Munich in December: A Step-by-Step Guide

Munich in December is short on light and long on festivals. The weather figures below are 30-year averages for the Munich-Stadt station from the German weather service DWD. The Christmas market dates are for 2026 and come from the city of Munich.

Step 1: Pick your Munich Christmas market dates

The main Munich Christmas market, the Christkindlmarkt, runs from Friday 20 November to Thursday 24 December 2026. The city calendar says it starts earlier than in past years. Sunday 22 November is a day off, a memorial Sunday. Opening hours are 10 am to 9 pm from Monday to Saturday and 10 am to 8 pm on Sunday. On 24 December it closes at 2 pm.

The market sits on Marienplatz and Rindermarkt and has over 130 stalls, according to the City of Munich. Take the U3 or U6, or any S-Bahn line from S1 to S8, to Marienplatz. If you need tickets and zones, read the Munich public transport guide. For the full list of markets, see the Munich Christmas market page.

Pro Tip Come on a weekday morning, when the market has just opened at 10 am. The evenings before Christmas are usually the busiest.

Step 2: Choose the markets to visit

Munich has several Christmas markets, and each has different dates. The city calendar lists the ones below for 2026. Check the hours on the day, because the calendar can change.

The Weihnachtsdorf in the Residenz courtyard is open daily from 11 am to 9 pm and costs nothing to enter. Tollwood is also free to enter, and only the shows and the party need a ticket. Reach it by U4 or U5 to Theresienwiese. The dates and hours of the Viktualienmarkt and Chinesischer Turm markets are not confirmed on an official page for 2026, so check them before you go.

Should you join a tour or walk alone? Walking alone costs nothing but the drinks, and the table above is enough for the main markets. A guide adds the stories and the food. A 3-hour Christmas markets food and drink tour costs from €55 per person and has a 4.6 rating from 50 reviews on GetYourGuide. It is run by Radius Tours GmbH and includes gingerbread, sugar almonds and mulled wine. You bring €15 as a deposit for the cup, which you get back. A 3-hour Christmas market walk with Glühwein costs from €59 and has a 5.0 rating, but only 7 reviews so far. The Local Experience runs it, and it visits five or six markets. The listing says it is not suitable for people with a low level of fitness. Both tours have free cancellation, and the exact terms are on each booking page. The listings do not publish a group size, and the meeting point is shown on the booking page, so check it before you pay. The Glühwein walk page does not list what is included beyond the markets, so ask the operator what the price covers.

Our view: walk alone if you mainly want to see the markets and have a drink. Book a tour if you want the food and the stories explained. No official page read for this guide lists what the market stalls sell, so the only food named here is on the food tour and at Tollwood.

The Best Travel Destinations' count of GetYourGuide listings for Munich on 28 October 2026 found 18 listings that name Christmas, Advent or mulled wine in their title, at a median of €69 per person.

Key Takeaway The Christkindlmarkt starts on 20 November and the Residenz village on 16 November, so a November trip already has a market open.

Step 3: Add indoor and winter plans

Beyond the markets, Munich in December offers an ice rink, a festival and a few good indoor stops. The Münchner Eiszauber ice rink at Karlsplatz (Stachus) is open from 13 November 2026 to 10 January 2027, daily from 10:30 am to 10 pm. You skate in blocks of 2.5 hours, and adults pay 8 to 14 euros depending on the time slot.

On Sunday 13 December 2026, the Krampus run takes place from 3 to 5 pm. The Tollwood festival adds food stalls and shows until 23 December. No official page lists the dishes, so look at the stalls on the day.

For a rainy or freezing day, go to the Deutsches Museum on the Museumsinsel. The museum opens daily from 9 am to 5 pm. The adult ticket costs 18 euros from 2 November 2026, according to the museum's ticket page. The doors stay shut on 24, 25 and 31 December, and on 1 January 2027. Plan other days around those closures.

If you want to leave the city, the castles and mountains need more care in winter. Read the Munich day trips guide before you book. A full-day Neuschwanstein trip by bus costs from €83 per person, takes 9 hours and has a 4.8 rating from 187 reviews. Mike's Bike Tours Munich runs it, and it adds a Munich Christmas market walk between 28 November and 23 December. The castle ticket is not included. It costs 26.50 euros for adults, and you pay your guide in cash on the day. The listing says it is not suitable for people with mobility impairments. Group size is not published, and the pickup point is shown on the booking page. For other options, see the Neuschwanstein tours page.

Winter trips go best when each day has one fixed stop and one spare indoor plan.

Step 4: Pack for Munich in December

December is cold, grey and short on sun. The average temperature is 1.8 °C over day and night. The month gets about 58 mm of precipitation and only 66 hours of sunshine.

Frost is normal. The DWD counts 17.2 frost days in December, when the night low falls below 0 °C. It also counts 5.1 ice days, when the temperature stays below 0 °C all day.

Does it snow? It can, but the tables read for this guide do not list snow days, so there is no official count to quote. Pack for it anyway. Wear warm shoes with grip, a hat, gloves and layers. A market visit means standing outside for an hour or more.

Step 5: Check what December costs

December is cheaper than the rest of the year for beds. In December 2026, a Munich hotel night had a median price of €76, against €86 across all months measured, in the 2026 Munich Travel Cost Study.

The weekends before Christmas still fill up, so book early. Stay in the old town to walk to the main market. Platzl Hotel sits about 0.1 miles from Marienplatz, and Hotel Torbräu is about 5 minutes on foot from it. Hotel Concorde is in Lehel, 6 minutes on foot from Marienplatz. For other areas, see the where to stay guide.

Free things cost nothing: entry to the Weihnachtsdorf and to the Tollwood grounds is free. A skating block costs 8 to 14 euros, and a guided market walk starts from €55.

Mountain trips depend on weather and closures, so check each operator before you book.