Bonn is often overlooked in favor of Cologne during Christmas market season, but this lovely city is worth adding to your bucket list! Here’s a detailed guide to Bonn’s Christmas market, including an honest review of the market and practical info for planning your visit.
This post contains affiliate links, from which we may receive a commission. You can read our full affiliate disclosure here.
Bonn has much to recommend itself to travelers. As a former Roman settlement and the former capital of West Germany, the city has a particularly rich and fascinating history. As Beethoven’s birthplace, it’s one of the top destinations in Germany for classical music lovers. Oh, and who can forget that Bonn is the birthplace of Haribo gummy bears?
As you can see, Bonn has lots going for it — but it’s not particularly well known for its Christmas market. Instead, neighboring cities like Cologne and Aachen are the top picks for travelers coming to visit the German Christmas markets.
My goal with this guide is to highlight the wonderful Christmas market in Bonn and show that it’s absolutely worth visiting if you’re in western Germany during Advent. I’ve included my honest review of Bonn’s Christmas market, plus useful information like dates and opening hours to make planning your trip easier.
Happy Advent! Claire
Bonn Christmas Market 2025 Dates, Location & Hours
📆 Dates: November 21 – December 23, 2025 (Closed November 23rd for Totensonntag / Sunday of the Dead)
📌 Locations: The main part of the market is at Münsterplatz, with additional stalls at Bottlerplatz, Friedensplatz, and Remigiusplatz, plus stalls running along Windeckstraße, Vivatsgasse, and Poststraße. (See map below)
⏰ Opening hours: Stalls open 11am – 9pm daily, with food vendors open until 9:30pm (10:30pm Fridays and Saturdays)
Map Showing Where the Stalls Are
My Honest Review of the Bonn Christmas Market
Bonn’s Christmas Market (Bonner Weihnachtsmarkt) takes up the better part of the Old Town come December, so it feels like you’re stepping into a Christmas village rather than the city center. It’s a traditional German Christmas market with a wide variety of foods, drinks, and handicrafts for sale.
The Christmas market in Bonn boasts around 160 stalls selling wares such as sheepskin products, beeswax candles (including a few stalls where you can see them make the candles by hand!), jewelry, gingerbread hearts, and so much more.
What I love about Bonn’s Christmas market is that it’s fairly large, but split into a few different sections so there’s room for you to wander around, experience different backdrops throughout the city center, and escape the crowds as needed. If you’re in Bonn specifically to visit the Christmas market, you can easily spend a few hours here perusing the stalls, trying different Christmas market foods, and chatting with friends.
The heart of the market is at Münsterplatz, with quieter offshoots to be found at Bottlerplatz and Friedensplatz, and a few additional side streets throughout the city center. Bottlerplatz is particularly photogenic with the Sterntor (gate) providing a romantic backdrop against the rustic wooden huts of the Christmas market.
Friedensplatz is a hidden gem that’s especially good for finding gifts. I loved all of the woven baskets and beeswax candles on display! I also saw someone making beeswax taper candles by hand at Friedensplatz, and the woman was happy to chat with any visitors to her stall about the candle-making process.
Additional star features of the Bonn Christmas market are the large Ferris wheel and the massive Christmas pyramid where you can buy Glühwein. One of the many reasons I love the German Christmas markets in general is that even the most practical of stalls — like a Glühwein stand! — have been designed with festive cheer in mind.
All of the stalls at the Bonn Christmas market are beautiful and photogenic, I’ve never seen such attention to detail at any other seasonal fair or market!
Claire’s Tip: Even the streets in the city center that don’t contain any Christmas market stalls are lit up for the holidays! Sternstraße was my particular favorite, especially at night.
Visiting Bonn After Christmas? The Three Kings Market Will Still Be Open!
📆 Dates: December 27, 2025 – January 6, 2026 (closed January 1st)
📌 Location: Remigiusplatz
⏰ Opening hours: Sunday – Thursday 11am to 8pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 9pm
There’s a small Christmas market in Bonn that’s open during those lazy days between Christmas and New Year’s, called the Three Kings Market (Dreikönigsmarkt).
