1. The Christmas Market in Freiburg, the capital of the Black Forest

The Christmas market at Rathausplatz in Freiburg's city centre opens on 19th November 2026. More than 140 market stalls invite you to discover handicrafts, Christmas decorations and delicacies. You can treat yourself to a "Freiburg Red" sausage, sweet waffle or local mulled wine between St Martin's Church, the town hall and Unterlindenplatz daily until 23rd December. In total, the Freiburg Christmas market now comprises nine locations spread around Freiburg’s old town. And the many pubs, cafés and wine bars in the romantic Old Town are the perfect place to rest, warm up and watch the world go by.

Pitches & Parking:

In Freiburg, there is a motorhome site relatively close to the city centre, from which you can reach the centre either on foot or by public transport. The Freiburg motorhome site, which is about a 15-minute bicycle ride from the city centre, is very well connected to public transport and also offers parking tickets available directly at the site. The Busses Camping site at Möslepark actually closes for the season at the end of October, but reopens especially for the Christmas market weekends. Busses Camping is situated about 2.5 km from the city centre; it’s about a ten-minute walk to the nearest tram stop, ‘Musikhochschule’, and the tram then takes about eight minutes to reach the Old Town. It also takes just 15 minutes to cycle into the city centre. Even closer to the Old Town is the Camping Hirzberg campsite, which is open all year round and offers around 85 pitches.

2. The Ravenna Gorge Christmas Market

Anyone travelling to the Freiburg Christmas market should combine their visit with a detour to the Ravennaschlucht gorge in the Upper Black Forest. From 26 November to 20 December 2026, a small Christmas market featuring around 40 stalls will take place here every Thursday to Sunday beneath the illuminated viaduct of the Höllentalbahn railway. Due to high demand, the 2026 Christmas market will, for the first time, also be open on Thursdays, from 4 pm to 9 pm. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, the market’s opening hours are now uniformly from 2 pm to 9 pm. On offer are not only traditional crafts and local cuisine, but also Christmas concerts. An admission fee of €7.50 per adult will be charged for arrival before 4 pm and €9.50 for arrival after 4 pm. Admission is free for children up to and including the age of 15.

Arrival & pitches:

The Christmas market in the Ravenna Gorge itself cannot be accessed by motorhome or campervan. The car parks at the Ravennaschlucht are limited to the size of a urban Camper (e.g. VW California) and must be booked online at the same time as the admission tickets for specific time slots. Unfortunately, motorhomes or larger vehicles cannot park in this car park. Instead, a paid shuttle bus service is available to and from Hinterzarten/Himmelreich. There are Park & Ride car parks there, although these can also fill up quickly at Advent weekends. Therefore, you should book the shuttle bus and admission tickets together as a single ‘shuttle ticket’. An alternative is the Bankenhof campsite in Hinterzarten, which is open all year round and also has motorhome pitches available just before the barrier. Shuttle tickets are also available from Freiburg, so you can use the motorhome pitch there.

In 2026, however, the Advent house calendar will be a little different from usual: due to the scaffolding erected around the historic town hall, the familiar town hall motif will be recreated in its original size in front of the scaffolding. The 24 illuminated windows are integrated into this backdrop and will be unveiled anew each evening as radiant motifs. This year’s designs are once again by the renowned illustrator Olaf Hajek, whose colourful imagery transforms the town hall motif into a luminous work of art. The daily unveiling of the windows will be accompanied by a programme of events on the stage in front of the town hall, providing entertainment with music, stories and Christmas traditions on weekdays from 5 pm and at weekends from 3 pm.

4. Ice skating and Christmas markets in Karlsruhe

Visitors to Karlsruhe in 2026 can get into Christmas spirit in the "Christmas City". Thus, between 23rd November and 23rd December 2026, Karlsruhe's Christkindlesmarkt will once again be spread across the Marktplatz and Friedrichsplatz. In addition, there will be a medieval Christmas market in front of the Karlsburg in Durlach. You can also look forward to the traditional ice rink in front of the Karlsruhe Baroque Palace again. From 23rd November 2026 to 24th January 2027, you can once again strap on your skates and skate around the monument to Grand Duke Karl Friedrich. You'll be able to rent ice skates if you don't have any of your own. Moreover, you'll also be able to try out Bavarian curling, but not on ice. The ice rink is framed by a small winter village with culinary delights.