Is the Birmingham Christmas Market Worth It?
The Birmingham Christmas market is a slice of Frankfurt dropped right outside New Street station, and on a weekday evening, with a stein in one hand and a bratwurst in the other, it’s one of the best nights out you can have in a British city in December.
It’s officially Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market, run with Frankfurt’s own festival team because the two cities are twinned, so the sausages, the schnitzel and the Glühwein really are the real deal. Locals just call it the German market, and they’ve been queuing at it most winters since 2001, when it came back with 24 stalls after a trial run a few years before.
It’s not the market it was, though, and that stings a bit. Building work shrank it to about 60 stalls last year and leaves a gap on New Street this year, too many of the gift stalls sell the same mass-produced baubles, and on a Friday or Saturday night it’s a loud, boozy crush with prices to match.
So I’d treat it as what it’s brilliant at. Come for an evening of German food, beer and Christmas lights, walk five minutes up the road for your gifts, and finish on the Big Wheel. Do it that way, on a weekday, and Birmingham is a really fun night.
When Is the Birmingham Christmas Market 2026?
The Birmingham Christmas market runs from Thursday 5 November to Thursday 24 December 2026, seven weeks in all, and it’s free to walk in. It’s the 26th one, in the year Birmingham and Frankfurt mark 60 years of being twinned.
It’s open 11:00 to 21:00 Monday to Thursday, 11:00 to 21:30 on Fridays, 10:00 to 21:30 on Saturdays and 10:00 to 21:00 on Sundays. On Remembrance Sunday, 8 November, it doesn’t open until 13:00.
Christmas Eve is the last day, and the closing time hasn’t been announced yet, so don’t leave your last Glühwein until the evening. There’s nothing on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Eve, but the Big Wheel and ice rink in Centenary Square keep going until 3 January if you want a bit of Christmas after the market’s packed up and gone home to Frankfurt.
| Date | What’s on |
|---|---|
| Thu 5 Nov | Frankfurt market and Cathedral Square craft market open, Big Wheel and ice rink open in Centenary Square |
| Sun 8 Nov | Remembrance Sunday, Frankfurt market opens at 13:00 |
| Sat 21 Nov | Christmas at Warwick Castle starts, with the light trail and ice rink |
| Sat 28 to Sun 29 Nov | Stratford-upon-Avon Christmas market, first weekend |
| Sat 5 to Sun 6 Dec | Stratford-upon-Avon Christmas market, second weekend |
| Sat 19 Dec | Sleeping Beauty, the Hippodrome panto, opens |
| Thu 24 Dec | Last day of both markets (closing times to be confirmed) |
| Fri 25 Dec | Everything closed, including the Big Wheel and ice rink |
| Sun 3 Jan | Last day for the Big Wheel, the ice rink and Warwick Castle |
Where It Is and How It’s Laid Out
The market is one long line of chalets through the middle of the city, and it starts right where you get off the train. Walk out of New Street station, up past the Bullring bull at Rotunda Square, and the first stalls are already there, with Moor Street and Snow Hill stations only a few minutes further away.
From there it runs up New Street towards Victoria Square, with chalets down the middle and shops on either side, and extra craft stalls round the corner on High Street.
This year there’s a gap, with no stalls between Nando’s and the Apple Store because of building work around Bennetts Hill and Temple Street, so don’t think it’s over when the chalets stop. Keep walking, because the best bit is at the top.
Victoria Square is the big finale, and it’s where I’d spend most of my evening. It’s a seriously grand setting, with the Council House lit up behind the stalls and the Town Hall just across the square.
From here Cathedral Square is five minutes north and the Big Wheel is ten minutes west, so the whole of Christmas in Birmingham fits in about a mile, which is a gift when you’re doing it all on foot.
Victoria Square (the Bit I’d Plan Around)
This is the heart of the market and the bit that feels most like Germany. It has the biggest bars, the bandstand stage, a traditional merry-go-round for the kids and Chris Moose, the singing toy moose who sits above the bar and belts out Christmas songs. He is ridiculous and I love him.
Below him, the stage has free live music every day, with German bands, local performers and school groups. On weekdays it plays at lunchtime and in the evening, and at weekends it goes all day, so if you want some oompah with your beer, a weekday evening or a Saturday afternoon is your best bet.
Be in Victoria Square as it gets dark, which is about 16:00 in December. The Council House glows behind the stalls, the bar is singing, and the whole square suddenly feels like a real Christmas market rather than a busy shopping street with sheds on it. That half hour around dusk is the best the market gets.
