York’s Christmas market opens on Thursday, November 12 — with a new rule that will catch visitors out: it is closed every Tuesday. The St Nicholas Fair runs from Thursday, November 12, to Monday, December 21, on Parliament Street and St Sampson’s Square, with free entry and 75 alpine chalets. The Tuesday closure is new for 2026 — a rest day for traders — and the hours are 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Wednesday to Monday, according to LNER, Rich Travel Magazine and TransPennine Express. Anyone planning a Tuesday visit will find the chalets shut. Edinburgh follows on Saturday, November 14. Its Christmas market runs from Saturday, November 14, 2026, to Sunday, January 3, 2027, in East Princes Street Gardens, with about 70 stalls, free entry and rides ticketed, closed on Christmas Day, with hours of about 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The markets already open
Britain’s Christmas markets are already trading. Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market opened on Thursday, November 5, and runs to Thursday, December 24, across Victoria Square and New Street, with free entry. It is the largest German market outside Germany and Austria. Manchester’s Christmas Markets opened on Friday, November 6, and run to Tuesday, December 22, with more than 210 stalls across ten locations in the city centre, including a new site at Lincoln Square. Albert Square and Cathedral Gardens stay open until Sunday, January 3, 2027. London’s Southbank Centre Winter Market opened on November 2 — the earliest UK opener cited — and Trafalgar Square’s Christmas market opened on November 6, running to January 3. London’s Hyde Park Winter Wonderland opens on Thursday, November 19, and runs to January 3, closed on Christmas Day, with timed entry — off-peak slots free, others from £1 to £5.50 — and the UK’s biggest outdoor ice rink and more than 100 cabins.
What is still to come
The rest of Britain follows over the next three weeks. Bath’s market — the shortest of the season, at 18 days — runs from November 26 to December 13. In Europe, Vienna opened first: the Schönbrunn Palace Christmas Market and the Stephansplatz market both opened on Friday, November 6. Vienna’s flagship market at Rathausplatz opens on November 13 and runs to December 26, with an ice rink to January 6. Cologne Cathedral’s market opens on November 16, Munich’s on November 20, and Prague’s Old Town Square market on November 28, running to January 6, 2027. For anyone planning a visit, weekdays are quieter than weekends, and the markets are busiest in the evenings and on Saturdays. Visitors travelling by train should check services in advance, as the festive season is one of the busiest periods on the rail network — and anyone heading to York should remember the new rule: no market on Tuesdays.
Related: Oxford Street lights go on tonight without Harry Potter stars.
