A Christmas market weekend is one of the easiest group trips to plan. Flights are short, the cities are compact, and the whole point is to wander from stall to stall with a hot drink in your hand. It's more fun with friends than on your own, too: someone always finds the best mulled wine stall, someone else finds the bar for afterwards.
This guide covers four of the best Christmas markets in Europe for a group: Prague, Vienna, Krakow and Budapest. For each one you'll find when the markets run, what to eat and drink, and the things to do together when you need a break from the cold.
We picked these experiences ourselves for how well they work for groups. If you book through our links, Cino earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Most of Europe's Christmas markets open in mid to late November and run until Christmas or early January. Weekdays and the first two weeks of December are quieter than the weekends just before Christmas. Hours are shorter on 24, 25 and 31 December, and some markets close on Christmas Eve, so avoid planning your main market night then.
December is cold in all four cities, with average highs of around 1 to 4°C and nights below freezing. Pack proper layers, gloves and shoes you can stand in for hours.
Prague's biggest market is on Old Town Square, with a huge tree in front of the Gothic towers of the Týn Church. In 2026 it runs from 28 November to 6 January, alongside the market on Wenceslas Square. For something smaller and more local, the markets on Republic Square (from 25 November) and Peace Square in Vinohrady (from 20 November) both run until 24 December.
What to try: svařák (Czech mulled wine), hot mead (medovina), roast ham, sausages, roasted chestnuts and trdelník, the sweet rolled pastry you'll smell before you see. Mulled wine usually comes in a mug with a small refundable deposit, so return it or keep it as a souvenir.
Do a historic pubs tour. Prague's old pubs are part of the city's story, and the Prague historic pubs tour with drinks takes you through several of them in one evening, with drinks included. It runs in all weather, which matters in December.
Learn what makes Czech beer so good. The Czech beer-tasting experience with snacks is short, cheap and a good warm-up for a night out, with a private option for your group. On a budget, the Pilsner Urquell Experience and beer tasting is an easy indoor stop on a cold afternoon.
Cruise the Vltava with live jazz. The Prague jazz boat cruise is a warm, seated evening on the river with the city lit up around you, and you can add a meal.
See Prague Castle with a guide. If the group wants one proper sight, the Prague Castle tour with a local guide and entry ticket covers it in two and a half hours, with tickets sorted.
Try a beer spa. It sounds strange and it's exactly the kind of thing you'll talk about afterwards. The Caroline Bernard Beer Spa is priced per tub for two people, so pair up and book a few tubs at the same time.
Vienna has more Christmas markets than any other city on this list, and they start early. The big one is the Viennese Christmas Market on Rathausplatz in front of the city hall, open from 13 November to 26 December in 2026, with an ice rink on the same square until 6 January. The market at Schönbrunn Palace runs the longest, from 6 November to 6 January. Spittelberg, in a quarter of narrow lanes, is smaller and more crafty, and runs until 23 December.
What to try: Punsch, the fruity hot punch that's more popular than mulled wine here (Kinderpunsch is the alcohol-free version), Glühwein, roasted chestnuts, baked apples and Lebkuchen gingerbread. Drinks come in a mug with a deposit: return it to get your money back, or keep it as a souvenir.
Tour Schönbrunn Palace, then its Christmas market. The skip-the-line Schönbrunn Palace and gardens tour is one of the most popular things to do in Vienna, and from 8 November to 6 January it swaps the gardens for a visit to the Christmas market outside the palace.
Go to a Christmas concert. The Christmas and New Year's concert in St. Peter's Church is an hour of festive classical music in a baroque church in the centre, so it fits easily between markets.
Graze the Naschmarkt. The Naschmarkt food tasting tour takes you through Vienna's best-known food market with tastings along the way, and runs in all weather.
Book a proper Viennese dinner. For one sit-down group meal, the Austrian culinary experience at Restaurant Stefanie serves the classics in one of the city's historic restaurants.
Visit the wineries outside the city. The half-day countryside wine tour from Vienna visits family wineries and includes a meal and pickup, a relaxed half day away from the crowds.
Krakow puts its Christmas market on Rynek Główny, the Main Market Square, one of the largest medieval squares in Europe. Over a hundred wooden stalls fill the square around the Cloth Hall. The market usually opens in late November and runs until 1 January; check the city's official dates before you book.
