Edinburgh Christmas Market

Edinburgh spreads six markets across the old town from 14 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. East Princes Street Gardens holds more than 130 chalets of Scottish makers and food. Entry is free everywhere, and the rides and rink are ticketed separately.

OpensNovember 14, 2026

ClosesJanuary 3, 2027

Entry CostFree

Opening hours10:00–22:00 daily (most days)

Holiday hours · Dec 24: 10:00–20:00 · Dec 25: Closed (open daily except Christmas Day). Reopens 26 December 12:00–20:00

Last updated : October 22, 2026

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❄ Opens November 14, 2026 · runs to January 3, 2027 ❄

3 Christmas markets across the city

All Christmas Markets in Edinburgh

Ranked #1 is where we'd go first.

European Christmas Market (Edinburgh Christmas Market, East Princes Street Gardens)

East Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh

The main traditional Christmas market in Edinburgh, set in the valley below Edinburgh Castle. It features a mix of Scottish and German-style stalls selling artisan crafts, gifts, and festive food and drink. Distinct from other city markets by its scale, the presence of the LNER Big Wheel and Around the World Star Flyer, and the popular photo snow globes where visitors can take pictures inside a giant snow globe.

Scottish Market

Disputed: St. Andrew Square (source 3) or George Street (source 4)

A market focused on Scottish artisans, local food and drink producers, and traditional crafts. It is presented as a separate market from the European Christmas Market, though some sources treat it as part of the overall Edinburgh Christmas event. The location is inconsistent across sources.

Local Motive Ethical & Scottish Christmas Fair (Castle Street)

Castle Street, Edinburgh

A small, curated fair focusing on ethical, fair-trade, and locally made gifts, crafts, food, and drink. It is separate from the larger markets and runs for a shorter period. Source 3 describes it as having 22 stalls and being located in Castle Street, part of the George Street area.

The Edinburgh pocket guide, a street map of every market on one side and hours, prices and transport tips on the other

Free pocket guide

Every Edinburgh market on one sheet of paper

Gloves on, phone dead, signal gone. A folded sheet in your coat pocket still works when nothing else does, so print this before you go.

A real street map with every market, the metro stops and a walking loop that links them
Opening hours for each market, Christmas Eve included, when most of them close early
What the food and drink cost, and what to order at the stalls
When to go to dodge the crowds, and how to get from one market to the next

Two A4 pages, made to print on both sides of one sheet. After that, a few emails a season. Unsubscribe in one click.

Airport, rail and getting around

Getting to Edinburgh

How to reach Edinburgh and get between the markets once you are there.

Nearest airportEdinburgh Airport (EDI)

Getting aroundWalkable city centre. Princes Street tram stop. Waverley station 2 min walk.

From the airport

Plane

30 min transfer

Edinburgh Airport is 8 miles from city centre. Tram takes 30 min to Waverley (every 7 min). Airlink bus also 30 min.

Private transfer to your hotel door

Late flight, small children or three bags each: a fixed price car to the door beats the train with luggage. The price is per car, not per person.

Check transfer prices

By train

Train (London to Edinburgh)

4hfrom £30

Direct LNER from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley, hourly. Book 12 weeks ahead for best price.

Train (Glasgow to Edinburgh)

42m

ScotRail from Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Waverley, every 15 min.

Train (Newcastle to Edinburgh)

1h 22mfrom £8

Direct LNER or CrossCountry from Newcastle to Edinburgh Waverley, frequent.

Train (Amsterdam to Edinburgh via London)

>10hfrom €58 (Eurostar) + £30 (LNER)

Eurostar from Amsterdam Centraal to London St Pancras (4h), then LNER from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh (4h 30m).

By car

Car (Glasgow or London)

1 hr (Glasgow) or 8-10 hrs (London)variable

From Glasgow via M8/A8 about 1 hr. From London via M6/A1 about 8-10 hrs. Park-and-ride at Ingliston or Straiton recommended.

Getting around

Sleep close to the stalls

Where to stay in Edinburgh

Book early. December does not do last-minute

Budget

Motel One Edinburgh-Royal

Steps from the Royal Mile and a three-minute walk to Princes Street, this design-led budget hotel offers 205 rooms with rainfall showers. 3 min walk to the market.

