages that we visited and was just a short walk from the cathedral. It was just starting to get dark when we arrived.
This was another market that we visited twice though and the pictures turned out much better at night.
The entire walking tour was over an hour and a half walk but most markets are quite close together so you never have to walk very far before you come to another one.
One of the first things that we did was buy drinks here. It was here that my wife discovered the magic of hot chocolate mixed with Amaretto. That became her drink of the night. I had one with Bailey's which was also quite good.
Cologne has the best set for their Christmas mugs that I have seen so far. Basically the customer pays a deposit for the mug and they can re-use it when they buy another drink. They can then keep the mug when they are finished drinking or return it to get their deposit back. In Cologne the city supplies the vendors with the mugs and there are a variety of different ones to choose from. The beauty of their set up though is that you can return any mug to any vendor in the city to get your money back or exchange it for a different one that you like better.
I thought that all markets did it this way but that is not the case. In Dusseldorf every single vendor in every market has its own mug and you can only return that mug at that particular vendor. It's a much more challenging system because it sort of forces you to stay in one area and not wander. It also makes bar hopping to try different drinks a little more challenging because you have to make an additional stop to return your mug before moving on to the next location. Unless you want to keep a large collection of mugs.
Personally I prefer Colognes way for it's simplicity.
The Heinzel market had a skating rink at its center and a game on ice that was very similar to curling. We watched a match before heading on the the next location.
There was a bridge over the rink that made for a great birds eye view of the ice and the surrounding area. It was a good spot to take pictures.
Other neat features at this market were the Christmas carolers, the huge variety of food and drink options and the antique stalls on the outside of the village selling older ornaments and wares.
One stall that really stood out that I didn't take a picture of was the blacksmith Hut. Two blacksmiths (farriers specifically) were pounding strips of metal into "Lucky Horshoes." A large crowd had gathered to watch them in action because it was very unique and interesting to see.
Angel's Market
Angels Market was significantly smaller than Heinzels. It was mostly made up of gift huts but still had a few food and drink options.
We didn't spend much time there but we liked the ambiance of the lights and stars hanging from the trees.
Nicolas Village
Nicolas Village is located in what looks like an old Medeival city gate and is a particularly pretty market to visit.
The huts are made to look like half timbers cottages and it sort of has a ski chalet vibe about it.
The entrance has a large moose head mounted to a wall that sings what sounds like drunken Christmas carols.
The inside has a decent amount of artisial huts and a very nice display of lights as well.
It also has a few large pubs to buy drinks.
One really unique and fun thing about Nicolas Village is that on one of the Saturday evenings of the market (or maybe its all Saturdays?) a large group of people dressed up like Santa go there to drink and be merry. I don't know the exact details of the day but I believe that there are something like a hundred people who take part in this event. We didn't see it this time because we were there on a Friday but in 2019 when we visited the Cologne Market we saw a large number of these Santa's in the city. They were driving the streets on motorcycles and scooters and later we saw them in the Nicolas Market.
If you happen to know more details of this tradition, please share them in the comments.
Pop Up Market
The last market that we visited was a small pop up sort of market located outside the main Cathedral village.
It was basically just a pub village that only sold food and drinks. I had a beer there and then we made our way back to the Cathedral stage. One thing to note was that we needed our Health Passes to enter some of the villages and all of the food and drink stalls require you to show a pass in order to be served. We only needed to show proof of the pass once to receive a stamp and then we used the stamp to be served at the stalls. It was a really easy set up.