What to try: grzaniec (mulled wine), oscypek (smoked mountain cheese, grilled and served with cranberry), pierogi, grilled sausages, żurek soup and gingerbread. Krakow is also the cheapest city on this list, so the round of drinks is easier on everyone.
Do a vodka tasting. The Krakow vodka tasting tour with tapas takes you to hidden bars to try Polish vodkas with small plates, which is a great way to start a night out.
Eat your way through Polish food. The tipsy Polish food tour with pierogi and shots is cheap, lively and very well reviewed.
Go underground at the Wieliczka Salt Mine. The salt mine is Krakow's best-known day trip and, being underground, it doesn't matter what the weather is doing. The Wieliczka Salt Mine tour with hotel pickup includes the guide and transport.
Soak in mountain hot springs. In winter, the day trip to Zakopane in the Tatra mountains is the highlight for a lot of groups: snow, a cable car and then outdoor thermal pools. The Zakopane tour with thermal springs, cable car and local tasting is great value. For more adrenaline, the snowmobile, Zakopane and Chochołowskie Baths trip adds a snowmobile ride before the pools (it switches to quads if there isn't enough snow).
Hear the city's ghost stories. The Creepy Krakow walking tour runs after dark and takes two hours, so you're done in time for dinner.
Budapest has two main markets. Advent Bazilika on St Stephen's Square in front of the basilica runs from 13 November 2026 to 1 January. The market on Vörösmarty Square, in the heart of the old centre, runs from mid-November to the end of December.
What to try: forralt bor (mulled wine), kürtőskalács (chimney cake, a spiral of sweet dough baked on a spit), lángos (fried dough with sour cream and cheese), strudel and Hungarian stews. The Basilica market also serves Hungarian wines by the glass.
Spend an afternoon in the thermal baths. Sitting in steaming outdoor pools while it's freezing around you is the Budapest group experience. The Széchenyi Spa ticket with optional upgrades gets you in for the day. It's busiest at weekends, so go on a weekday if you can.
Start with a food walk. The Budapest food walking tour is a good first-day plan: tastings, drinks and a feel for the city.
Taste Hungarian wine. The wine, cheese and charcuterie tasting is a cosy hour and a half, usually in the late afternoon, which fits nicely before a night out.
See the Parliament lit up from the river. The Danube at night is one of the great city views in Europe. The 4-course dinner river cruise with live folk music is the warm, seated option. For something livelier, the unlimited prosecco, beer and spritz cruise has tens of thousands of reviews. Pick a slot after dark.
End the night in the ruin bars. Budapest's ruin bars, set up in old courtyards and abandoned buildings, are a big part of why groups love the city. The Budapest pub crawl and ruin bar tour takes care of the route, shots and club entry.
These cities are close enough to combine. Vienna to Budapest is about two hours and forty minutes by train, with departures every hour, which makes it the easiest pairing. Prague to Vienna is around four hours. Prague to Krakow takes around six hours on a direct train, or you can take the night train.
All four cities have good public transport from the airport:
A Christmas market trip is a hundred small payments: a round of mulled wine here, a chimney cake there, entry to the baths, a taxi back. Nobody wants to keep a tab, so one person ends up paying for most of it and chasing everyone afterwards, often in three different currencies.
Cino fixes that at the moment you pay. It's a shared card for your group: you set how the cost is split, pay with the Cino card, and each person is charged only their share, instantly. Nobody fronts the bill and nobody has to work out who owes what on the flight home.
Planning a trip with friends? Get Cino at getcino.com.
Prague, Vienna, Krakow and Budapest are among the best for groups. They're easy to reach, affordable, and full of things to do together beyond the markets themselves, from beer tastings to thermal baths.
Most open between early and late November and run until Christmas or early January. In 2026, Vienna's markets open from 6 November, Budapest's from 13 November and Prague's main market from 28 November.
Krakow is usually the cheapest of the four for food, drinks and accommodation, followed by Budapest and Prague. Vienna is the most expensive.
Yes. Vienna and Budapest are about two hours and forty minutes apart by train, so a long weekend split between the two works well.
The simplest way is to pay together with a shared card like Cino, which charges each person their share at the moment of payment. Nobody has to front the bill or chase payments later.
Pick your city, book one or two things to do together, and leave the rest of the time for wandering the stalls. And if the group is already talking about summer, our guides to the Amalfi Coast with friends and a Sardinia group trip are a good place to start.
Before anyone offers to "just pay and sort it out later": get Cino and pay together from day one.
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