Check December rates →

Mid-range

Mount Royal Hotel Edinburgh by The Unlimited Collection

Opposite the Scott Monument and National Gallery on Princes Street, this 167-room hotel is 450 feet from the Christmas market.

Check December rates →

Splurge

The Balmoral Hotel

Directly next to Waverley Station and Princes Street Gardens, this five-star hotel houses a Michelin-starred restaurant and the J.K. Rowling Suite where the final Harry Potter book was finished.

Check December rates →

Compare every hotel in Edinburgh for your dates →Edinburgh full for your dates? Strasbourg is 1105 km away, a separate trip and usually still has rooms →

Disclosure: This blog is reader-supported, and some posts contain affiliate links. If you make a booking, I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for keeping me writing and doing what I love!

Edinburgh at Christmas is the kind of place that looks engineered for a postcard. Castle on a hill, gothic spires, a wheel turning slowly above the gardens, steam rising off a paper cup of mulled wine.

It’s absurdly photogenic!

But the market underneath all that prettiness has a more complicated story than the Instagram shots let on, if we are being honest (which is not a reason not to visit, quite contrary).

For a few years it got too big, too crowded, and locals got (rightly) fed up. So the version you’ll wander into now is actually not the same one that filled your social media feed circa 2022.

That’s actually a good thing though, at least in my opinion. And it’s worth understanding it before you go.

When it comes to our trip, we spent a few cold, sparkly days at the Edinburgh Christmas market over the festive season, where we were riding the wheel, eating our weight in bratwurst, and figuring out what’s worth your time.

I made a list of everything I wish I’d known first, so you don’t have to learn the hard way.

Keep reading to get the scoop on the Edinburgh Christmas market! 🎄

Before you go

Edinburgh Christmas Market Essentials

Sort before you leave

Get an eSIM. Your maps, tickets and the walk back to the hotel all live on your phone. Unless your plan roams free where you’re going (EU deals often stop at the Swiss border), an eSIM is the cheap fix. Get one on Airalo or Yesim if you burn through data, since it hops between networks on its own.

Insure the trip. Icy cobbles and Glühwein are a wobbly mix, and seeing a doctor abroad gets pricey fast without cover. Buy it when you book, so a cancelled trip is covered too.

Know your flight rights. Flights get messy in December. If yours lands three or more hours late for a reason the airline could control, EU rules can owe you up to €600 a person, and AirHelp only takes a fee if they win. Check your flight

Check the dates twice. Plenty of markets wrap up a day or two before Christmas, and some close early on Christmas Eve, so check before you book anything you can’t cancel. See every market’s dates

Drop the bags. Morning arrivals beat a 15:00 check-in by hours, and nobody browses stalls towing a suitcase. Radical Storage has drop-offs in most market cities. Book a bag drop

Put in your bag

Dress for standing still. You’ll spend hours on cold cobbles with a mug in your hand, so warm waterproof boots and thick socks do more for you than a fancy coat.

Carry coins. Lots of markets add a deposit for the mug to your first drink, and you get it back in coins when you return it. Small stalls like cash too, and outside the eurozone that means local money.

Pack a power bank. Cold drains phone batteries fast, and your phone is the map, the tickets and the camera all day.

Bring a universal adapter. Most of Europe uses round two-pin plugs, but the UK and Switzerland each have their own sockets, so one adapter that covers all three saves a late-night hunt.

Zip it up. Crowded squares are a pickpocket’s favourite shopping trip. Keep your phone and wallet in a zipped front pocket or a cross-body bag.

That’s the short list. The full Christmas market packing list covers the rest, from thermals to hand warmers, and sizes it to how cold your market gets after dark.

Open the packing list

What Is the Edinburgh Christmas Market?

First, a quick reality check on what this market actually is because “Christmas market” means different things in different cities.

Edinburgh’s isn’t some centuries-old village Weihnachtsmarkt handed down from the Middle Ages.

