Echternach Christmas Market

The Echternach Christmas market lasts a single weekend in December: three days in the old town, between the Basilica of St Willibrord and the Place du Marché. The Chrëschtmoart, its Luxembourgish name, gathered around forty stalls in 2025 around a central food area warmed by three fire pits, with a carillon concert on Friday evening, wind band and choir concerts at the weekend, story readings for children and a Christmas musical at the Trifolion. At 25 km from Trier and 33 km from Luxembourg City, it is a weekend outing that slots into a visit to Trier or the capital.

A weekend in the old town: the Echternach Christmas market

The stalls take up the historic heart, around the basilica and on the Place du Marché. In 2025, Chronicle.lu counted about 40 of them, open from 5pm on Friday. In the middle, a food area with seating and standing room, and three fire pits to warm up between two rounds of the stalls. The format is that of a town festival: you come for an evening or an afternoon.

The Basilica of St Willibrord gives the market its backdrop. Once the weekend is over, the old town goes back to its winter rhythm: the dates therefore matter more here than for a six-week market.

Carillon, a musical and readings for children

The 2025 programme mixed music and dance on the square, a Christmas carillon concert on Friday evening, concerts by a wind band, a choir, the regional music school and a singer at the weekend, readings and film screenings for children, and a Christmas musical staged at the Trifolion. A bouncy castle rounded things off for the youngest. The 2026 programme will appear on echternach.lu, where the municipality has published the pages of previous editions with their photo galleries.

If you have a mulled wine around the fire pits, it will be called Glühwäin, a few kilometres from Germany and its Glühwein. The article on mulled wine and its variants sets out what changes from one country to the next, from the spices to the choice of wine. The Echternach Lions Club, for its part, has run a Feuerzangenbowle stall every year since at least 2017: mulled wine flambéed with sugar.

2026 dates and practical information

In 2025, the market ran from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 December, opening on Friday at 5pm; according to the Echternach Lions Club, present at the market, it was open on Friday from 5pm to midnight, Saturday from 11am to midnight and Sunday from 10am to 8pm. For 2026, the municipality has launched its call for exhibitors, associations and participants, with registration before 1 September 2026, and its Chrëschtmoart 2026 page announces the weekend of 11 to 13 December 2026: these dates remain to be confirmed on echternach.lu, where the opening hours will be published.

• Where: Echternach old town, Place du Marché (L-6460) and around the Basilica of St Willibrord.
• When: weekend of 11 to 13 December 2026 announced, to be confirmed; in 2025, from 12 to 14 December, opening on Friday at 5pm, closing on Sunday at 8pm.
• Duration: three days, one weekend a year.
• Local access: “Echternach, Gare Centre” bus station, Rue des Remparts.
• Nearby: Trier 25 km away, Luxembourg City 33 km away.

Getting to Echternach from France

Echternach has no railway station. From France, the train takes you to Luxembourg City, served by the Paris, Metz, Thionville, Luxembourg TGVs; from there, bus 201 goes direct to Echternach, and routes 211 and 212 make the same journey through the villages, with a departure every 30 minutes. Like all public transport in the Grand Duchy, these buses have been free since 29 February 2020, with no ticket to buy. The “Echternach, Gare Centre” bus station is on the Rue des Remparts.

By car, allow about 4h26 from Paris (392 km, without traffic), 1h17 from Metz (97 km), 57 minutes from Thionville (70 km) and 33 minutes from Luxembourg City (33 km). On the German side, the Trier Christmas market is 25 km and 28 minutes’ drive away, which makes it possible to see both on the same December day. The Luxembourg Christmas market, at the other end of the bus route, fills the squares of the capital and serves as a base for those staying in the Grand Duchy.