It has just a handful of stalls selling mulled wine, fries, and bratwurst. It’s really just a festive hangout spot for grabbing a quick bite or chatting with friends over a hot drink. There are no shopping options, just a few foods and drinks!
Claire’s Tip: The Three Kings Market also has a big light-up Christmas ornament that makes a great backdrop for photos.
Regional Foods and Drinks to Try
Yet another reason to visit the Christmas market in Bonn, Germany is the food. Oh my word, the food here is SO good! Some regional foods and drinks worth trying include:
- “Winzerglühwein” aka Vintner’s Mulled Wine — Bonn lies on the banks of the Rhine River, just north of the Rheingau wine region. Anything labeled as “Winzerglühwein” indicates that it’s a higher quality mulled wine created with local wines.
- Bönnsch Beer — Bonn’s local beer is served on tap at most of the drink stands and is a refreshing alternative to mulled wine. It’s fairly mild, with a slightly yeasty flavor.
- Sauerbraten — This is a common dish you’ll find all over Germany made by marinated beef or pork for several days with a blend of wine, spices, and vinegar. It’s fall-apart tender and normally a little tangy, but the Rheinisch version (i.e. the region Bonn is part of) is sweeter. Bonn’s local sauerbraten used to be made from horse meat, but those days are thankfully behind us.
I also had the best Flammlachs (flame-grilled salmon) of my life at the Bonn Christmas market, and the Lebkuchen (gingerbread) stalls were some of the most elaborately decorated I’ve seen!
🍪 25+ Foods and Drinks to Try at a German Christmas Market 🎄
Practical Tips for Your Visit
- Great regional day trip: You don’t need to stay overnight in Bonn to see its Christmas market and the top attractions in the city! It’s a particularly quick and easy day trip from Aachen, Cologne, and Düsseldorf, and you can reach Bonn easily using just the local train network.
- Arrival time: If taking public transportation, try to arrive in Bonn around 11am or earlier to make the most of the short daylight hours for your sightseeing.
- Time needed: Half a day at this Christmas market would be perfect. You can spend the morning and afternoon sightseeing in Bonn, then head to the market in the late afternoon and spend your evening in the festive ambience.
- Want to collect the mugs? At every German Christmas market, you pay a deposit (called Pfand) on the hot drink mugs, typically 1 to 4 Euros. You can return the mug to get your deposit back OR keep it as a super cheap, super festive souvenir.
⭐️ A Local’s Tips for Planning a German Christmas Market Trip 🎅
My Top Hotel Recommendations
You’ll definitely want to book a hotel in the city center or near the central train station so you can walk straight out the door and to the market. Some hotels I can recommend include:
Additional Christmas Markets Near Bonn
I haven’t been to all of the ones listed below, but here are additional Christmas markets in the immediate area should you need additional ideas for your itinerary.
- Siegburg Medieval Market — Travel back to Ye Olde Germany at this themed Christmas market that’s roughly 30 minutes from Bonn.
- Ahrweiler Christmas Market — Supposed to have a very romantic atmosphere. (About 1 hour from Bonn)
- St. Nicholas Market in Bad Godesberg — Another traditional Christmas market about 15 minutes outside of Bonn’s city center.
- Cologne Christmas Markets — Just 20 minutes away via high-speed train you’ll find some of the best Christmas markets in western Germany!
Is Bonn’s Christmas Market Worth Visiting? Final Thoughts
Bonn is a lesser-known Christmas market destination in Germany, but hopefully this guide has convinced you to visit!
It doesn’t have quite the same pizzazz as the bigger markets in Nuremberg and Dresden, but if you’re looking for a lesser-known (and less crowded!) Christmas market, then I think Bonn is worth adding to your itinerary — especially if you’ll already be visiting the Christmas markets in Aachen, Cologne, or Frankfurt am Main!
And if you’re someone who’s visited lots of Christmas markets and / or who lives in Germany like I do and enjoys visiting new places, then Bonn is absolutely worth visiting at Christmas.
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram to keep up with my daily adventures in Berlin and beyond!
Leave A Reply!