It’s one of the UK’s “Frankfurt Christmas Markets,” a wave of German-style markets set up in British cities from 1997 onward with support from Frankfurt. Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Edinburgh all got one around the same time.

What that means in practice is that wooden chalets, mulled wine, bratwurst, candied almonds, and a ferris wheel, all the German-market playbook, are dropped into the middle of a Scottish city and handed a castle as a backdrop. It’s not a bad deal, honestly, but it doesn’t have the same cultural history that the German Christmas markets have.

The Edinburgh Christmas market sits within the city’s wider festive programming, run under City of Edinburgh Council procurement alongside the team behind Edinburgh’s Hogmanay (more on that later because they’re cousins, not twins).

Entry is free to wander and you only pay for rides, food, and drink.

Edinburgh Christmas Market Dates – When Is It?

This season the market opens on 14 November 2026 and runs every day except Christmas Day until 3 January 2027, so it overlaps with Hogmanay.

If you want my two cents on when within the season to go… the first two weeks of December. The lights are up, the mood is set, and you miss the proper Christmas-week crunch when half of the UK descends on Princes Street.

Where Is the Edinburgh Christmas Market? (Locations)

The heart of the market is East Princes Street Gardens which is the strip of garden that runs from The Mound to Waverley Bridge, right in the city centre.

This is where you’ll find most of the chalets, the food stalls, and that big wheel everyone seems to photograph a whole lot (we were not an exception, of course).

A few things to know about the layout:

East Princes Street Gardens is the core site with the rides, market stalls, the lot.
The Mound (the raised bit dividing the East and West Gardens, with the National Gallery perched on top) is your landmark and your meeting point.
The market tends to spill out along Princes Street and into the surrounding streets including George Street, St Andrew Square, and Castle Street which commonly hosts satellite stalls and attractions, though the exact footprint changes slightly year to year.
West Princes Street Gardens sits on the other side of The Mound and is more of a green escape than a market hub.

The reason this all works so well is geography. Waverley Station basically backs onto the East Gardens. You can step off a train and be at a mulled wine stall in about three minutes. That’s also, of course, why it gets so busy.

Things to do at the Edinburgh Christmas market

Here’s where I’d set expectations when it comes to Edinburgh’s Christmas Market: the “things to do” here are simpler than you might think.

This isn’t a theme park. It’s a market with a few big rides bolted on, and the main event really is just… wandering.

The big wheel is the icon of the market. It’s a 33-metre (108 ft) Ferris wheel rising above the gardens, and on a clear night the view over the castle and the Firth of Forth is genuinely lovely and worth seeing. Go once, ideally at dusk, and don’t bother queuing for it twice.

Beyond the wheel, the ride lineup shifts each season but usually includes some combination of:

A Star Flyer (the tall chair-swing ride which is not for the queasy, especially in a Scottish wind)
A carousel and smaller family rides for kids
An ice rink (this has moved around over the years and sometimes it’s in the gardens, sometimes on George Street)
Santa’s grotto and light displays for the little ones

And then the chalets themselves. You have dozens of little wooden huts selling gifts, ornaments, knitwear, fudge, gin, and the usual Christmas-market loot. Half the joy is just ducking into a warm stall out of the rain and emerging with something you didn’t know you needed.

What to Eat & Drink at the Market

Okay, this is the good part. 🤤

The food leans hard on the German-market template and even if it’s not traditional Scottish food, I can’t complain. Bratwurst, Glühwein, Lebkuchen gingerbread, candied almonds, roasted chestnuts, Stollen… I mean, what’s not to like?

The classics:

Mulled wine (Glühwein): non-negotiable. Get it with the shot of brandy if you’re brave.
Bratwurst in a bun with mustard. This is the anchor of every Christmas market everywhere.
Candied almonds (Gebrannte Mandeln) for the walk between stalls.

The Scottish additions I’d actually seek out:

Haggis, neeps & tatties. Yes, at a Christmas market. Lean in, ladies and gentlemen.
Hog roast rolls when it’s properly freezing.
Scottish gin and mulled cider instead of (or alongside) the wine.
Mac & cheese from one of the hot-food stalls, eaten standing up in the cold.

