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2026 season · 38 markets scored

Compare two Christmas markets

Pick any two markets and see how they stack up on our scores, opening dates, December weather and the trip between them.

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Popular face-offs

❄Budapest edges it, 8.3 to 7.8 on our Index❄

Our call

Budapest or Prague?

Budapest edges it, 8.3 to 7.8 on our Index.

Pick Budapest if

  • You care most about atmosphere and the stalls.
  • Crowds wear you out. Budapest gives you more room to move (6 against 4 for elbow room).
  • You’re going before Nov 28, when Prague hasn’t opened yet.

Pick Prague if

  • You’re travelling after Jan 1, when Budapest has already packed up.

ChristmasWanders Index 2026

How they score

Five things we score every market on, out of 10, weighted into one Index number. Elbow room gets its own score and sits outside the Index, so a market is never marked down for being popular.

30Atmosphere and setting
25Stalls and what they sell
20Food and drink
15Value for money
10Getting there and getting around
+Elbow room, scored out of ten, outside the Index
How we score →
Head to head
Budapest8.3/10
Prague7.8/10
Atmosphereweight 30%
9
8
Stallsweight 25%
8
7
Food & drinkweight 20%
8
8
Valueweight 15%
8
8
Getting there & aroundweight 10%
8
8
Elbow roomnot in the Index
6
4

A 9 for elbow room means plenty of space. A 3 means shoulder to shoulder at the busy times.

December weather

How cold it gets

They feel about the same in December, with highs around 5° and lows around 0°. Snow is likelier in Prague, which has snow on the ground on 11% of market days against 6% in Budapest.

Budapest
Prague
Day high
5°41°F
5°42°F
Night low
0°feels like −4°
0°feels like −4°
Wet days
28%1 mm or more
34%1 mm or more
Snow on the ground
6%snowy weekend odds 11%
11%snowy weekend odds 11%
Dark by
15:53sunset, mid-December
16:00sunset, mid-December
−4°−2°0°2°4°6°8°10°Budapest, week of Nov 20: 1.6° to 7.6°Prague, week of Nov 20: 1.2° to 6.7°Nov 20Budapest, week of Nov 27: −0.6° to 4.9°Prague, week of Nov 27: −1.0° to 4.3°Nov 27Budapest, week of Dec 4: −0.3° to 4.8°Prague, week of Dec 4: −0.2° to 5.1°Dec 4Budapest, week of Dec 11: −0.7° to 4.9°Prague, week of Dec 11: −0.6° to 4.6°Dec 11Budapest, week of Dec 18: −0.3° to 4.9°Prague, week of Dec 18: 1.1° to 6.2°Dec 18Budapest, week of Dec 25: −0.5° to 5.8°Prague, week of Dec 25: 0.6° to 6.0°Dec 25Budapest, week of Jan 1: −1.1° to 5.4°Prague, week of Jan 1: −0.1° to 5.2°Jan 1
BudapestPragueFreezingEach bar runs from the average low to the average high for that week, in °C

Temperatures are December averages for 2015 to 2024 from the Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis (via Open-Meteo), for the grid point over each market. Bars show the average daily low to high for each week of the season. Snow figures come from our Christmas market snow odds, which use 21 winters of weather-station records.

2026 season

When they’re open

One bulb for every day of the season. It’s lit when the market is trading. Tap any bulb, or pick a date, to see who’s open.

Budapest runs Nov 13 to Jan 1, Prague runs Nov 28 to Jan 6.Pick a day to check it.

Budapest
Tue Nov 10: closedWed Nov 11: closedThu Nov 12: closedFri Nov 13: openSat Nov 14: openSun Nov 15: openMon Nov 16: openTue Nov 17: openWed Nov 18: openThu Nov 19: openFri Nov 20: openSat Nov 21: openSun Nov 22: openMon Nov 23: openTue Nov 24: openWed Nov 25: openThu Nov 26: openFri Nov 27: openSat Nov 28: openSun Nov 29: openMon Nov 30: openTue Dec 1: openWed Dec 2: openThu Dec 3: openFri Dec 4: openSat Dec 5: openSun Dec 6: openMon Dec 7: openTue Dec 8: openWed Dec 9: openThu Dec 10: openFri Dec 11: openSat Dec 12: openSun Dec 13: openMon Dec 14: openTue Dec 15: openWed Dec 16: openThu Dec 17: openFri Dec 18: openSat Dec 19: openSun Dec 20: openMon Dec 21: openTue Dec 22: openWed Dec 23: openThu Dec 24: openFri Dec 25: openSat Dec 26: openSun Dec 27: openMon Dec 28: openTue Dec 29: openWed Dec 30: openThu Dec 31: openFri Jan 1: openSat Jan 2: closedSun Jan 3: closedMon Jan 4: closedTue Jan 5: closedWed Jan 6: closedThu Jan 7: closedFri Jan 8: closedSat Jan 9: closedSun Jan 10: closed
Prague
Tue Nov 10: closedWed Nov 11: closedThu Nov 12: closedFri Nov 13: closedSat Nov 14: closedSun Nov 15: closedMon Nov 16: closedTue Nov 17: closedWed Nov 18: closedThu Nov 19: closedFri Nov 20: closedSat Nov 21: closedSun Nov 22: closedMon Nov 23: closedTue Nov 24: closedWed Nov 25: closedThu Nov 26: closedFri Nov 27: closedSat Nov 28: openSun Nov 29: openMon Nov 30: openTue Dec 1: openWed Dec 2: openThu Dec 3: openFri Dec 4: openSat Dec 5: openSun Dec 6: openMon Dec 7: openTue Dec 8: openWed Dec 9: openThu Dec 10: openFri Dec 11: openSat Dec 12: openSun Dec 13: openMon Dec 14: openTue Dec 15: openWed Dec 16: openThu Dec 17: openFri Dec 18: openSat Dec 19: openSun Dec 20: openMon Dec 21: openTue Dec 22: openWed Dec 23: openThu Dec 24: openFri Dec 25: openSat Dec 26: openSun Dec 27: openMon Dec 28: openTue Dec 29: openWed Dec 30: openThu Dec 31: openFri Jan 1: openSat Jan 2: openSun Jan 3: openMon Jan 4: openTue Jan 5: openWed Jan 6: openThu Jan 7: closedFri Jan 8: closedSat Jan 9: closedSun Jan 10: closed
Nov 10DecJanChristmas
Budapest
Prague
Christmas Eve
Vörösmarty 10:00–14:00 · Bazilika 11:00–15:00
10:00–22:00
Christmas Day
Vörösmarty 12:00–18:00 · Bazilika 11:00–20:00
10:00–22:00

Side by side

The practical bits

Straight from our market pages. Check the guide before you travel, because hours can change once the organisers publish them.

Budapest
Prague
Season
Nov 13 to Jan 1
Nov 28 to Jan 6
Opening hours
Sunday to Thursday 11:00–21:00/22:00 · Friday to Saturday 11:00–22:00/23:00 (Vörösmarty/Bazilika, 2026)
10:00–22:00
Entry
Free
Free
Size
Large
Large
First held
c. 1998
Not recorded
Country
Hungary
Czech Republic

Got time for two?

Can you do both?

444 km276 miles as the crow flies

These are a long way apart. Doing both means a full travel day or a night train, so most people pick one.

By train

Getting between them

We haven’t timed the trains between Budapest and Prague yet. The getting-there section of each guide covers the main routes in.

Read more

The full guides