Nuremberg Christmas City Guided Tour with St. Nicholas

Included and Not Included

Included are the 1.5-hour guided city tour in German, one cup of mulled wine and one gingerbread cookie. Not included are hotel pickup, a guided walk among the Christkindlesmarkt stalls, and any other food and drinks. Tips are not mentioned, so treat them as your own decision.

The Christkindlesmarkt is a stop viewed from the outside, so expect an outside look, not a tour inside the stalls.

What You Pay for on the Day

Extra mulled wine, children's punch, bratwurst and any market purchases come out of your own pocket. The city runs a single reusable mug system at every drink stand with a deposit. The deposit amount is not published.

Cash and cards are both accepted at the stalls, and a Christkindlesmarkt-Taler worth $5.57 (€5) works at the Hauptmarkt, the Market of the Sister Cities, the Children's Christmas and Original Regional.

Dates That Matter for This Tour

The tour's own season dates are not stated, so check the booking calendar. The market context is fixed: the Christkindlesmarkt runs 27 November to 24 December, 10:00-21:00 daily and to 14:00 on 24 December. The Market of the Sister Cities and Original Regional end on 23 December, so a tour in the final days sees fewer side markets.

The operator warns the walk runs outdoors in December, and Nuremberg's December mean sits around 0.6 C with a mean low of -2.4 C, so bring hat, gloves and warm shoes.

Money at the Stalls

Cash and cards are both accepted at the stalls, and the $5.57 (€5) Christkindlesmarkt-Taler works at the Hauptmarkt, the Market of the Sister Cities, the Children's Christmas and Original Regional. All drink stands share one reusable mug with a deposit, and the deposit amount is not published. Public toilets in the Rathaus cost $0.56 (€0.50), entered from Rathausplatz, and a fee-based toilet wagon stands on the Obstmarkt behind the Frauenkirche.

Getting There and Who Can Join

The Schuldturm is close to the market area. U1 Lorenzkirche station is under 5 minutes' walk from the Hauptmarkt, the Hauptbahnhof about 15 to 20 minutes on foot. A VGN single ticket, Preisstufe A, costs $4.34 (€3.90), or $4.06 (€3.65) online, and is valid 90 minutes.

A day ticket for one person is $11.80 (€10.60), and the TagesTicket Plus covers 1 to 6 people for $17.25 (€15.50). No minimum age is published. The tour is listed as not suitable for wheelchair users, people with mobility impairments, visually impaired people, or guests with food allergies or gluten intolerance.

The Christkind

The Nuremberg Christkind is a young woman elected every two years, a role the city has filled this way since 1969. Applicants must have turned 16 and be no older than 19 on election day, and must be at least 1.60 m tall. She wears blond curls, a golden crown and a white-gold dress, and she opens the market with the prologue spoken from the gallery of the Frauenkirche above the Hauptmarkt.

Admission to the opening is free. During the season she keeps a full diary, with more than 170 appearances at the market and at charitable institutions. Last season she visited the Children's Christmas Tuesday to Friday at 14:30 and the Hauptmarkt at 15:00.

St. Nicholas and This Tour

St. Nicholas belongs to the Children's Christmas on Hans-Sachs-Platz, where he takes the children's wishes, and wish letters to the Christkind can be written free at the Museums-Kinderpost. This tour borrows that figure. St. Nicholas makes an appearance as part of the walk, and the tour ends at the Sebalder Pfarrhof with mulled wine and a gingerbread cookie.

Recent guests describe the surprise visit warmly, which fits a tour sold on atmosphere and tradition rather than on market shopping.

Meeting and Route

You meet at the Schuldturm on Vordere Insel Schütt, by the Pegnitz in the Old Town. From there the guide leads the group through the Kreuzigungshof, then to the Children's Christmas (Kinderweihnacht) on Hans-Sachs-Platz and the Narrenschiff. The walk crosses the Fleischbrücke, passes the Christkindlesmarkt on the Hauptmarkt, which you view from the outside, and reaches the Schöner Brunnen.