What to Eat and Drink (the Best Bit)
This is why you come. The food here is German through and through, and it’s the part of Birmingham’s market I’d defend to anyone, even when the gift stalls feel tired. The prices below are from the last two years, since 2026’s haven’t been published.
- Bratwurst is where I’d start, hot off the grill and stuffed into a roll. A standard one was £6.50 last year, and there’s a half-metre version for when you want to make a scene. The vegan bratwurst is the same price.
- Currywurst and pork steak are the fuller meal, both £7 in 2024, and the currywurst is the one to get on a cold night.
- Schnitzel is for when you’ve given up pretending this is a snack and want a plate of something golden and crispy.
- Pretzels are the thing to tear at while you walk, warm, salty and the size of your face.
- Berliner doughnuts were £3 each or four for £10 in 2024, and the crêpes are the other pudding, with Nutella the classic.
- Glühwein was £6.50 a glass last year, in red or white, which is a lot for a small mug of hot wine. Heisse Liebe, hot raspberries poured over cold ice cream, is the pudding I’d queue for twice.
- German beer is the Birmingham thing to do. A pint was £7 last year and a two-pint stein £12.50, and a stein of German wheat beer in a British city centre feels gloriously silly in the best way.
Drinks come with a deposit on top, £5 for a mug or glass and £7 for a stein in 2024, with a token for each one. You can hand it back at any drinks stall, or keep the mug, which is cute enough to tempt you.
All of that adds up, and it makes me wince every year. A sausage and a stein will set you back around £19 before the deposit, and two of you can easily spend £50 in an evening without trying. Nobody comes to Birmingham for a bargain.
Every stall takes cash and plenty take cards, but carry a bit of cash anyway for when the card machines get swamped, and bring ID if you look young, because the market runs Challenge 25 on alcohol. It takes a photo driving licence, a passport, a PASS proof of age card or military ID.
Christmas in Cathedral Square (the One for Gifts)
Five minutes north of Victoria Square, in the grounds of St Philip’s Cathedral, is Birmingham’s other Christmas market, and if you’re coming for presents rather than pretzels, it’s the better of the two. It runs on the same dates, 5 November to 24 December.
It’s a local craft market with more than 60 independent businesses from Birmingham and the Midlands, selling handmade gifts, art, decorations, food and drink, and it feels completely different from the Frankfurt stalls. It’s smaller, calmer and much more Brummie, you’ll find things you can’t buy anywhere else, and there’s a helter skelter and a small Ferris wheel in the churchyard to go with it.
In past years there’s been a pop-up pub too, Pigeon in the Park, named after what locals call the square. The market opens at 11:00 (midday on Sundays) and closes at 21:00 or 21:30, so I’d go in daylight to shop properly, then head back down to Victoria Square as the lights come on.
Where to Buy Gifts
Not on the Frankfurt stalls. Most of the decorations, toys and jewellery there are mass-produced and pretty samey, and after a few chalets you’ll have seen them all. The wooden toys and Christmas ornaments are fine if you just want a little memento, but that’s about it.
After Cathedral Square, the Victorian arcades are where I’d go. Piccadilly Arcade, the Great Western Arcade and the Burlington Arcade are all full of independent shops and look gorgeous at Christmas.
For something really special, the Jewellery Quarter is a short walk from the centre, full of jewellers and workshops, and if you want something with more edge, Digbeth’s Custard Factory has independent makers and a craft and flea market.
How to Beat the Crowds
Go on a weekday, and go before 16:00 if you can. Up to five million people visit over the season, and Friday and Saturday evenings are a genuine crush, loud, boozy and slow, with a queue at every food stall.
Get there around 15:00 on a weekday, eat before the food stalls fill up later in the afternoon, and you’ll still be in Victoria Square when the lights come on. Sunday evenings are calmer too, and November is calmer than the December weekends.
A few practical things for busy nights:
- Keep an eye on your bag, because pickpockets do work the crowds.
- If you’re bringing an assistance dog, come on a weekday, because Friday and Saturday nights aren’t much fun for them.
- There are step-free routes around the market, the accessible toilets are next to the stage in Victoria Square, and Shopmobility in the Bullring hires out scooters.
Big Wheel and Ice Rink
About ten minutes’ walk west past the Town Hall, Centenary Square has a 40-metre Big Wheel and a big outdoor ice rink from 5 November to 3 January, closed only on Christmas Day, both sitting in front of the Library of Birmingham.
Ride the Ferris wheel after dark. From the top you can see the Library, the Town Hall and the Council House lit up, and it’s the moment the city looks most like Christmas.
