Christmas Markets 2011

(EDIT: info from 2011, for updated 2013 info, click here!) This weekend (Nov 19th & 20th) kicks off the Christmas season in Stockholm! Besides the unveiling of this year's Christmas light decorations on Sunday at 4pm throughout the downtown area, it is also the premiere for the first Christmas markets. These markets are the perfect places to get into the holiday spirit and to purchase Swedish holiday goodies... ornaments, handicrafts, winter accessories, candies and local delicacies. I did write about the different markets in detail last year, but I thought it would be a good idea to update the dates and times for the different markets throughout the city for 2011.

• Old Town (Gamla Stan)- located in the main square Stortorget, this market has its premiere on Nov 19th at 1pm and will then run daily (11am to 6pm) until December 23rd.
• Skansen- located on the island of Djurgården, the open-air museum (and zoo!) will hold its Christmas market each Saturday & Sunday (10am to 4pm) on the four weekends leading up to Christmas starting on November 26th.
• Kungsträdgården- This market kicks off already on November 19th. It starts off being open on the last two weekends of November before being open daily between the 2nd and 22nd of December (11am to 6pm). Located in the middle of the city, this park is also where you find the outdoor ice-skating rink!
• Sergels Torg- this market, located right around the corner from Kungsträdgården, opens on November 25th and runs daily until December 23rd (no opening hours posted yet).

These are the four main Christmas markets. There will be some smaller or unique markets open for one weekend or one day only and I will be sure to list them as well a little later on.