3 VERY Underrated European Christmas Markets

The popularity of visiting European Christmas Markets has really boomed in recent years, and I’ve been dazzled by photos and videos of the incredible markets in France, Germany, Austria and other central European countries. But have you ever heard of the Baltic Christmas markets?

But there are a few amazing small European capital city Christmas markets that don’t get the attention they deserve. They are in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the Baltic countries. These Christmas markets are smaller, but incredible, and have a charm that is unique to only them. All three cities (Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn) are UNESCO World Heritage sites.

There’s less hype around the markets in this part of Europe, so the Baltic Christmas markets don’t get as busy as the larger central Europe markets. They are smaller and more compact, but still very exciting with lots of beautiful decorations, merry go rounds, trains, and vendors. In my opinion, they feel more relaxed and Christmasy than bigger markets. I don’t want to make any more sweeping generalizations about the three Baltic Christmas markets because they are all different from each other. Below, I’ll share with you what you need to know about each of the Baltic Christmas markets so you can plan an AMAZING Christmas market trip through Northern Europe!

The 3 Baltic Christmas Markets And Why They’re Worth It

1. Vilnius, Lithuania

November 20th, 2026 December 27th, 2027

The Vilnius Christmas Market was my favourite of the three Baltic Christmas Markets, but for my own personal preference reasons (I think most people would probably choose Tallinn.) Vilnius’s Old Town is over 800 years old, and the baroque style of the cty combined with the beautiful holiday decorations is so unique and pretty!

Vilnius technically has two market areas, the main one with the large tree (pictured above) of them is in Cathedral square. It’s surroundned with the small wooden vendor stalls. The other market area is near the town hall, which features a tree, and large glass snowglobes where you can get hot drinks.

It’s very typical in the Baltic countries to drink hot mulled wine, and you can buy a paper cup of it and walk around with it. There was also beautiful lit up train driving through the Old Town, which was mainly for families with kids. Vilnius in winter gets dark quite early (4pm), so you can enjoy several hours of the lit up night atmosphere.

We stayed at a hotel near the Town Hall Christmas market area, and we were only a 15 minute walk to the Cathedral Square area. It’s very easy to walk between the two market areas, and all of Vilnius Old Town is so lit up and beautiful at this time of year. All the streets were so decorated with twinkly lights hanging in narrow streets.

If you’re in Vilnius at Christmas, I highly recommend a visit to Trakai Island Castle, which is also decorated for Christmas with old fashioned Christmas decorations that match the castle’s medievel style – real cedar wrapped around the , red ribbons and simple looking Christmas trees. It was so beautiful.

Fro, Vilnius, we drove north to Tallinn, and we stopped at Hill of the Crosses on the way which is a unusual and eerie attraction. Not Christmasy at all, but worth seeing while you’re in Lithuania.

2. Riga, Latvia

November 20th, 2026 December 27th, 2027

The Riga Christmas Market was the smallest of the three, but equally as worth it as the other two were. It was a simple Christmas market in a beautiful Riga Old Town. Riga’s Christmas Market is held in Doma laukums ( Dome Square.) It felt like an old fashioned Christmas and very charming. The merry go round decorated with pine, the stalls selling fruit, hot drinks and handicrafts.

Part of what I love about the Riga Christmas Market is that its less ‘flashy’ than how other Christmas markets have become. It felt more like it was created to be enjoyed in the moment, rather than being about the instragram quality or the photo ops. If you were to go to a Christmas Market 50 years ago, I would imagine you’d find the same things there that you would at the Riga Christmas Market today.

It was quiter in terms of crowds too (although we were there after New Years so it was probably quieter than usual), but it was still open and livly, all the vendors were still open, and many kids riding the hand-operated merry go round.

I definitely recommend making time to visit Riga and walk around the beautiful Old Town. Riga’s Old Town is beautiful. While you’re there, be sure to visit the St. Peter’s Church to get a 360 views over Riga’s Old Town from 235 feet (or 72 metres) in the air.

3. Tallinn, Estonia

November 20th, 2026 – January 6th, 2027

Tallinn was the largest Christmas Market of the three, and probably (although it would be a close tie) win for the most breathaking, beautiful Old Town. The city is gorgeous with its castle-like towers and archways. It’s really just stunning. It’s largest Christmas market of the three Baltic Christmas markets. If I had to call any of them ‘flashy’, it would probably be Tallinn. But it still had that old fashioned Christmas charm that we liked so much about the other two.

Since Tallinn is the northernmost of the three Baltic countries, I could see a bit more of the Swedish Christmas traditions here, which are probably widespread everywhere in Scandinavia. They have things written in Estonian, Finnish and sometimes Swedish. I just really recognized the Scandinavian influence.

We were in Tallinn for New Years Eve and the fireworks over the market accompanied with music were stunning. It was a lot livlier on New Years Eve than it was on other nights of the market.

Before planning a trip to the Baltic Christmas markets, definitely take a look at the dates. Sometimes they’re open past Christmas, or past New Years, and sometimes we’re not. We did Vilnius, Tallinn over New Years, followed by Riga on the year we went, but that wouldn’t be possible this year because the Riga market isn’t running for long past New Years.

This 2026 dates for Baltic Christmas Markets are as follows:

Vilnius: November 20th, 2026 December 27th, 2027
Riga: November 27th – January 3rd, 2027
Tallinn: November 20th, 2026 – January 6th, 2027

Baltic Christmas Market Itinerary

We flew into Vilnius from Toronto. From there, we rented a car and drove to Tallinn. We spent a few days in Tallinn, which I highly recommend, there are a lot of amazing things to see and do there. After Tallinn, we drove to Riga and spent 2 nights. I was sad to only have 2 nights in Riga, and I recommend at least 3 if you can.

So, in short, our itinerary was 3 nights in Vilnius, 3 in Tallinn and then 2 in Riga. If you can swing a 3rd in Riga, it’s recommended. Three nights in all of them would have been the sweet spot amount of time. ALL of the old towns in the Baltic countries have the UNESCO World Heritage site designation, which is actually quite rare for a European old town. It speaks to how preserved the architecture is in this charming medievel old towns. Seeing them decorated for Christmas is a rare treat that not too many get to experience.