It’s no secret that Christmas markets are one of my favorite things about the winter months here in Deutschland. So when my folks came to visit last week, I was more than happy to show them around and use the opportunity to discover new markets. A Hanseatic city like Bremen and Hamburg, Lüneburg has long been on my list of places to visit in Germany. A small city of 72,000 residents, the old town is made up of gorgeous buildings that survived WWII and date all the way back to the 16th century. I found Lüneburg completely charming and she definitely won our hearts!
Arriving by regional train, our walk into the Altstadt took only a few minutes, and we started our visit at the Weihnachtsmarkt in the courtyard of Café NEWS on Schröderstraße. Billed as Germany’s “smallest and most romantic” Christmas market, we drank our first mugs of Glühwein in the cozy passageway decorated with trees and lights. Open until December 28th (closed on the 25th-26th), Monday-Friday after 2pm, Saturday-Sunday after 11am.
We then made our way to the Weihnachtsmarkt am Rathaus, where the gorgeous city hall made for a very picturesque backdrop. The market was smaller than I expected, but completely lovely. We circled through the market a number of times and enjoyed the changing scenery as the sun went down and the Christmas lights became brighter. Open until December 23rd, Monday-Saturday 10am-8pm, Sunday 11am-8pm.
Finally, we visited the Weihnachtsmarkt bei der St. Johannis- Kirche. In the courtyard in front of the church — which we toured earlier in the afternoon — they’ve created a little wonderland with a large wooden hut offering Glühwein and several smaller ones offering Wurst, Schmalzkuchen, Feuerzangenbowle, and other goodies. We branched out a bit and tried the Glühwein made with white wine — although we enjoyed it, the general consensus was that the traditional red mulled wine was still our favorite. From here, we walked back to the train station to catch our train home to Bremen. Open daily until December 23rd, 11am-9pm.
Overall, we had a really wonderful time during our visit of Lüneburg’s Christmas markets. The old town is definitely small enough to wander through on foot, the architecture is gorgeous and all lit up for Christmas, and we were able to linger and really explore every market we visited. The whole time I kept asking myself why I had never been to to Lüneburg before!
Have you visited Lüneburg? What are your favorite thing to see and do there?
Christmas Market Statistics 2014:
- Mugs of Glühwein: 3+
- Bag of Schmalzkuchen: 2
- Cost of fines for not traveling with the proper tickets: 40 Euros
Hey, you were in my city! Really nice pictures of the markets, and I am glad you enjoyed them!
I have been reading so many articles in the newspapers and such that the people here are not very happy with how the Christmas market has been developing here (more and more stalls packing into the little Marktplatz in front of the Rathaus), but I also love the smaller markets we have like News and the one at the Johanniskirche.
Too bad you didn’t visit this past weekend, as you could have also visited our Medieval Weihnachtsmarkt, which is pretty cool because there is no electricity (only candles) and all the stalls only sell handmade goods.
Yes! I’m kicking myself that I didn’t contact you ahead of time to get some insider tips, but with all the excitement related to my parents’ visit, it totally slipped my mind until we were actually already there. But I’ll be back, I know that for sure!
I actually found that market at the Rathaus to be a really wonderful size — not so crowded like the bigger cities can get, but still a lot of variety. I wish it would have worked to have gone to the Medieval market, but we also traveled to Worpswede that weekend, so the timing was off. Bremen has something similar and it’s always such a nice change from the typical Christmas market flair.
Hope you’re enjoying the Advent season, and safe travels back to the US for Christmas!
I’ve only been to Lüneburg (and Lüneburger Heide) in summer or fall so far.
I didn’t know that it has such a wonderful Christmas Market.
So I think, I should visit the city in December next year …
Great article and pictures!
Greetings from South Westphalia
Christoph
Hi Christoph, Thanks for your comment. I can highly recommend Lüneburg during the Christmas season!
One of my best friends grew up in Lüneburg. I haven’t visited though, so these pictures are fascinating.
Steven, it’s nice to hear from you. I hope you’re enjoying your transition back to the US. Next time you’re in Germany, definitely make a stop over in Lüneburg!
Gorgeous photos (and like the blog revamp, too!). I haven’t been to Lüneberg but it looks really lovely – though, I suppose, where doesn’t look lovely with a load of twinkling lights thrown on it?! :)
My thoughts exactly! But it doesn’t hurt when you have a storybook little city to go along with the Christmas lights.