Is there much to buy at German Christmas Markets?

[Teentrauma]

Heading to Cologne next week with two friends. Discovered we have a stingy luggage allowance of one small underseat bag 😣. It's £45 each way for an extra cabin bag Suggested we pay for one bag between us for the shopping (so about £30 each) but friends said no. So it looks like I will have to buy very little. I was wondering if there is actually much to buy or if it's more enjoy the food & drink & soak up the atmosphere. Was at least hoping to buy some nice chocolate for stocking fillers & small gifts I give various people. Had a naughty thought of stashing my bag of shopping under my coat when boarding the plane but that won't work if I buy too much 😬

Just make sure you dont buy a large snow globe as its liquid and they'll make you throw it away

Ideally you would share a hold case, shame your mate doesn't want to. Me and ds went to Dublin for 7 days and only had 10kg each. I took my ragga clothes to leave. I was prepared to wear my two coats, jumper and waterproof on the flight but it was in my duty free bag and no one even looked at it

I tried years ago to buy extra luggage for one way - coming home and it wasnt possible. We used low cost airlines so it would either have been Easy jet or Ryan Air.

I used to add extra luggage to my return journey on Easyjet frequently... just waited until after I had taken the first flight.

The rules on liquids seem to have changed quite recently. I haven't flown for ages so haven't checked it out in detail. But I would have thought that a snow globe was under 100ml anyway.

For me it’s ALL about the food and drink, so I wouldn’t be too concerned about luggage allowances. A little sad that I can’t go this year, but planning to recreate the experience at home!

Get a fishing vest with many pockets. Saw this on Martin Lewis show. If you're wearing it, you're not carrying it. Not the most stylish but you can stash so much.

You might be able to remove the foam from a travel neck pillow and stuff it with rolled up clothing. then just hang it from your bag

If you have little carabiner clips you can hang stuff

At the german markets, the food and atmosphere is great - often the food will come in souvenir containers though so you might like them

I did say 'large' because some of them will be big enough to hold more than 100ml. I have flown recently and it certainly was still 100ml. Its only 2 UK airports which have scrapped that rule so far with the rest by June 2024. Also, thats just the outbound journey and UK airports. Foreign rules arent necessarily changing for inbound.

If you walk along the river in Cologne to the Lindt chocolate museum , there’s usually a Christmas market right outside the museum which smokes fresh salmon and trout over open fires and serves in a roll. Delicious.
Handmade woolen socks nearby worth getting. Can wear home if no space in luggage

Thank you @GreenFields07 for the clarification I'm not flying until next June. But that does sound a very limited relaxation of the rules.

We nearly got caught by this. I'm off with friends soon to a Christmas market and we were really surprised that the basic allowance is now only the tiny under seat bag and not that plus a carry on case.

We're going for two nights and all agreed to the additional bag- it was £39 each! I don't think I could pack for one night with a bag so tiny.

Good luck!!

It's more about the atmosphere, the snacks, the hot drinks. I can't remember anything I bought at the markets so obviously not substantial or significant.

Be really, really tight on your personal packing to maximise your allowance - wear the same clothes to travel in, only the shoes/boots you're wearing (one pair only), one change of clothes. Minimal toiletries (see what's in the hotel and take samples to use while you're there).

@Teentrauma How long are you staying for?

I went through cologne airport ( although back in dec 27 )
There was someone weighing bags before security - I had put my coat and handbag into my wheelie case - for ease at actual security

Luckily I was bang on - just saying this check was before duty free - I don't know if they would have actioned an extra bag

Can you pack old clothes etc to wear that would be destined for the charity shop and then find somewhere to donate them whilst you’re away so you don’t have to take home as much stuff as you bring? I have done this before when I had limited baggage allowance.

I’d be surprised if you find you want to buy enough that this is an issue. I really like the atmosphere or a German Christmas market, but the actual stalls are usually very repetitive. Giant cookies, Christmas decorations etc.

Depending on who you are flying with you should be able to add a case on when you are there to bring home stuff if you buy a lot.

Alternatively go on Amazon and buy the biggest hand bag allowance you are allowed for your flight. You'll probably be surprised by how much room you'll have.

Who are you flying with ?

That's the problem now you are only allowed a tiny bag of 40 x 20 x 25 and no handbag. I couldn't do that for a couple of nights away!

OP may only be doing one night which may be ok if you only pack spare knickers 🤣

Tbh I don’t think there’s much to actually buy at these things other than food/drinks and you won’t be able to get drink back in hand luggage. Nor toiletry smellies ot candles and snow globes obvs if they go over the ml allowance.

as a side note, remember that the bag has to be the size you’ve stated including wheels and handles. We’ve just been in easyJet and we took backpacks but saw people with tiny suitcase style hand luggage’s being stopped and charged £40 each way.

I also think when you look at the adverts for the bags they look so much bigger than they actually are!! It's a small day bag!

I went to Cologne Christmas Markets last year and had a great time, I would say there's lots of things to buy and lots of great atmosphere!

If you normally like buying things typically sold at a Christmas market then I think you may struggle, as I found lots of things very pretty, and especially if it's a shopping trip. Admittedly I didn't buy much because I don't buy much at Christmas market stalls anyway and I was going more for the experience - a couple of little bits, hand-decorated bauble, and kept one of the small gluwein mugs they serve the wine in (you pay a small deposit for the mug which I forfeited), and my luggage was also quite small (but not tiny) at around 60x35x20.

But there plenty of food, drink, atmosphere and even an ice rink for the experience. There are several separate markets in the city, so that multiplies the amount of choice you have, but they do sell similar stuff. Someone mentioned Angel Market/Neumarkt and this was my favourite the atmosphere was wonderful.

To add to the space saving tips, not sure how long you're going for but something we did was stayed in an AirBnB with a washing machine. We brought enough clothes/smalls for 4 of the 7 days, then washed all the clothes from days 1-3 on day 4, ready for days 5-7. This halves the clothes you need to bring, and makes it easier to wear layers of clothes on the way home if you want to increase bag space. Hotels sometimes will wash clothes or there will be launderettes in the city. Also trousers and jumpers take up so much space, tricky to stick to one of each but if you could I would!

Sorry for the long reply, I hope you have a great time!

I did a weekend away with the under seat bag, honestly you can fit more than you think. 3 outfits, makeup and hair straighteners and spare shoes with room left over. Also consider taking just enough make up/ creams etc in mini bottles and throw away anything g left. Leaves a bit more room for coming back