Ready to visit the best Christmas markets in Scotland? I’ve been to Scotland so many times, I’ve lost count. On each visit during the cold months, I dive into the twinkling lights and festive cheer of the Scottish winter wonderland. Trust me, there’s nothing quite like it.
In just a few lines, let me whisk you away on a jolly journey through Scotland’s best Christmas markets. I’ve explored most of them – from the bustling streets of Edinburgh to the cozy corners of Glasgow. I’ve tasted their treats and danced (or not) to their carols.
Well, in this guide, your good ol’ friends at Travelness have helped you out…
By reading this blog post, you’re going to get the inside scoop. You’ll know the top spots for the perfect Christmas experience in Scotland.
… expect massive markets, homely ones, remote options, city thrills, and everything in between.
And, exciting spoiler for you: many of these aren’t just Christmas markets. Among the fun, you’ll also find fairground rides, train journeys, multi-day Christmas festivals, and visits to Santa’s grotto.
Hop in your sleigh and come join the party!
Below are the best Christmas markets in Scotland. Here’s a map to help you locate them easily.
1. Edinburgh Christmas Market
If you plan to spend Christmas in Scotland, this is the place where you should go first. Edinburgh Christmas Market (which is actually a load of different markets!) is the nation’s biggest, busiest, and best.
The fun sits in the well-known East Princes Street Gardens, and it dominates this part of the city.
You get all the standard stalls, selling gifts, crafts, and tasty treats, from 70 different vendors. Pretty and aesthetic, the stalls are German-style: expect lots of wood, lots of twinkling lights, and lots of pop-up bars.
Other highlights include concerts, carols, fairground rides, a Christmas tree maze, an ice skating rink, and visits from Santa.
If you have kids, head to the Santa Experience, where you’ll see elves, gifts, and Christmas trees… and where you’ll find storytelling sessions delivered by the big man himself.
Best Edinburgh Christmas Market news is: you have plenty of time to enjoy it all. The festivities usually run for 6 or 7 weeks, over a big ol’ chunk of the Christmas season.
For more Edinburgh excitement, follow the Star of Bethlehem to our guides on the 15 best day trips from Edinburgh, and our ultimate 2-day Edinburgh itinerary.
2. Glasgow Christmas Markets
Often overlooked in favor of the Edinburgh Christmas Market, Glasgow’s annual offerings are way better and bigger than most people expect.
You have two options:
The biggest and most famous is the George Square Christmas market (which are the second-largest in Scotland). Here, you’ll find live music, a German bar, a massive Christmas tree, an ice rink, a huge observation wheel, fairground rides, a silent disco, a Santa snow globe, and a little train ride.
by amanderson2 (licensed under CC BY 2.0)
Your second option is the markets at Glasgow St Enoch square. This area is a little smaller than the markets at George Square, and even more cute and cozy. But it also serves up plenty of big highlights, including an icy climbing wall, and ‘The Blizzard’… a hefty thrill ride where you fly through the air at 70 miles per hour (110 kilometers per hour).
Both markets feature a mix of international eats and local ones.
For more on Scotland’s biggest city, here’s our big guide to the best hotels and neighborhoods in Glasgow.
Outrageously-pretty Stirling looks like it was built with the sole intention of hosting festive markets.
… it has a charming Old Town, it’s backed by hills, and it has a massive cragtop castle looming high over the city.
And, in this castle, you’ll find a one-day Christmas market (with a lovely festive atmosphere).
Cozy and comfy, it’s pretty small, but it serves up a homely vibe, and loads of local artists and artisans. If you want to eat local and buy local, you’ll love it. Other highlights include live music, homemade mince pies, and wandering around the castle when you’re done.
For much more close-to-Stirling fun, ho-ho-ho your way over to our guides on The National Wallace Monument, and Stirling Castle. Oh, and here’s a guide to the Kelpies in Falkirk.
4. Aberdeen Christmas Village
One of the smaller city-based options, Aberdeen Christmas Village features around 20 separate stalls (with a big focus on local makers and the local economy).
Eats and treats include traditional festive feast, along with pizzas, cookies, and big decadent desserts. Lots of the products are organic and seasonal.
