On Saturday, we purchased a Schönes Wöchenende train ticket and visited the Christmas markets in Münster, about an hour and half away by slow train. It was incredibly crowded, but there is a much better selection of stands than in other markets we’ve visited (and perhaps even the one in the town that we live, ahem).
Pictures are lacking because it was too cold to have my hands outside of my pockets for very long, but we did have some Reibekuchen and roasted peanuts, in addition to Krakauerwurst, Glühwein and hot chocolate:
Münster is the perfect setting for a Christmas market. Beautiful buildings and churches everywhere.
If you’re thinking of going to Münster for the Weihnachtsmarkt, there is a brochure explaining the five different areas here. As you can see from our photos, we were not there during the magical evening, mostly because the magical evening would have been even colder (if possible) than the magical, cloudy daytime. Plus, we had yet another market to check out in Bielefeld that night.
For information about all of the Christmas markets in Germany, see this aptly-named site.
Wie sagt man...? 
This is torture…I miss Muenster. And the lights at Christmas are lovely. Glad you liked it!
Looks so amazing!!!! Will definitely be visting in the future 🙂
I haven’t been to Münster. It looks pretty.
Reibekuchen are Kartoffelpuffer here. Love them 😀
This is tortre – I love Christmas markets!!
I miss Weihnachtsmaerkte! 😦 Thank you for this little trip down Nostalgia Lane! My brother used to study in Muenster, and of course, we went to the christmas market. It was so cold, though, that we frequently popped into nearby churches to get warm where we then pretended to admire the interior – for the umptieth time…
Enjoy Vorweihnachtszeit! 🙂
Muenster is *such* a lovely city – your brother is lucky to have studied there. We are probably going to head to another city this coming weekend, so we will implement your “deep interest in churches” strategy to keep warm.
Is it a big Christmas Market? I’ve never been to Muenster. And I really miss me some Gluehwein! Lucky you!
It’s pretty big, though actually there are about 5 separate markets. It’s the perfect size for a day trip. Berlin, on the other hand, has dozens, and you need to metro yourself around to find them all. You must be able to find some Gluehwein in NYC! Any small, pseudo-Christmas markets around?
Maybe I’ll just have to do a day trip, then. I’ve never been to Berlin either, didn’t even know they had Xmas markets up there. I know they don’t have Karneval. *lol*
Nope, Gluehwein is not allowed on open markets. So I have to make my own or visit a German bar. Home-made one tastes better than bar stuff, by the way! Oh dear, I miss drinking in public!
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I love German Christmas markets. I’m so sad there aren’t any in Australia, though there are some nice ones in America. Seeing these photos really makes me miss not having a wintery Christmas wonderland this year.
I don’t know if I could do Christmas without winter weather, though I tend to feel differently when I’m actually out in the cold! Where have you seen Christmas markets in the U.S? I’ve never seen them, but I’ve heard that Philly and NYC might have some.
I used to go to the one in Chicago. It’s quite nice. A lot of different vendors selling all kinds of traditional German Christmas items and food. You’ll hear a lot of German speakers there, too. It really has the look and feel of a traditional Weihnachtsmarkt. I’d be very surprised if New York didn’t have one as good or better than Chicago.