Christmas Festivities in Mainz

December 22, 2018

Mainz, Germany

I kind of can't believe it, but it's almost Christmas... it's practically here! Which also means that Christmas markets are slowly wrapping up (NOOOOOOO). Christmas markets are probably one of my favourite things about living in Europe. They're magical, festive, the whole city comes together, there's amazing food and who couldn't love glühwein! It's just such a fun time to go with friends or your favourite person, and luckily I have my favourite person here with me!:)

We've been trying to hit up as many markets as we can since they started at the end of November. We first went to the cute town of Heidelberg, which I went to with a friend earlier this Fall. My parents were in town in the beginning of December so we first stopped in Heidelberg and then continued on to the highly recommended Stuttgart Christmas market, just a couple hours south of Frankfurt. So many bratwurst, so much #glühwein, and all the deep-fried foods of course. Later in the week, we headed to Friedrichschafen, which was actually just across the lake of where Lucas and I lived in Switzerland! Not that the Friedrichschafen Christmas market was that amazing, but I will never say no to Christmas festivities especially when they're right on the water, overlooking the Alps.

Leading up to Christmas, I always check out a million different "Top European Christmas Markets" lists. It's always fun looking at those and see which ones we've already been to and which ones we have to try - Stuttgart was always on them and Mainz occasionally popped up, but Frankfurt was never on any of those lists. But I actually quite enjoyed Frankfurt's market! The #Römerberg square was filled with beautiful lights and artistically-built and decorated booths, along with a huge carousel, which of course we tried while sipping on some more glühwein. We enjoyed cute cups of glühwein and so many plates of food, from cheese fondue, more bratwurst, #flammkuchen, and German bread covered in melted raclette cheese... my mouth is watering now...

But on to the main event, we've heard from many people of how great the #Mainz Christmas market is, so we obviously had to get there before it closed (which is actually tomorrow depressingly enough). My younger brother is in town for Christmas while he has his own break, so we decided to go for it! To be honest, we've been to so many varieties of markets that I feel like we have a set standard in our minds of how good it should be. But I love when some add a unique twist to their own! I think Mainz did that with their awesome glühwein market right in front of the cathedral - it's filled with cute, bubbled huts that can be reserved for small groups to enjoy their food and drinks inside, along with a cozy seating area around a fire pit set up in the middle. I wish we had checked it out sooner for a great, cozy night out!