Every August Bristol fills its sky with hot air balloons, and come winter one turns up on the ground among the chalets, kitted out as a dining booth alongside a set of private ski gondolas. The Bristol Christmas Market runs to around forty stalls, so the pull is less the shopping than the slightly absurd places it gives you to sit with a drink.
Bristol Christmas Market 2026
Dates
Status: Confirmed
Bristol dates: 6th November to 23rd December 2026
Last checked: October 2026
Update: Dates were announced in June. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified of changes.
Source: Verified by Ultimate Christmas Markets via Bristol.
Plan Your Visit
Location and Times
Location: Broadmead
Opening times: 10am to 7pm
Food and drink stalls: 10am to 10pm
Christmas Eve: 10am to 6pm
Christmas Day: Closed
Travel and Accommodation
Recommended Tour: Blackbeard to Banksy walking tour
Public transport: Buses run regularly to Bristol Shopping Quarter.
Parking: Please take public transport to help limit congestion.
Where to stay: Hort’s Townhouse is near Broadmead.
Amenities and Attractions
Admission: Free
Santa: No
Ice skating: No
Reason to visit: The Bavarian Jäger Barn Bar and Ski Gondolas.
Dietary Options
Vegetarian: Plenty of options.
Vegan: Some options.
Gluten-free: Limited. Ask individual vendors, but beware of cross-contamination.
Specialities: Mulled cider, Somerset Brie bites, Bristolian sausage rolls, local chutney and jams, Clifton Seafood.
Accessibility
Accessible: Yes
Pet-friendly: Not recommended
Convenient Hotels
I suggest staying at Hort’s Townhouse as it’s highly rated and centrally located. Alternatively, Hampton by Hilton is a nearby budget hotel. I’ve stayed at Hampton by Hilton before, and they’re better than some other budget places.
Read our guide to hotels in Bristol for more places to stay.
Read our UK Christmas Markets guide for more ideas on where to go this winter.
Recommended Tours
The Blackbeard to Banksy walking tour covers Bristol’s privateering and slaving history to the street art that came out of it later, and it doesn’t skip the uncomfortable parts.
Visitor Feedback
What Visitors Loved
- The bookable gondolas and the balloon basket get the warmest reviews, mostly from groups who wanted somewhere to sit without a queue.
- Gift stalls come off better than the food. Knitwear, pottery and prints from regional makers are the repeat recommendations.
- Visitors like that it folds into a shopping day rather than replacing one, with Cabot Circus and St Nicholas Market both within a few minutes’ walk.
- After dark, the bar area is where the market comes alive, with live music most evenings.
Common Complaints
- Food draws the most consistent criticism, with soggy pork rolls, doughnuts that weren’t fresh, and prices that visitors felt outran the quality.
- Regulars say the market has slipped since it changed hands, and several describe it as a shadow of the German market it used to be.
- Anyone arriving from Edinburgh, Bath or a German market finds forty stalls thin for a city this size.
- The setting takes a beating too. Shuttered shopfronts and litter around the edges of the stalls come up often in reviews.
The Bottom Line
Treat this as an evening bolted onto a shopping day rather than a market worth crossing the country for, and it delivers. Eat elsewhere, book a gondola in advance if you want one, and come on a weekday while the gift stalls are still trading.
Location Map
What to Expect
The chalets thread through the pedestrianised shopping streets instead of taking over a square of their own, so you move between wooden stalls and high street shopfronts as you go. Gift stalls wind down well before the bars do, and the crowd shifts from shoppers to drinkers as it gets dark. If you are weighing this against Bath, expect a fraction of the scale and a fraction of the crush.
Food at the Stalls
- Bristol Blue Cheese: Tangy blue-veined cheese made on the city’s edge, sold by the wedge or in a roll.
- Cider-Braised Pulled Pork: Slow-cooked in Somerset cider and served in a bun.
- Yorkshire Pudding Wraps: A full roast dinner rolled inside a Yorkshire pudding, which is the British market stall’s own invention and baffles every visiting German.
- Bratwurst: A holdover from the years this ran as a German market, and still one of the longest queues on site.
- Bristol Craft Beer: The city has one of the strongest brewing scenes in England, and local kegs turn up on the bar alongside the glühwein.
What to Buy
- Bristol Blue Glass: Cobalt glassware the city has been making since the 18th century, from baubles to vases.
- Street Art Prints: Bristol’s graffiti tradition runs from Banksy through to the Upfest murals in Bedminster, and it shows up on prints, cards and ceramics.
- Clifton Suspension Bridge Souvenirs: Brunel’s bridge on everything from postcards to tea towels.
- Bristol Gin: Small-batch bottles from city distilleries, often in flavours like elderflower and rhubarb.
- Handmade Jewellery and Pottery: The regional makers’ stalls, which are the ones visitors consistently rate highest.
Sustainability
- Park outside the Clean Air Zone: Central Bristol charges non-compliant cars £9 a day. The council park and ride sites at Brislington, Portway and Long Ashton all sit outside the boundary, parking is free, and the return bus fare into Broadmead covers everyone in the car.
- Walk up from Temple Meads: The station is about fifteen minutes on foot from the stalls via Castle Park, so arriving by train needs no onward bus at all.
- Refill instead of buying bottled water: The Refill scheme started in Bristol and the city has more refill points than anywhere outside London. The app maps cafes and bars that will fill your bottle for nothing, and there are public fountains in Queen Square and Millennium Square.
- Buy from the traders at St Nicholas Market: The covered market a few streets away is council run and stocked with independent Bristol sellers, and it puts out its own outdoor stalls in the run-up to Christmas Eve.
Comment below if you want to leave a Xmas review, have any questions or would like to report any inaccuracies.
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Recommendations are independently chosen based on personal travel experiences and extensive research. While we make every effort to provide accurate information, the dates and details listed here should not be relied upon as definitive. Please consult the official website before booking your trip or planning a visit.
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