Exploring Düsseldorf’s Christmas markets

Sprawling around several bends of the mighty Rhine is Düsseldorf, Germany’s seventh most populous city. Though wealthy, it has less of a rich history than some of its neighbours on the Rhine. Business travellers and high-end shoppers have been its bread and butter, but since hosting Eurovision in 2011 it’s experienced a tourism boost and for a Christmassy weekend exploring the traditional markets it’s a stylish place to visit.

The easy hop over the North Sea from Bristol Airport in one of flybmi’s dinky 50-seat planes takes just over an hour; barely enough time to drink the complementary glass of wine. Düsseldorf’s modern airport is just 7km north of the city centre, and connects with the Hauptbahnhof (central train station, often abbreviated to Hbh) via the overground S-Bahn.

Less than a five-minute walk from the terminal is the four-star Maritim Hotel (rooms start from €99 per night). Chic, spotlessly clean and supremely quiet despite its runway views, it has a gym, small indoor swimming pool, two bars and three restaurants, including one specialising in sushi.

The modern and clean Maritim Hotel in Düsseldorf is just a few minutes’ walk from the airport

When you venture out, wrap up warm (daytime temperatures are just above zero on average at this time of year) and take the U-Bahn to Heinrich-Heine-Allee metro station, which sits between the modern shopping district and the Altstadt (old town).

As soon as you take the exit onto Flinger Street, you’ll emerge in the middle of the Engelchen (angel) Markt, one of nine Christmas markets running across the city until December 30.

A guided tour of the markets costs from €12 per person and is useful for getting your bearings. The glittering stalls of the angel market, selling decorations and traditional gingerbread, are topped with fairy lights and angelic figures, while the bandstand drips with lights and is a magical spot for a mulled wine.

The angel market lights up the dark evenings with its picturesque stalls selling decorations and bandstand,  transformed into a bar for the Christmas period

Continue walking through the cobbled shopping streets old town to find the Sternchen (star), Altstadt (old town) and Handwerker (craft) markets. Of these, the Handwerker has the most Christmas spirit of all. Wrapped on two sides by the the 16th century Rathaus, a huge Christmas tree with baubles bigger than your head stands resplendent next to a life-sized wooden nativity scene.

The stalls sell handmade gifts including wooden nutcrackers and Räuchermännchen, small wooden incense burners shaped like a man with a pipe, the sweet smoke coming out of his mouth.

Traditional gift and Christmas decorations are on sale at the city’s nine separate markets

There’s plenty of hot gluhwein (€3.50) on sale here too, as well as punch made in great rainbow-tinted copper vats, sweet hot chocolate and creamy eggnog with a generous squirt of cream on top.

Be prepared to pay €2 (in cash) to hire a glass mug with the Christmassy Düsseldorf skyline on it and remember to return it to get your deposit back.

Punch made in great copper vats is sold at the Handwerker Markt by the city hall

Dip out of the markets for a moment and head for Mittelstraße. You won’t be able to miss the queues outside Hinkel, the windows of the bakery packed with loaves and sweet treats. Nip inside to buy some delicious gingerbread from twinkly-eyed proprietor Josef Hinkel, whose son happens to live in Bristol. Josef is the fourth generation of bakers to run this shop, his great-grandfather having moved to Düsseldorf from Aachen with the secret of breadmaking packed in his suitcase.

Pass the food market on Carlsplatz (Mon-Sun) and the mustard shop on Berger Straße (Düsseldorf claims to be the home of the condiment) and you’ll emerge onto Burgplatz.

Düsseldorf’s compact Altstadt (old city) has cobbled pedestrian streets packed with shops and pop-up stalls

Once the site of the castle, long-destroyed but for one tower that now houses the Maritime Museum, it is home to the massive Wheel of Vision until January 27 (€7.50 for adults) and a traditional hot food market. Try the Reibekuchen, crunchy deep fried potato cakes served with either a tangy apple sauce or treacle and black bread, before you get on the wheel.

From the heated gondola, look above the wide riverside boulevard to spot the modernist high-rise block designed by Paul Schneider-Esleben, father of Florian Schneider, better known as one half of local band Kraftwerk.

Dusseldorf’s Wheel of Vision remains in Bergplatz until January 27 2019

The Altstadt is also where you’ll find Düsseldorf’s dark and hoppy local drink – Altbier – and more than 260 places to drink it. Dubbed ‘the longest bar in the world,’ this square kilometre becomes packed full of drinkers enjoying a top-fermented beer recipe that predates the invention of refrigeration, with five microbreweries including Uerige Obergärige making their own on site.

You also can’t leave without trying Killepitsch, the fruity local version of Jägermeister with just a hint of cough medicine about it.

Traditional Altbier and local spirit Killepitsch are available in the bars of the old town and the Christmas markets

Düsseldorf has long been a cultural melting pot, and the range of restaurants reflect this. The city has the largest Japanese population in Germany, and near the Hauptbahnhof is the Japanese district with some excellent noodle bars.

Local cuisine steers firmly towards meat and potatoes: try bratwurst in a bun at the Burgplatz market, currwurst and chunky chips at a branch of cheap and cheerful branch of Curry, or potato dumplings with beef marinated with vinegar to create a sour gravy (sauerbraten) at Im Goldenen Ring, a traditionally-decorated restaurant on the Burgplatz.

The food market around Kö-Bogen sells a range of traditional snacks, with meat and potatoes featuring heavily

Return to Heinrich-Heine-Allee metro station and exit onto Theodor-Körner-Straße to find Düsseldorf’s most famous street: Köningsallee.

A canal fed by the river Düssel flows down the centre of this wide, tree-lined boulevard, with the banking district on one side and high-end shops including Burberry, Longchamp, Cartier, Armani and Karl Lagerfeld on the other. Look out for the festive display of Steiff bears in the window of department store Galeria Kaufhof, and for the guiding dome of lights arching over the canal.

The ice rink (to January 27) has a large viewing area and is surrounded by food and drink stalls

The huge outdoor ice rink opposite the bridge (to January 27) has been designed around the historic fountain on Corneliusplatz, and fills with skaters young and old as it starts to get dark. Skate hire is not included in the ticket price (€7.50 for adults) but is available. If it all sounds a bit too energetic, take a seat in the rinkside lodge with its big open-air terrace, or wander around the adjoining pop-up stalls selling curly fries and waffles.

There’s more food and drink, as well as indoor shopping opportunities, in the nearby Kö-Bogen market. With more space, as well as a big covered area to congregate in, it’s a popular place to meet friends and soak up the festive vibe if the crush of the old town is getting too much. Sip a hot drink bundled up against the cold and relax: you’re a million miles from the Christmas rush.

The Wheel of Vision as viewed from the riverside promenade

flybmi offers daily flights from Bristol to Dusseldorf from £88 one way. All fares are inclusive of 23kg of hold luggage, allocated seating, complimentary in-flight drinks and snacks and speedy 40-minute check-ins. For more information, or to book, visit www.flybmi.com or call 0330 333 7998.

The first-class deluxe Maritim Hotel Düsseldorf offers 533 sumptuous rooms and suites, three restaurants and three bars and an exclusive wellness complex with pool, sauna, steam bath and fitness area and massage facilities. For the best prices, including a 5 per cent saving by booking directly online, visit www.maritim.com

Read more: Travel to Vienna for some of Europe’s best Christmas markets