Olomouc Christmas Market 2026: A Weekend from Prague

Most markets leave you to pick a square, but here the organisers have planned the route for you. The Olomouc Christmas Market runs from a grand baroque square full of punch stalls to a quieter one for handmade crafts, then finishes with skating and a big wheel, and it’s an easy evening on foot.

Olomouc Christmas Market 2026

Dates

Status: Confirmed
Olomouc dates: 20th November to 23rd December 2026 (reduced trading until 31st December)
Last checked: October 2026

Update: Dates were announced in September. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified of changes.

Source: Verified by Ultimate Christmas Markets via Kulturni Olomouc.

Plan Your Visit

Location and Times

Location: Upper Square (Horní náměstí), Lower Square (Dolní náměstí) and the Market Place (Tržnice)
Opening times: 10am to 8pm
Christmas Day: Closed

Travel and Accommodation

Recommended Tour: Baroque fountains and UNESCO walk
Parking: Please take public transport to help limit congestion.
Where to stay: Miss Sophie’s is 3 minutes from Horní Náměstí, the main square.

Amenities and Attractions

Admission: Free
Opening ceremony: Lights and Christmas tree lighting. Sunday, 22nd November 2026, 6pm
Santa: Post Office and workshop
Attractions: 33-metre Advent Ferris wheel, 10-metre viewing tower, life-size carved nativity scene
Ice skating: Market Place (Tržnice). Free entry. 4th November to 5th January 2027
Reason to visit: A UNESCO-listed baroque centre, Olomouc’s famous punch and children’s workshops.

Dietary Options

Vegetarian: Yes, plenty of options
Vegan: Yes, plenty of options
Gluten free: Yes, but limited
Specialities: Nuremberg wine (a spiced hot wine), a long list of punches, Czech treats, sweet and bitter drinks, cherry brandy infusions.

Accessibility

Accessible: Yes
Pet-friendly: Yes, but not recommended during busy periods.

Convenient Hotels

Staying close to Horní Náměstí is ideal. This area places you near the market and within reach of the city’s historical attractions. For where to stay, I suggest Miss Sophie’s Boutique Hotel.

Recommended Tours

Everyone photographs the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc’s main square without knowing what it is. The walk round the Baroque fountains covers it along with the city’s six surviving fountains, and the guide fills in how a Moravian city ended up with all of it. Two to three hours, and best done before you start on the market’s punch stalls.

Visitor Feedback

What Visitors Loved

• The crowd is mostly Czech, with Moravian families and university students rather than tour groups, which gives the evenings a relaxed, neighbourly feel.
• The hot drinks are the standout, with visitors singling out the sheer range of punches as the reason to make the trip.
• Spreading the market over three sites keeps it from feeling cramped, and the carousel, workshop and rink give children enough to fill an afternoon.
• The lit-up baroque centre gets as much praise as the stalls, and several visitors rate it above bigger names in the region.

Common Complaints

• Weekends are the busy time, and guides suggest a weekday visit if you want room to browse the Upper Square.
• The Ferris wheel is a paid ride and adds up for a family, so the free rink is the better-value treat.
• Gift stalls close at 8pm while food and drink carry on later, so late arrivals find little left to shop.

The Bottom Line

Olomouc rewards a slow visit: walk the three sites in order, shop before 8pm and save the punch for after dark. Come on a weekday if you can, and stay the night rather than rushing back to Prague or Brno.

Event Location

What to Expect

Advent here is spread across three sites a few minutes’ walk apart, and the organisers lay them out as a route: start on the Upper Square (Horní náměstí), drop down to the Lower Square (Dolní náměstí), then finish at the Market Place (Tržnice).

The Upper Square is the main event. The UNESCO-listed Holy Trinity Column rises behind the Christmas tree, which local schoolchildren name each year, and the wooden village around it has 110 stalls of decorations, handicrafts, Advent candles and wreaths. Climb the 10-metre viewing tower for a look over the whole square, and keep an eye out for the historic children’s carousel.