Other Christmas Village highlights include an ice rink, and a surprisingly-big fairground area. Stuffed into the fairground, you’ll find a big wheel, trampolines, a balloon ride, a helter skelter, a carousel, and plenty more.
Overall, one of the best options for people seeking a small and wholesome atmosphere. The festive season doesn’t get much cuter than this.
5. Perth Christmas Market
Considering Perth is only a little city, its markets are surprisingly big.
The festive season here start with the Christmas lights party, a free and fun-filled family-friendly event in Perth that features live music, street entertainment, ice caves, and most importantly, a spectacular lights switch-on.
Previous highlights here have included free food, soup-making competitions, magicians, craft workshops, reindeer, wooden cabins, a Santa’s grotto, and landmarks made from cake(!).
Plenty of Christmas spirit indeed!
… and if you fancy a boogie, get yourself over to St Paul’s, a former church. Here, you’ll find a silent disco (and it’s suitable for all ages).
And on top of all that stuff, you also—of course!—get lots of stalls selling both festive and not-festive food.
6. Oban Winter Festival
Okay, we’re now starting to get all niche and unusual.
Oban is one of the prettiest seaside towns in Scotland.
Sitting on the west coast of Scotland’s central stretch, the town is a well-known base for boat-tripping, seafood-munching, seal-colony-spotting, and loads of outdoor adventures.
But… as you’ve probably guessed from its inclusion on this list… it’s also home to some excellent festive markets.
Although the Oban Winter Festival offers stalls (featuring crafts and food and all the other standard stuff), it’s also way more than that:
The festival dominates the town, offering various events in pubs, cafes, independent theaters, and plenty other places. Expect comedy nights, music workshops, pop-up stalls, an ice rink, ceilidhs, a Santa and reindeer parade, and even a mini Haggis Festival.
Oban is always lovable. But during the winter festival, it’s even more endearing than usual. So if you can make it here, you absolutely should.
7. Traquair House Christmas Fair
Allegedly the oldest continually-inhabited house in the nation, Traquair House is a remote home in southern Scotland.
Sitting between Peebles and Selkirk, it’s been visited by 27 Scottish kings and queens, and the same family have lived here since 1491. Featuring 50 rooms, it’s an absolute mansion of a place, and it hosts two days of festive fun every year.
Inside, you’ll find festive decor (like your own house but better), a Santa’s grotto, live music, puppet shows, carol singers, and lots of local people selling eats, treats, and crafts. It’s much more unique and intimate than most other entries on our list.
It’s also hyper-traditional: for better or worse, you won’t find foreign food, or German chalets, or any other imported frills. Coming here for the festive fair is sort of like Christmasing in a Charles Dickens novel.
… overall, if you’re looking for homely or unusual, you’ll love this.
8. Helensburgh Winter Festival
The small coastal town of Helensburgh sits in a strange pocket of Scotland.
Home to loads of mini peninsulas, this part of the nation is like a scenic jigsaw puzzle of beaches and bays.
During winter, the Christmas markets here are small and intimate, featuring street food stalls, crafts, baked goods, local people, and decorations.
But the festivities go way beyond just stalls and stores:
Other highlights include a festival-style stage with live music, a dress-up-as-Santa race, and a lovely community vibe.
All the action is centered around the town square, which lies only one street away from the seaside… perfect for when you want some coastal winter views.
9. The Christmas Spectacular at Blair Drummond
Here’s something really unique and unusual for you:
Blair Drummond is one of the best zoos in the UK. A safari-style place, many of the animals roam freely, and big-beast highlights here include chimps, giraffes, lions, rhinos, tigers, penguins, and elephants.
… and over Christmas, all that fun is combined with a load of festive stuff.
Highlights include live performances (featuring storytelling, puppets, and lots of interaction), appearances from Santa, a festive fairground, dinosaur-themed illuminations, great food and drink, and lots of market stalls.
If you’re with kids, I can’t recommend this one enough.
10. Logie Steading Christmas Market
A remote and rural home, Logie Estate sits east of Inverness, close to the coast.
Located inside the quaint and quiet Findhorn Valley, this is one of the smallest Christmas markets we’ve brought you.
If you’re looking for little vibes, you’ll absolutely love the place. But if you want piles of fun for the whole family, you’ll probably want to give it a miss.