For all of you with the sweet tooth, you have a nice selection of churros with chocolate, doughnuts, crêpes, and sticky gingerbread.

As many other Christmas markets, this one alsoruns a reusable mug deposit scheme for hot drinks. You pay a small deposit on the first cup, and you either keep it as a souvenir or hand it back and get your deposit refunded.

And here’s the thing I actually find most interesting. Since the market got reworked (more on that next), there’s been a real push toward more Scottish and local traders. So you’ll find fewer generic “imported gift” stalls and more actual Scottish produce than a few years ago. After Prague last year, this is honestly a welcomed surprise.

How Much Does the Edinburgh Christmas Market Cost?

Let’s talk money.

Entry is free, of course. Walking around, looking at the lights, soaking up the atmosphere. All of that costs nothing and gets you great memories. In this market, you are only paying for rides, food, and drinks, which is how it’s supposed to be.

Rides, similar to most places, operate on a token or ticket system, and there’s usually an all-inclusive wristband option if you’re going on multiple rides (good value if you’ve got kids in tow).

Here are a few prices to take note of (approximate, 2025/26-season ballpark):

Mulled wine: ~£5–6, plus ~£2–3 refundable mug deposit
Bratwurst: ~£6–8
Churros: ~£5
Big wheel ride: ~£8–10
A proper meal-style hot dish: ~£8–12

Add it up and a couple hitting the market for an evening of rides, food, and a couple of drinks can easily drop £60–80 without trying.

The 2023 Overhaul – Why the Market You’ll See Is Different

Right, this is the bit most guides skip, and I think it’s something everyone should know about the modern Edinburgh Christmas market.

For a few years (roughly through 2022 and 2023) the market had a reputation problem. It had grown too big.

Overcrowding, long queues, safety and crowd-management concerns, and a lot of frustrated locals who felt their city centre was being handed to a fairground every winter. There were resident complaints, scrutiny from the council, and a wider conversation about whether the whole thing had lost the plot and should be shut down.

The City of Edinburgh Council ran a review and the market was reimagined. From the 2024 season onward it was scaled back and refocused and now includes fewer of the big rides, a tighter footprint back in the gardens, and a deliberate shift toward more Scottish and local traders (thankfully) rather than the same imported chalets you’d find in most other UK cities.

Why does this matter to you? Because smaller doesn’t mean worse here. It means better, if you ask me.

The market people complained about in 2022 is not the one you’ll visit. The reworked version is more manageable, more local, and frankly more in keeping with the city around it.

Go in expecting a scaled-back, food-and-atmosphere-led market with a castle view, not a six-ride funfair, and you’ll have a much better time.

Best Time to Visit (And Beating the Crowds)

If you take one tip from this whole guide, take this one: timing is everything.

Weekday mornings are the quietest – you’ll practically have the chalets to yourself, though it’s less magical without the lights.
Early evening on a weekday is the sweet spot: lights on, atmosphere buzzing, but not yet rammed.
Saturday afternoons and the week before Christmas are brutal. Avoid if you possibly can.
Go twice if you can. Once for the rides and the wheel at dusk, once for a slow food-and-wander session. This is the slow-travel move and it’s how the market is actually meant to be enjoyed.

Weather wise… well, it’s Scotland in December. Expect rain, wind, or both, possibly within the same hour. Dress in layers, wear proper shoes (the gardens get muddy and slippy), and bring gloves you can take off easily to hold a hot cup.

Getting to the Edinburgh Christmas Market

The market is about as central as it gets.

By train: Waverley Station sits right next to the East Gardens so you’re at the market within minutes of stepping off the train. Book UK rail on Trainline.
By tram: the Edinburgh tram runs along Princes Street with a stop right by the gardens. From the airport, the tram goes direct to Princes Street in about 30 minutes.
By bus: Lothian Buses cover the city centre extensively.
On foot: if you’re staying in the Old Town (Royal Mile) or New Town, you can walk. It’s 5–15 minutes depending on where you are.

You really don’t need a car for any of this. In fact, in central Edinburgh at Christmas, a car is a liability because parking is a nightmare and the streets are packed. Leave it.

