16 Ways to Save Money on Christmas Market Travel in 2026
Don’t let rising prices ruin this year’s Christmas markets trip plans! Flight prices might be sky high, but that doesn’t mean you should cancel any plans to visit some of Europe’s dreamiest destinations. When airfare and inflation soar, that just means it’s time for your planning strategy to soar even higher! From booking strategies to realistic tips for creating a doable itinerary on any budget, here are 16 ways to save money on your 2026 Christmas markets trip without missing out on a thing!
1. Plan Weekends Well
When crafting your trip itinerary, avoid visiting popular destinations on weekends. This is good advice beyond the budget in general, but if you’re visiting a pricier city as part of a longer trip, try to plan to be there on a weekday rather than a weekend.
For example, hotel nights in Vienna, Tuesday-Thursday, cost much less than staying in the city center, Friday-Sunday!
If you plan on hopping from destination to destination, plan to go to the smaller or less popular destinations on the weekends when you’re making your Christmas markets itinerary.
2. Choose Your Destinations Wisely
Copenhagen is dreamy, Vienna is stunning, and Montreux looks like a wintery postcard, but certain destinations are far pricier than others! Less visited destinations like Riga, Tallinn, and Bamberg, and even popular destinations like Cologne, Nuremberg, Budapest, and Colmar can be far more affordable than other destinations. Choose wisely when planning your itinerary!
3. Visit Christmas Markets Earlier Than Later
Prices tend to go up the closer to Christmas you go, especially on popular weekends where Krampus runs or parades might be going on. Therefore, it’s best to go earlier in the season. Plan to go toward the end of November or the beginning of December if possible. This can save you hundreds on flights and accommodations! It’s also way easier to get dining reservations and hotel bookings earlier in the season.
4. Pick One Region
Don’t plan to travel so far to extra destinations. We know the temptation to “see it all” is great when it comes to going all the way to Europe for a Christmas markets trip, but one thing most travelers don’t plan for is how much train travel can add up.
If you pick a region and stick near there rather than hopping long distances on speed trains to go to as many places as you can, you’ll save hundreds on your trip. More regional trips, such as basing out of Munich, Frankfurt, Basel, or Brussels, with day trips by trains that take less than two hours, will be far more affordable than going from Strasbourg to Munich to Prague and so on.
Examples of easy “one region” trips include visiting Basel, Strasbourg, and Colmar; Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest; Munich, Nuremberg, and Regensburg; or Brussels, Ghent, and Bruges, to name a few!
5. Try Google Explore
Use the Google Explore feature to pick the deal over the destination. We use this all the time for nearly every trip we plan! This lets you compare prices for flights to various airports.
For example, if you’re planning to start your trip in Colmar, but weren’t sure of where would be the best to fly into, you might be surprised to find flights to Paris might be way cheaper than flights to Basel. Or, if you’re going to Cologne, you might find it’s cheaper to fly to Brussels first and take the train from there than flying into Frankfurt. It all depends on your departure airports and your dates!
You might be surprised by the price differences you can find! The only catch with this is that it must be for round-trip flights. If you want to book an open-leg or multi-city flight, you can use information from multiple destinations and plug it into Google Flights to search for multi-city prices.
6. Book Accommodations Early
It’s important to book your accommodations as early as you can! Options get more limited the longer you wait, so you might not have as many affordable options if you book later. If you know where you’re going and when but aren’t quite ready to pay for your room, we highly recommend booking on Booking.com and choosing a “pay later” option, where you’re charged for the room a week or a few days before your trip, rather than paying everything up front. With this feature, you can book as soon as you know your travel dates.
Looking for hotel recommendations? We have plenty of them for some of the most popular Christmas market destinations here!
7. Use Google Flights
Use Google Flights to track and consider prices and options! If you know your destination airport, use the “track prices” feature to get email alerts when prices go up or down. If you have slightly flexible dates, you should also look at the date grid (pictured above) to see the potential savings if you can shift your prospective dates by a day or two. It could save you hundreds!
8. Car Rentals for Hotel Savings
If you want to visit smaller towns and take a road trip, fly round-trip in and out of one destination to save on hefty multi-city rental car fees, then stay slightly outside of the city center. If you’re driving, you can find really interesting, charming, and affordable accommodations that don’t require parking fees if you find an off-the-beaten-path stay on your journey!