Then skate it off. The rink has 600 square metres of real ice and 45-minute sessions on the hour, it ran 10:00 to 22:00 every day last year, and in 2024 sessions started from £11 with skates included. Book online once the 2026 prices are out, and there’s a bar beside the rink for warming up after.
The Best Way to Do the Birmingham Christmas Market
Everything sits within about a mile, so it all fits into one evening.
Start at Cathedral Square in the middle of the afternoon, while it’s still light and quiet enough to shop properly. Then walk down to Victoria Square around 16:00, grab a bratwurst and a Glühwein, and be there for the lights coming on and the band starting up.
Wander down New Street afterwards for a look at the stalls, and pick up a Berliner on the way. Then finish with a ride on the Big Wheel in Centenary Square, or a skate if you’ve booked one.
If you’ve still got energy, the bars around Brindleyplace are another ten minutes on, and the canals there look lovely lit up at night.
Getting There and Parking
Take the train. New Street, Moor Street and Snow Hill are all within a few minutes’ walk of the stalls, and with direct trains from London, Manchester, Bristol and the rest of the Midlands, it’s one of the easiest Christmas markets in Britain to reach. You can step off the train and be holding a Glühwein in five minutes.
Driving in is a pain at Christmas. The traffic is bad, the car parks are expensive and the market sits inside Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone, so check whether your car has to pay before you set off. If you do drive, book a space ahead, and know that the Navigation Street multi-storey has no lift.
Beyond the Markets
If you’ve got a day either side of the market, this is how I’d fill it.
- The panto. The Hippodrome’s this year is Sleeping Beauty, with Rylan, Zoe Birkett and Matt Slack, back for his 13th year running, from 19 December 2026 to 31 January 2027. It’s billed as the biggest regional pantomime in the country, so book the panto early for a weekend seat.
- Candlelight at the cathedral. St Philip’s has candlelit concerts in December, including a Viennese Christmas evening on 19 December and the Nutcracker Suite on 28 December.
- A light trail. Last year Luminate lit up the Botanical Gardens in Edgbaston from 28 November, and it’s worth checking whether it’s back.
- A drink away from the crowds. The Wellington is a proper real ale pub a few minutes from Victoria Square, Bacchus Bar is a wonderfully odd underground bar under the Burlington Arcade, and Sommar Brewery and Java Roastery are close by too.
- Peaky Blinders. A walking tour of the old gangs’ haunts is a fun way to spend an afternoon before the market.
- Shopping. The Bullring and Grand Central are next to the market, with Selfridges and the world’s biggest Primark.
What’s the Weather Like in Birmingham in December?
Damp and chilly, mostly. December in Birmingham averages about 8°C by day and 4°C at night, but it feels just below freezing after dark, and it rains on nearly half of December days. The sun sets around 15:50 in mid-December, so the lights are on long before dinner.
Don’t count on snow either, because it almost never settles here in December. Bring a warm waterproof coat and shoes that can cope with puddles, because you’ll be standing on wet pavement with a sausage for hours.
Day Trips From Birmingham
Some of the best Christmas days out in England are under an hour from Moor Street.
Warwick Castle is about half an hour away, and from 21 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 it runs Christmas at the Castle, with a light trail of more than half a million lights, an ice rink beneath Guy’s Tower and a winter food and drink village. Skating starts from £17, and the evening light trail is the bit I’d book.
Stratford-upon-Avon is about 50 minutes by train, and its Christmas market fills the old streets with around 200 stalls over two weekends, 28 and 29 November and 5 and 6 December. Wandering past Shakespeare’s birthplace with a mulled cider is the reason I’d go.
Peterborough is 1h45 on a direct train, for its three-day cathedral Christmas fair from 20 to 22 November. Further north, the Manchester Christmas markets are about 1h30 on the train and much bigger, and the York Christmas market is about two hours away if you fancy a medieval setting.
So, Is the Birmingham Christmas Market Worth It?
For an evening, absolutely. If you’re in the Midlands or passing through by train, a weekday night of bratwurst, steins and Chris Moose in Victoria Square is a lot of fun, and with Cathedral Square for gifts and the Big Wheel to finish, it’s a really good Christmas night out. It’s not worth a long journey just for the stalls, and if you want the real thing, the Frankfurt Christmas market is the original it’s modelled on.
Just don’t come expecting Frankfurt, because what Birmingham does brilliantly is one loud, happy night of sausages, steins and a singing moose. If you’re after a bigger British market with a castle on top, Edinburgh is my pick.
