I have been hearing about the Christmas markets in Europe forever, and now that I'm in Germany, my plan is to visit as many Christmas markets as I can. Some people say that when you visit one market, it's like you've visited them all, but I should digress. I strongly, strongly disagree with this statement, because I have already visited two, and they were similar, yes. But definitely different enough that you can actually compare and decide which was the better one in ypur opinion.
I have a plan of visiting a few Christmas markets in and around Germany. The first one I decided to visit was, of course, literally in my neighborhood, in Stuttgart.
The thing that attracted me the most in the Stuttgart Christmas market was the Ferris wheel. It was huge and very brightly lit up. Actually, whenever I take a train to my university, I get a good view of the entire city from a high vantage point, and in the evenings I could always see this Ferris wheel, and it just made the city look even more beautiful.
Then we walked around a little more and came across this huge tree covered in fairy lights. We just kept circling it, taking it all in.
One really special thing about the Stuttgart Christmas market is that they actually have a competition for the best-decorated stalls and people really go all out. Almost every stall looked like someone had poured their whole heart into making it pretty.
My favourite was this stall with a tiny teddy bear riding a bicycle on the roof. It looked so cute, I couldn’t stop staring at it.
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The thing I was most excited about was trying the Glühwein, the famous mulled wine. It’s so interesting, they heat red wine with spices and serve it hot, and I was like, damn, wine but hot? And with spices? I was definitely looking forward to tasting it.
There were a lot of stalls selling Glühwein, and we kept searching for the one that had the best-looking mug. These mulled wines are served in special Christmas mugs, and every city or town has its own theme. You usually pay a small deposit for the mug, and if you return it, you get your money back. Or you can just keep it as a souvenir. And I was 100% planning to keep mine as a souvenir.
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So we were hunting for a stall that had the best-looking mug, and after roaming around for a bit, we finally found a Glühwein stall with really pretty cups. Obviously, we decided to get it there. The Glühwein cost €5, and the deposit for the cup was €3. The Glühwein itself was actually so yummy, I absolutely loved it. And the best part? It was hot. When you’re walking around a cold Christmas market, you need something warm to hold and sip, and this definitely did the trick for me.
There was also a stall selling those big decorated cookies, the ones with “I love you” or “Merry Christmas” written on them. I learned that people usually buy these more as gifts or decorations than as actual snacks.
My favorite stall in the entire Christmas market was definitely the one with the fake snow machine. They had this setup on the roof that blew out blue foam that looked exactly like falling snow. Since Stuttgart hardly ever gets snow, having a 'white Christmas' here is basically a myth. It felt extra special to have at least some “snow,” even if it was fake.
Me and my friends had an absolute blast taking pictures under it, letting it fall into our hair, on our clothes, and even into our shoes. It was messy, but it was the best kind of fun.
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Overall, my first Christmas market experience in Stuttgart was so much more magical than I expected. Even though I had seen countless Instagram reels and photos, actually being there felt completely different. Walking around with hot Glühwein in my hand, staring at the giant Ferris wheel, getting fake snow stuck in my hair, all memorable moments. It made me even more excited to explore the rest of the Christmas markets in Europe and see what each one has to offer🎄✨
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