Cologne Christmas Markets: From the Cathedral Light Tent to the Rhine

You are on the Roncalliplatz, on the south side of Cologne Cathedral, in the middle of the Christmas market that Cologne calls the Market of Hearts. In the centre of the square stands a 25-metre grand fir, a Küstentanne, which the city describes as one of the tallest natural Christmas trees in North Rhine-Westphalia. From the tree a light tent runs out across the stalls, with about 50,000 LEDs. There are more than 120 stands; the city page says up to 140. Under the tent there is a stage with a free daily programme. The city estimates about four million visits here in a season. Dates change every year. This season the market runs from 16 November to 23 December 2026. It is open Sunday to Wednesday from 11:00 to 21:00, Thursday and Friday from 11:00 to 22:00, and Saturday from 10:00 to 22:00, and it is closed on Totensonntag, 22 November. Take a few steps closer to the south wall of the cathedral and look up at the two towers.

The two towers above the market are 157 metres high. When they were finished, in 1880, this was the tallest building in the world for four years. Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden laid the foundation stone on 15 August 1248, but work on the south tower, the one nearer the river, stopped in the 15th century, and for about four hundred years a wooden building crane stood on the stump. That crane is the model for the replica you will see at the next stop. The cathedral has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. This walk stays outside, among the stalls. If you want to go in, a tourist visit has cost 12 euros since July 2026; services and prayer remain free. Recheck the fee at the ticket office on the square, because it can change. Walk west off the square into the street called Am Hof, towards number 23, on your right as you leave the market. In 2026 a small new market stands there, under a wooden crane.

This short street between the cathedral and the Old Town is Am Hof. In 2026 a new market has opened here at number 23, beside the Kurienhaus, under the name Im Lichte des Doms. Its backdrop is a wooden replica of the old cathedral crane, about 15 metres high. The organiser has set out 12 food stalls, a large Glühwein stand and Feuerzangenbowle. Dates change every year, and this market does not open with the cathedral market. This season it runs from 23 November 2026 to 6 January 2027, daily from 10:00 to 23:00, until 14:00 on Christmas Eve, and it is closed on 25 and 26 December. Until 23 November you are simply on Am Hof. A few steps west along the same street stands the Heinzelmännchen fountain. In the Cologne legend those little helpers did the city's work while people slept, and the Old Town market ahead is named after them. Continue south along Am Hof, then follow Unter Taschenmacher towards the town hall tower.

The tower in front of you belongs to Cologne's historic town hall. The building has a documented history of more than 800 years. The tower itself went up between 1407 and 1414 and is 61 metres high. The ornate porch on this side is the Renaissance Laube, built from 1569 to 1573. Around the square, the MiQua archaeological museum is still a building site; it is due to open in 2029, so you may have to walk around the fencing. From here the lanes drop into the Alter Markt, where Heinzels Wintermärchen sets up its first square of stalls. That market opens later than the one at the cathedral. This season Heinzels begins on 23 November. Walk out onto the Alter Markt and stop by the fountain with the rider in the middle of the square.

This is the Alter Markt, and in Advent it becomes one half of Heinzels Wintermärchen, named for the Heinzelmännchen. The rider on the fountain is Jan von Werth. When the market is up, more than 100 stalls spread across this square and the Heumarkt, a short walk south, in themed lanes for crafts, sweets and food. On this square the emphasis is on craft: some of the glass and pottery is made at the stall. Dates change every year. This season the Alter Markt stalls run from 23 November to 23 December 2026, daily from 11:00 to 22:00. They do not stay open after Christmas; that is the Heumarkt's job. Until 23 November this is the old market square without the lanes. Walk east through the lanes towards the Romanesque tower of Groß St. Martin, and stand on the Fischmarkt, facing the east end of the church.

Groß St. Martin is one of Cologne's twelve large Romanesque churches. It stands on what was once an island in the Rhine, over the foundations of Roman storehouses. The crossing tower is the one you saw as you left the Alter Markt. The church was badly damaged in the air raids of 1942 and 1943, and it was reopened in 1985. Heinzels does not fill this little square in the same way as the two marketplaces, but the church sits between them, and from here the walk turns south towards the ice. If the stalls are up, you can already hear the Heumarkt from the lanes behind you. Walk south along Salzgasse to the Heumarkt and stand on the north side of the square, looking towards the ice and the equestrian statue.

The Heumarkt is the second square of Heinzels Wintermärchen, and the one with the ice. The city gives the ice landscape 1,800 square metres, with paths across the square, lanes for ice stock, and a bridge over the ice. The rink is laid around the equestrian statue of Friedrich Wilhelm the Third, and it is ticketed. It usually closes a little earlier than the stalls. Dates change every year. This season the Heumarkt market runs from 23 November 2026 to 10 January 2027, daily from 11:00 to 22:00, and from 11:00 to 21:00 from 26 December. It is closed on the 24th and 25th of December. The ice follows the same dates. Until 23 November you are on the open square. From the south side of the Heumarkt, follow the Rhine upstream, with the water on your left, for about ten minutes to the Chocolate Museum. The harbour market stands on the plaza in front of it.

This is the harbour Christmas market, on the plaza in front of the Chocolate Museum, between the Rhine and the old harbour basin. At the entrance stand the Malakoffturm and the little swing bridge. This year the organiser has put up about 70 wooden huts, and a Ferris wheel that it gives as 48 metres high. Dates change every year. This season the market runs from 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. It is open Sunday to Thursday from 11:00 to 21:00, and Friday and Saturday from 11:00 to 22:00. On Volkstrauertag, 15 November, it opens at 13:00, and on Totensonntag, 22 November, at 18:00. It is closed on 24 and 25 December, and on New Year's Eve it closes at 20:00. The Chocolate Museum stands beside the stalls if you want to go in; check its own hours. This is the end of the recorded walk. The main station is about 20 minutes back on foot, or take bus 133 from the Schokoladenmuseum stop.