Cologne

Travel firms including Love Holidays, Wowcher, TUI and Shearings are offering package trips to Christmas market destinations including Prague, Cologne and Krakow

It may not yet be Halloween, but now is the time to book a Christmas market break.

Across Europe, there are a whole host of fantastic festive markets that are excellent spots to soak up the seasonal atmosphere, get in the merry mindset, and bag some gifts for the big day.

Some of the UK’s biggest travel companies are offering bargain package deals that include transport to the Christmas capitals in question as well as accomodation while you’re there.

Places on some of them are limited, and the deals only run for a limited amount of time on others. So while it may feel a little early to get in the Christmas spirit, now is the time to start booking. Check out our selection below.

Krakow

As part of their Winter 25/26 Christmas Markets programme, Jet2.com and Jet2CityBreaks are offering flights and trips from London Stansted Airport to Kraków for the first time, where customers can indulge in festive Polish cuisine.

With twice-weekly flights (Thursday and Sunday) available from 27 November to 21 December 2025, Kraków is a great destination for those looking to enjoy a long weekend exploring the delights of the city’s festive markets and local treats.

The city is an undiscovered foodie paradise, with centuries-old history forming a winter wonderland backdrop for a vibrant and delicious culinary scene. From hearty stews and spiced mulled wine to sweet gingerbread treats and artisan cheeses, Kraków’s Christmas markets are a food lover’s paradise. Holidaymakers can wander through the iconic Rynek Główny, where the scent of roasting chestnuts, sizzling kiełbasa sausages, and freshly baked pierogi fills the crisp air.

Customers booking a Kraków Christmas markets getaway can choose from a flight-only option with Jet2.com or an ATOL-protected package holiday with Jet2CityBreaks, available for only a £60 per person deposit. Package options with Jet2CityBreaks include flights with Jet2.com, giving holidaymakers 22kg hold luggage and 10kg cabin luggage, as well as a choice of 2-5-star hotels.

Cologne and Düsseldorf

If you love a Christmas market, but prefer not to fly, then Shearings may be the perfect tour operator for you. Book a trip and then get ready to jingle all the way into the festive season with a Christmas market coach holiday.

Shearings offers trips to iconic European Christmas markets including Luxembourg and Salzburg, but it’s Cologne and Düsseldorf that really catch the eye.

From the multiple markets of Cologne to the gingerbread houses of Düsseldorf, there is plenty to get you in the festive mood with pretty little stalls offering unique handcrafted gifts and plenty of mulled wine to keep the winter chills at bay.

Right now Shearings is offering a four-day trip to the two festive cities from £389 per person.

Berlin

Germany is arguably the home of the Christmas market as we know it, and its capital is teeming with a variety of excellent festive spots. Among its best known is the famous and elegant WeihnachtsZauber Gendarmenmarkt, the traditional and bustling Alexanderplatz market with its Ferris wheel and ice rink, and the historic, artisan-focused market at Breitscheidplatz.

TUI is offering breaks to The Riu Plaza, which is within walking distance of the capital’s premier shopping avenue. This up-to-date, glass-fronted hotel’s in a prime position for shopaholics. It’s just a five-minute stroll to Germany’s biggest department store, and a further five minutes’ walk to Berlin’s best shopping street – the Kurfürstendamm – which is jam-packed with big-name brands and designer stores.

A two night stay in the hotel is on offer now for £382 per person, with flights from the UK included.

Prague

If Germany doesn’t grab the top spot in the festive market rankings, then it’ll be Czechia. Specifically, Prague.

The enchanting capital beckons holidaymakers with its fairytale charm and rich tapestry of experiences. Straddling the Vltava River, this city of a hundred spires casts a spell that captivates history buffs, art enthusiasts and night owls alike.

You can wander through the labyrinthine cobblestone streets of Old Town, where Gothic towers and Baroque façades tell tales of centuries past. The astronomical clock, a medieval marvel, still ticks away, drawing crowds with its hourly spectacle. Across the iconic Charles Bridge, Prague Castle looms large – a thousand-year-old fortress that once housed Holy Roman Emperors and now stands as a testament to Czech resilience.

Love Holidays has a whole host of Prague breaks on offer for the festive period, with hotel stays and flights from the UK included in packages that cost as little as £139 per person.

Mystery market

If you like to combine a taste for living life on the edge and Christmas markets, then Wowcher is your place.

Right now it is offering a Christmas Market Mystery Holiday with flights and a hotel stay at one of 80 worldwide potential destinations for the 2025 festive season. You can choose the travel dates that work best for you, but where you’ll be going is in the hands of the gods/Wowcher.

Destinations including New York, Chicago, Washington, Toronto, Salzburg, Cologne, Copenhagen, Bruges, Amsterdam, Tallinn and Rome are on the list of possibilities. During your getaway, you’ll slumber down in 3*+ accommodation, each with its own private room and en suite.

The deal is live until October 26.

June 4 (UPI) — More than 20,000 people in Germany were evacuated as authorities worked Wednesday to defuse three huge unexploded bombs from World War II at a construction site in the center of the city.

A major incident was declared due to the danger from the bombs — two 2,200 lb devices and one of 1,100 lbs — with police making checks door-to-door in the Old Town and Deutz areas of Cologne after 20,500 people were ordered to leave and businesses, tourist attractions and stations were shuttered, the city said in a news release.

The 1,100-yard-wide exclusion zone covers the city’s UNESCO-listed 13th-century cathedral, 58 hotels, parts of the subway system, at least nine schools, day care centers, two retirement homes, a hospital, as well as city hall and many other sites.

“The evacuation is the largest measure since the end of the Second World War. Everyone involved hopes that the defusing can be completed in the course of Wednesday,” city authorities said.

“This is only possible if all those affected leave their homes or workplaces early and stay outside the evacuation area from the outset on that day. We ask you to be cooperative and follow our instructions so that the evacuation and defusing can proceed quickly and without danger.”

Officials told Sky News the measures could remain in force for some time if the effort to defuse the devices was unsuccessful and it became necessary to detonate them, as that would require a major operation to contain the blast.

All three bombs are American-made, but likely dropped by the Royal Air Force, which dropped around 1.5 million bombs in raids on Cologne between 1940 and 1945, some of them with as many as 1,000 aircraft, launched from bases in eastern England.

However, as many as 300,000 of the bombs did not explode, according to experts, causing frequent scares when they turn up during construction projects or in dredging of the River Rhine, which runs through the heart of the city.

Last year alone, more than 30 were discovered, forcing 17 evacuations affecting 36,000 people. The bombs were among around 2,000 that are found across Germany each year, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.

In 2021, four people were injured in Munich when a World War II bomb exploded during construction work near the main train station and more than 65,000 people were evacuated in Frankfurt in 2017 after a “Blockbuster” 1.4-ton British bomb was found near Goethe University. That device was safely defused.

German bombs are frequently discovered in Britain, which was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe between 1940 and 1941 and in 1944, most recently last year when 10,000 people were evacuated after a large bomb was found in the yard of a suburban property in Plymouth.

Naval and army bomb disposal officers extracted the device and took it out to sea, where it was detonated.