Edinburgh Christmas Market vs. Hogmanay – Stay for both?

If you’re flying all the way to Edinburgh in winter, stay for Hogmanay too.

The Christmas market and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay are technically two separate festivals, but they share a season and (broadly) an operator. It’s also why a late-December trip works here, since Scotland’s markets stay open in the week Germany shuts.

The market is your mid-November-to-early-January experience. Hogmanay is the 29 December to 1 January blowout that takes over the same stretch of the city.

Hogmanay is one of the world’s great New Year parties. We’re talking a torchlight procession, a street party that drew around 50,000 people in 2023–24, concerts and a céilidh in the gardens, midnight fireworks over the castle, and the gloriously daft Loony Dook, a New Year’s Day dip in the freezing Firth of Forth.

For context on how big this thing gets: back in 1996–97, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay was recognised by Guinness as the world’s largest New Year party, with an estimated 400,000 attendees. They’ve capped it well below that since, but the scale is still wild.

The slow-travel case I love to make is quite obvious. One flight, two festivals, that’s it.

Land mid-December for the market, stay through to New Year for Hogmanay and enjoy Edinburgh (and Scotland?) in the meantime. Make sure you check the official Hogmanay site for the current programme and ticketed events.

Is the Edinburgh Christmas Market Worth It? (Honest Take)

Yes but with the right expectations.

If you’re picturing a quaint, sleepy German village market, you’ll be disappointed. This is a big-city winter festival with a castle backdrop, complete with crowds and commercial chalets. It is what it is.

But if you go in knowing that and especially if you go in knowing the market has been deliberately scaled back and re-localised since its overblown years, it’s a genuinely magical way to spend a cold December evening.

The wheel, the lights, the castle lit up above the gardens, a steaming cup of mulled wine and a bratwurst in hand… it earns the postcard.

Pair it with a few days exploring Edinburgh itself, and ideally with Hogmanay if you can swing the dates, and you’ve got one of the best winter city breaks in Europe. I’d go back in a heartbeat. 🥃

But make sure you remember that this is someone’s home city and not just a backdrop for your feed. Be considerate of the crowds and the locals who live with them, support the Scottish traders over the generic stalls, and pack out whatever you pack in.

That’s it for this one! Enjoy your time at the Edinburgh Christmas market!

Tours

Make an evening of it

A few worth paying for. The markets themselves are free.

Christmas Market and Old Town Walking Tour

1.5 hours · from €25

An early-evening walk that starts at the Scott Monument in the Princes Street Gardens market, then heads up the Royal Mile past St Giles' to Victoria Street and finishes at Greyfriars Kirkyard. The guide is local and hands out tips for hot toddy bars and dinner afterwards.

Check availability ↗

Christmas Lights Tour on a Vintage Bus

75 minutes · from €20

A loop on an open-top 1960s Routemaster past the Christmas lights on Princes Street, the castle, St Andrew Square and the Royal Mile, with a live guide on board. The top is open, so wrap up warm, and food and drink aren't allowed on the bus.

Check availability ↗

Scottish Dinner and Folk Music Experience

3 hours · from €106

A bagpiper greets you on arrival, then it's a three-course Scottish dinner with a drink while two folk musicians play and tell the stories behind the songs, finishing with a whisky toast. It's a listening night rather than a ceilidh, held at Biblos on Chambers Street.

Check availability ↗

Whisky Tasting with History and Storytelling

2 hours · from €43

Four single malts from Scotland's main whisky regions, poured in a private lounge just off the Royal Mile while the guide tells tales of kings, smugglers and outlaws. It's seated, indoors and 18+, and non-whisky drinkers can ask for something else.

Check availability ↗

St Andrews and Fishing Villages of Fife Tour

Full day (9 hours) · from €57

A coach day out over the Forth Bridge into Fife, stopping in Anstruther and passing St Monans, Pittenweem and Crail before about three hours of free time in St Andrews. It leaves from Castle Terrace, and the castle and cathedral in St Andrews cost extra if you want to go in.

Check availability ↗

Combine your trip