Staying outside the city center is another great way to save money, as you get more of a local feel and experience than at a chain hotel in the center of a big city. You can often find local transit into the city center if you don’t want to pay for parking or spend time fighting for a parking spot inside the city limits. Book in advance with AutoEurope for extra savings!
9. Utilize Credit Card Rewards Wisely
Have any big purchases coming up this year? If you know you have to make a $1,000+ purchase, like paying for a cruise, replacing car parts, doing a home upgrade, or the like, you can get major travel rewards points by putting the charges you already know you have to make on a new travel rewards credit card. Many have qualifying purchase sign-on bonuses as well as points for regular purchases that can either take hundreds off a flight or even give you free hotel nights.
10. Plan Flexibly for Better Train Ticket Prices
If you plan on taking trains, create your initial itinerary with flexible timing until you can see the train schedules and prices. You can sometimes save €50 or more per ticket if you are flexible about the time you can travel from one city to another. We highly recommend using Trainline or Omio to compare prices for train travel and purchase tickets.
11. Take Airport Trains Over Taxis
If you’re flying into a major city, consider taking the train from the airport to the city center rather than taking a taxi or Uber. From Paris to Helsinki, this can easily save you at least €40 each way. And if you need to take a taxi or rideshare to reach your stay, it’ll only cost about €10 to go from the city center to your accommodations, rather than the €40–60 in a regular rideshare to go all the way from the airport to your hotel. It’s one more step, but it can often be worth it, especially if you’re staying in the city center!
12. Go Carry On Only
Skip the expensive round-trip checked baggage fees and pack in just a carry-on suitcase and a backpack! We know, we know, this is often easier said than done. But if you’re tactical and practical, it can be done easily! The funny thing about winter travel is that basically no one sees the clothes you’re wearing underneath your winter scarf and coat, so you don’t need to pack as many tops and bottoms as you’d think!
Be sure to wear your bulkiest clothes and shoes on the flight over and pack only what you need for the trip. And don’t be worried about not having enough space in your bag to go shopping! We highly recommend packing an empty expandable duffel that you can always check on the way back home.
Need a Christmas market trip essentials packing list? We’ve got you covered here!
13. Go Out for Lunch Instead of Dinner
Make lunch reservations instead of dinner reservations. Saving money doesn’t have to mean missing out on incredible, local dishes! Instead of making fancy dinner reservations at the must-eat restaurants, make a lunch reservation! Lunch menus are often discounted in comparison, and occasionally offer incredible prix-fixe menus that are as delicious as they are kinder on the budget. Lunch reservations are often easier to get last minute as well! For dinner, head out to the Christmas markets for a casual, tasty meal, a warm mug of cider or mulled wine, and a tasty dessert like a chimney cake to share!
14. Swap Hotel Breakfast for Local Cafes
Skip the hotel breakfast and start the day at a local cafe instead. Hotel breakfasts aren’t often included in the nightly price and can often cost about €30. Especially if you’re not a big breakfast person, you can save €20 per person per day by checking out a local cafe for a coffee and light breakfast instead of opting for the convenience of a hotel breakfast. This is also a great way to enjoy more local flavors, do a little people-watching at the coffee shops, and get a better feel for the destination while you’re there with limited time!
15. Go Grocery Shopping
If you’re not much of a foodie, don’t want to grab breakfast out in the morning, or don’t care about restaurant hopping, you can save big time by going to grocery stores for a few meals and snacks! You can stay in an Airbnb or hotel room with a kitchenette and save a lot of money by starting or ending your day with breakfast or dinner in your accommodations. We love going to a grocery store in a new city anyway and consider grabbing a snack, pastry, yogurt, or sandwiches for the road or train an easy choice for busy days and travel days!
16. Purchase Cell Phone Data In Advance
Instead of incurring huge roaming or daily add-on fees from your cell phone company, prepaying for data with Airalo can save you anywhere from $50-$150, depending on your trip length, phone plan, and data usage. We use it every time we travel internationally! No SIM cards needed as it’s an easy-to-install eSIM and app.