Christmas markets in Europe: how to get there from Madrid and Barcelona

Search Google for “the most beautiful Christmas markets in Europe” and dozens of almost identical lists appear: Vienna, Prague, Strasbourg, Bruges, Nuremberg… And there’s a reason for that.

But we’re not going to tell you all over again about the lights, wooden stalls and mulled wine. You already know about those.

What those lists don’t always explain is how to actually get there: which airport makes sense for you, what happens after you land, whether there’s a direct train, how many connections you’ll need or when a cheaper flight can turn out to be the least practical option.

So we’ve done the less photogenic part of the trip for you. And if you’re leaving from Madrid or Barcelona, at least the first step can be sorted in advance: booking somewhere to leave your car with aparca&go before getting started with airports, stations and connections.

Right, then: let’s head to the markets.

Vienna: easy to reach, but choose your route into the city carefully

Vienna is one of the straightforward options on this list. There are regular direct flights from Madrid and Barcelona and, once you land, several ways to get into the centre without too much head-scratching.

The difference comes down to which station suits you best. Railjet connects the airport with Wien Hauptbahnhof in around 15 minutes and usually runs every half hour. The S7 takes about 25 minutes to Wien Mitte, also running roughly every 30 minutes. And the City Airport Train (CAT) makes the journey to Wien Mitte in around 16 minutes.

Our advice? Don’t automatically choose the fastest option. First check where your hotel is or which market you want to visit. If you’re staying near the Hauptbahnhof, Railjet makes a lot of sense; if you’re heading towards the historic centre, Wien Mitte may be a better fit.

And one last tip: check train timetables shortly before you travel. Vienna has had engineering works and temporary changes to its airport connections, so five minutes of checking before you leave can save you a fair bit of improvising when you land.

Prague: easy to fly to, but don’t expect a train at the terminal

Prague also has good connections with Madrid and Barcelona, but there’s one detail worth knowing before you land: the airport has no direct train or metro to the centre.

The most common public transport option is trolleybus 59 to Nádraží Veleslavín, a journey of around 15 minutes, followed by metro line A. Allow about half an hour in total to reach central areas if the connection works out.

If you have large suitcases or your next step is to catch a train, the Airport Express may suit you better: it runs directly to Praha hlavní nádraží, the main station, in approximately 40 minutes, although that depends on traffic.

The little trick here is to think about where you want to end up, not just how to leave the airport. For a hotel near a stop on metro line A, the 59 + metro combination usually makes the most sense. To continue by train or stay near the main station, the Airport Express saves you a change.

Strasbourg + Colmar: two markets in one trip

Strasbourg is one of those Christmas destinations that makes things fairly easy. Its airport is connected to the main station by a shuttle train that takes just around eight minutes and can run up to five times an hour.

In other words: you land, catch the train and, practically before you’ve had time to regret not bringing better gloves, you’re in the city.

But if you’ve already made it to Alsace, it’s worth looking a little further afield.

Colmar is around 70 kilometres from Strasbourg and also around 70 from EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg. That means the interesting question here isn’t just “how do I get there?”, but “which way in makes most sense for me?”

If you fly to Strasbourg, the TER train to Colmar takes around half an hour. If you find a better flight option into EuroAirport, that route is quite manageable too: from the terminal, you can connect to Saint-Louis and continue by train towards Colmar.

The lesson? Don’t just search for “flights to Colmar”, because there aren’t any. Compare the whole journey and see which airport suits you best depending on the day, price and timings. From Madrid, Strasbourg is usually a logical gateway; from Barcelona, Basel can give you plenty of options alongside Strasbourg, depending on your dates.

Because here, choosing the right airport can save you much more time than finding a flight that’s ten euros cheaper.

And once you’re in Colmar, you can keep exploring: there are connections from there to other wonderfully festive Alsatian villages such as Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé and Eguisheim. What started as “I’m going to see Strasbourg’s Christmas market” can turn into a little Christmas tour of Alsace.