Then there’s the punch. Olomouc is known across Czechia for its hot drinks, and the stalls on the Upper Square pour spiced, sweet and bitter blends laced with rum, cherry brandy or orange. Trying a few is half the evening, and in recent seasons a punch trail has guided drinkers from stall to stall.

The Lower Square is smaller and calmer, with around twenty wooden huts selling mostly handmade Czech goods. Its centrepiece is a nativity scene of life-size wooden figures by the woodcarver Vincker.

It’s also where children come to post their wish lists. Czech presents are brought by the Baby Jesus (Ježíšek) rather than Santa, and in his glass-walled workshop children write their letters, make candles and float walnut-shell boats.

The walk ends at the Market Place, where a 33-metre Ferris wheel looks back over the lit-up centre and an ice rink sits under a canopy of lights, with skate hire for anyone who’s travelled without a pair.

Food Specialties

• Punch (punč): Olomouc’s signature drink, hot blends of fruit, spice and spirits in more varieties than you’ll get through in one evening.
• Nuremberg wine (norimberské víno): A hot spiced wine served alongside the punch, and one of the drinks the market is best known for.
• Mulled wine (svařák): Red wine heated with cinnamon and cloves, the standard order at any Czech market.
• Honey wine (medovina): Fermented honey, usually served warm, sweet and stronger than it tastes.
• Grilled sausage (klobása): Served with mustard or horseradish and a slice of rustic bread.
• Potato pancakes (bramboráky): Grated potato with garlic and marjoram, fried until crisp and best eaten straight from the pan.
• Smoked mackerel (uzená makrela): A whole smoked fish eaten with your fingers, a Czech market favourite that surprises most visitors.
• Chimney cake (trdelník): Dough wrapped round a spit, roasted over the flame and rolled in sugar and nuts. It’s a newcomer to Czech markets rather than an old tradition, but hard to resist.

Gifts and Stocking Fillers

• Olomouc cheese (Olomoucké tvarůžky): Small ripened soft cheeses with a famously strong smell, made in nearby Loštice for centuries. Buy a sealed pack if they’re going home in your suitcase.
• Carved nativity figures: A stall beside the Lower Square nativity sells smaller versions of Vincker’s carved figures, a gift that’s hard to find anywhere else.
• Market mug: A commemorative mug featuring the Town Hall and the Holy Trinity Column, a souvenir you’ll actually use once you’re home.
• Moravian ceramics: Hand-painted plates, mugs and decorative pieces in regional folk patterns.
• Czech glass ornaments: Hand-blown baubles from a country with a long glassmaking tradition.
• Forged ironwork: Candle holders, hooks and small decorations from Czech blacksmiths.
• Beeswax candles and honey: Bee products are a market staple, along with bottles of honey wine to take home.

Sustainability Tips

• Follow the walking route: The three sites sit a few minutes apart on foot, from the Upper Square down to the Lower Square and on to the Market Place, so there’s no need for transport once you’re in the centre.
• Take the tram: The main station (hlavní nádraží) is about 2km from the Upper Square. Trams 1, 3, 5 and 7 stop at Tržnice, right by the rink and Ferris wheel, and náměstí Hrdinů is the other handy stop.
• Get an Olomouc Region Card: The 48-hour or five-day card covers city public transport and entry to a long list of museums, castles and chateaux in the region.
• Reused Christmas trees: In recent years the main tree on the Upper Square has been a mature tree donated by owners who needed it removed, and the small live trees that decorate the stalls have been handed out to residents of the two squares at the end of the season.
• Buy from the charity punch stalls: Part of their takings goes to local organisations, recently including groups that support people with autism.
• Shop handmade on the Lower Square: Its twenty or so huts focus on handmade Czech goods, and stallholders have demonstrated their crafts on Advent Sunday afternoons.