Wroclaw Christmas Market

Wroclaw's Jarmark Bozonarodzeniowy runs from late November into December and fills the main market square, the town hall surroundings and Plac Solny with several hundred wooden stalls, and it has appeared repeatedly near the top of European Christmas market rankings. The setting does most of the work: the square is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe, ringed with tall gabled houses, and the market is laid out around the Gothic town hall rather than in a car park. The stalls sell the usual mixture - grzaniec, mulled beer and wine, oscypek cheese from the mountains, pierogi, gingerbread, ceramics and wooden goods - with a fairy-tale forest section for children, a wheel and a carousel. Regional producers from Silesia and the Czech border are well represented. It is very crowded on December weekends, and the best time is a weekday early evening when the lights are on and the square is not yet full.

What you actually see

• A market around a Gothic town hall - in one of the largest medieval squares in Europe.
• Several hundred stalls - through the Rynek and into Plac Solny.
• Mountain and Silesian food - oscypek, grzaniec, gingerbread and regional producers.
• A children's section - the fairy-tale forest, wheel and carousel.

When to go

Late November to December. An evening.

Honest expectations

December weekends are extremely crowded and slow to move through. Prices are tourist-level. Weather can be wet rather than snowy. Many stalls sell the same goods as every other market.

Nearby

Ostrow Tumski and the Four Denominations District are short walks away.