An extra complication that, in this case, we do recommend.

Salzburg: watch the calendar, because the direct flight isn’t always there

Salzburg seems like the sort of destination where you look for a flight, buy the cheapest one and that’s that. Until you check the calendar.

That’s because the direct Barcelona–Salzburg connection is scheduled only for specific periods: around Christmas, it operates on Mondays and Fridays between 18 December and 4 January. Outside those dates, and especially if you’re leaving from Madrid, you’ll usually need to look at a connecting flight or consider another airport.

That’s where a very useful alternative comes in: Munich + train. Long-distance trains run between Munich and Salzburg every hour during the day. So before accepting an awkward flight connection, compare the whole journey via Munich: often, the time difference isn’t that great and you gain flexibility.

If you manage to fly directly to Salzburg, arriving is very easy. The airport is only around four kilometres from the centre, and trolleybus routes 2 and 10 take you towards the city in approximately 15–25 minutes.

The advice here is simple: check the day of the week first, then the price. For destinations with seasonal routes, shifting your break by 24 hours can completely change the logistics.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber: beautiful, yes; direct, not exactly

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is one of those markets that appears in every German Christmas round-up and, when you start looking for a flight, reveals a little catch: there’s no airport you can fly into and be there twenty minutes later.

The town is on the Romantic Road, and getting there by public transport takes a little more planning. The official recommendation is to take a train to Würzburg or Ansbach and, from there, continue by regional train via Steinach to Rothenburg. The station is then within walking distance of the old town.

Which airport should you look at from Madrid or Barcelona? Nuremberg is usually a logical choice because it’s nearby, but Munich and Frankfurt can offer much more frequent flights. And this is where the whole journey matters again: a cheap ticket to a major hub doesn’t always win if it then means stringing together several trains.

Our “watch out for this” tip matters here: if your flight lands late, check the final rail leg before booking it. The critical part of the itinerary usually isn’t getting to Germany; it’s getting that last regional train to line up.

Rothenburg is exactly the kind of destination where a flight comparison site tells you only half the story.

Bruges: before booking the cheap flight, check which Brussels you’re landing in

“I’ll fly to Brussels and then go to Bruges” sounds clear enough until two airports with very different setups enter the picture.

If you land at Brussels Airport (Zaventem), there’s a very handy advantage: the train station is beneath the terminal and there’s a direct train to Bruges every hour. If that doesn’t work for you, you can also head into Brussels and change there; approximately three trains an hour leave Bruxelles-Midi for Bruges, with a journey time of around an hour.

Charleroi is a different story. You’ll often find very tempting low-cost fares there, but it’s considerably further away. The good news is that there’s a direct shuttle to Bruges station, and Visit Bruges lists 24 daily services across both directions.

So we wouldn’t recommend comparing only “MAD-BRU” or “BCN-BRU”. Compare Zaventem and Charleroi with the transfer to Bruges included. Sometimes a flight to Zaventem that costs twenty euros more gets you to the market sooner; at other times, the Charleroi shuttle timetable makes the low-cost option the clear winner.

And one last detail: when you look for your train, the station you want is Brugge, not Brugge Sint-Pieters. From Brugge, you can walk to the historic centre.

The rule that works for everyone

After looking at all these destinations, there’s a conclusion that’s much more useful than ranking the markets.

Don’t just book the flight. Mentally book the whole journey before you pay: arrival airport, transfer into the centre, onward trains, frequency, last service of the day and the actual distance to where you want to stay.

Sometimes the best flight is the cheapest one. Sometimes it’s the one that lands at the right airport. And sometimes it’s the one that leaves on a different day and saves you a flight connection, a bus and two regional trains.

If you’re leaving from Madrid or Barcelona, we can simplify at least the first leg: getting the car sorted before you set off. For the rest, it’s time to take a good look at the map.

And bring gloves.