The event is firmly focused on local people and local goods. You won’t find anything from outside of Scotland here, and most of the traders come from within the Inverness area. Very cute and cozy, and endearingly wholesome.
11. Cawdor Castle Christmas Market
Very close to Logie Estate, Cawdor Castle is a massive still-inhabited mansion, and was built around a 15th-century tower house…
… and its exteriors feature gardens, woods, and a golf course.
The markets here are all outdoors, set in the grounds and gardens of the castle. It’s only been running since 2021, so it’s one of Scotland’s youngest Christmas markets.
You can expect around 30 local vendors, along with caroling, a pipe band, and pretty views of the castle. If you’re looking for something small and intimate, you’ll think this is one of the best festive markets in Scotland.
The castle sits around 14 miles (22.5 km) east of Inverness—if you live in the area, it’s worth a visit. If you don’t, it’s not worth traveling far for.
12. Drumlanrig Castle Christmas Fair
Massive Drumlanrig Castle (which is actually really a manor house) sits in southern Scotland, around a 30-minute drive north of Dumfries.
Previous slices of fun here have included a Santa-themed 5k run (where the competitors are dressed as the big man himself), choir recitals, and horse and cart rides.
… and, even better, every year, the castle is brightly lit in red and yellow.
Other quirky touches usually include clay cows, decorative glasswork, artisanal dog food, a pretty tearoom, trees and wreaths, and an atmospheric Santa’s grotto (along with standard food trucks, craft stalls, and Christmas eats and treats).
And on top of all that, the gardens, castle, and playground are all open as usual.
13. Loch Lomond Christmas Festival
Sitting close to the shores of one of the most famous lochs in Scotland, Loch Lomond Christmas Festival is a vastly-underrated option.
Ever Christmas-marketed around the shores of a massive lake?
Well, now you can.
Festive fun here includes markets, street food, loads of shopping opportunities, and a surprisingly-diverse bunch of stalls and stores (because it sits in a touristy area, this one isn’t quite as Scottish-focused as many of the other Christmas markets in Scotland).
Other highlights include funfair rides, festival lights, and loads of entertainment for kids including themed trails, characters from Frozen, and lots of kid-friendly food.
It sits in place literally (and confusingly) known as ‘Loch Lomond Shores,’ an entertainment complex with food, drink, dinosaur sculptures, an aquarium, and more family-friendly fun. So when you’re done with the markets, you can easily spend the rest of your day here. Highly recommended!
For more on Loch Lomond, here are the 17 best walks in Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.
14. Bonus Pick: Newcastle Christmas Markets
Okay, these Christmas markets actually happen south of the border… in neighboring England.
(so they’re not reeaaally among the best Scottish Christmas markets. Sorry for misleading you).
But if you’re in Edinburgh, you’re only a 90-minute train journey from Newcastle anyway. And the city (and its markets) are definitely worth visiting.
They’re not huge, but they’re great: when they’re in town, they dominate the city, and they’re always busy and popular. Expect handicrafts, German sausages, lots of Spanish food, and plenty of friendly faces (I’m biased, because I’m from Newcastle… but this is the friendliest part of England by a long way).
If you have kids, the real highlight of a December Newcastle visit is Fenwick’s window. This age-old shop has a different festive display each year, always with a different theme. Expect animatronics, famous characters, festive music, lots of awe-struck children, and a big long queue.
For more on the city and its surroundings, here are the best Christmas markets in North East England, the top 22 things to do in Newcastle, all the reasons why you should visit Newcastle, and everything you need to know about the city’s Geordie accent (spoiler alert: you’ll struggle to understand it).
Before You Go
And just like that, we’re done—they’re the 14 best Christmas markets in Scotland!
To sum up, your best options are Edinburgh Christmas Market, and all the markets in Glasgow.
… but if you’re looking for something a bit more unique, get yourself to Oban Winter Festival for a varied program in a pretty seaside town, or Stirling Castle Christmas Market for a festive funfest inside a beautiful ancient castle.
… and if you’re with kids, head to the Christmas Spectacular at Blair Drummond where you can combine festive fun with some of the biggest beasts on the planet.
For more, here’s our guide to the best Christmas markets in the UK.
Thanks for reading, thanks for choosing Travelness, and we’ll see you again soon. Merry Christmas!