The final stretch covers the Market of the Sister Cities on Rathausplatz and St. Sebaldus Church before the tour ends at the Sebalder Pfarrhof with mulled wine and the gingerbread cookie. St. Nicholas makes an appearance as part of the experience.

The Stories Along the Way

The guide covers who started the Christkindlesmarkt, who is behind the Nuremberg Christkind, how many wooden and fabric stalls the market has, and the story of the golden Zwetschgermöh, the plum man. The emphasis sits on Nuremberg's history, Christmas traditions and customs from past eras, seen through a decorated Old Town. Guests praise the depth of the Christmas and local-tradition information, which is the tour's real product alongside the walk itself.

What the Route Passes

The Christkindlesmarkt on the Hauptmarkt is on the itinerary as an outside view only. The official season runs 27 November to 24 December, open 10:00-21:00 daily, and 10:00-14:00 on 24 December, the last day. The Market of the Sister Cities on Rathausplatz is a proper stop.

It is a separate market run by the city's Office for International Relations, open 27 November to 23 December, with goods from Nuremberg's twin cities and stall proceeds going to charities there. The Children's Christmas on Hans-Sachs-Platz is also on the route, running 27 November to 30 December.

What to Add Before or After

Because the main stalls are only viewed from outside, plan your own stall time around this walk. The Christkindlesmarkt Senses Walk spends its full 1.5 hours at the market with an optional surprise bag of samples, and costs $17 per person. For a longer English option with four tastings, the Christmas Market History & Tastings Tour runs 2 hours for the same $28.

You can also browse all Nuremberg Christmas market tours to match a tour to your dates.

Original Regional and the Winterdorf

Original Regional sits by the Sebalduskirche, near the tour's last stops, with four stalls of Franconian and Upper Palatinate goods open until 23 December. The Winterdorf on Jakobsplatz runs 13 November to 9 January, with a 40 m Ferris wheel. Neither is a tour stop.

What Is There

The Children's Christmas has run since 1999 on Hans-Sachs-Platz, a short step from the Hauptmarkt. It offers a nostalgic multi-storey carousel, a steam railway, a mini Ferris wheel, a candle workshop, a Christmas bakery and craft sessions such as glass painting and baking. Children can write wish lists to the Christkind free of charge at the Museums-Kinderpost, and St. Nicholas takes the wishes there.

Last season the Christkind visited Tuesday to Friday from 14:30, and children rode the multi-storey carousel free with her.

Dates, Hours and the Sternenhaus

The Kinderweihnacht runs 27 November to 30 December, so it keeps going after the main market closes. Hours for this season are not yet published. Last season it ran 10:00-21:00 daily, closed at 14:00 on 24 December and stayed closed on 25 December, so check locally.

Next door, the Sternenhaus in the Heilig-Geist-Haus at Hans-Sachs-Platz 2 stages a children's culture programme of more than 150 events by over 40 artists and ensembles, 28 November to 23 December, from age 3 with a ticket. Last season a show ticket was $7.79 (€7) per person.

Where It Sits on the Route

The Children's Christmas comes early on the walk, right after the Kreuzigungshof. That matters if you travel with children, who see the carousel and the workshops in the first half.

Rides and Cellars

A yellow stagecoach drives through the market area, the city runs a mini-train tour, and the rock cellar tour under the Altstadthof ends with a Rotbier tasting. These suit mixed weather and children who tire of walking. The stagecoach page lists no price or timetable, so ask on site.

The Lichterzug lantern procession on 10 December sets off around 17:45 from the Fleischbrücke with about 1,000 schoolchildren and the Christkind, and walks past the market up to the Kaiserburg.

The Winterdorf and Other Markets

The Winterdorf on Jakobsplatz runs 13 November to 9 January, so it covers the days before and after the main market, with a 40 m Ferris wheel. Original Regional by the Sebalduskirche stays open to 23 December with four stalls of regional goods.

The Nürnberg Card

The Nürnberg Card costs $42.29 (€38) for adults and $13.36 (€12) for ages 6 to 11, with ages 0 to 5 free. It is valid 48 hours and includes free Zone A public transport plus about 25 museums, among them the Imperial Castle. See the Nuremberg Christmas market overview for how to fill the rest of the day.