Gluten-free Christmas market routes: Black Forest, North Germany and Vienna

← Christmas markets hub · Before you go, read what you can eat at the market

Plan your route

Most people don’t do one Christmas market. They string three or four together over a long weekend, and the trick is to pick a base where breakfast and dinner are sorted, then day-trip to the smaller markets around it. These three routes follow trips we’ve made ourselves. Places marked ★ are dedicated gluten-free kitchens or shops on our verified list; everywhere else, tell them you have coeliac disease and confirm on the day. Each market’s dates and opening hours are on its own page.

Black Forest and Alsace, 5 days, from Freiburg

Time this one around Sasbachwalden’s two weekends (27 to 29 November or 3 to 6 December 2026), because that’s the day you plan the whole trip around.

Base 1: Freiburg, two nights.

• Day 1, Freiburg. Settle in and walk the market in the lanes around the Münster in the evening: chestnuts, the mug, and a Lange Rote taken off its roll once you’ve asked what else is on the grill. Dinner at ★ M&K Döner, a fully gluten-free döner kitchen, so there’s nothing to negotiate. Stock up on gluten-free rolls and sweet bakes for the days ahead at ★ Feinkost Galerie Heldt, a dedicated gluten-free shop in the Altstadt.
• Day 2, Sasbachwalden. An easy day out from Freiburg to the entirely gluten-free market. Today the stalls are the meal: eat what you can’t eat anywhere else, from Strauben to a sausage in a real roll.
• Day 3, Gengenbach. A short regional train ride for the town hall that turns into a giant Advent calendar. Pair it with Offenburg next door for lunch; the Gengenbach page lists the options there. Optional half-days instead: Baden-Baden, or Europa-Park in Rust if you’re travelling with children.

Base 2: Strasbourg or Colmar, two nights.

• Day 4, Strasbourg. The Christkindelsmärik spreads across the squares of the Grande Île. For dinner, the Strasbourg page lists the places we can name.
• Day 5, Colmar. A short regional train ride between the two. Colmar’s old-town squares each carry their own market; we don’t have a dedicated kitchen there on our list, so plan lunch from the options on the Colmar page, or add Eguisheim close by.

Breakfast is at your base: the base pages name stays where we have gluten-free breakfast evidence, and a bag from Heldt covers the gaps.

North Germany, 4 days, from Hamburg

Base: Hamburg, three or four nights.

• Day 1, Hamburg. The historic market on the Rathausmarkt, then the floating tree on the Binnenalster. Coffee and cake at ★ Isabella Glutenfreie Pâtisserie in the Altstadt, part of a fully gluten-free brand, or at ★ Café Himmlische Versuchung, a dedicated gluten-free café-bakery in Eimsbüttel.
• Day 2, Lübeck. A regional train ride to the marzipan city, whose market fills the Marktplatz below the Rathaus. Remember that marzipan Stollen and marzipan Lebkuchen are still Stollen and Lebkuchen. Lunch at Café Erdapfel on the market square: baked potatoes with gluten-free options, not a dedicated kitchen, so tell them you have coeliac disease.
• Day 3, Lüneburg. A short regional train ride to the old salt town’s Advent market in the Altstadt and on Am Sande. We don’t have a dedicated kitchen there, so do the market in the afternoon and eat dinner back in Hamburg.
• Day 4, your choice. Kiel, where ★ senzo glutenfrei is an entirely gluten-free shop for stocking up; or move on to Bremen as a second base for its Marktplatz market and the Schlachte-Zauber on the Weser.

Breakfast is at your Hamburg base; the Hamburg page names the stays we have gluten-free breakfast evidence for.

Vienna, 3 days

Vienna is one base with several markets, and a deep bench of dedicated gluten-free kitchens, so every meal can be one you don’t negotiate. The organisers print this season’s dates as: the Christkindlmarkt on the Rathausplatz, 13 November to 26 December 2026 (christkindlmarkt.at); the Weihnachtsmarkt at Schloss Schönbrunn, 6 November 2026 to 6 January 2027 (weihnachtsmarkt-schoenbrunn.at); Spittelberg, 13 November to 23 December 2026 (spittelberg.at).

• Day 1, the Rathausplatz. The headline Christkindlmarkt in the evening: roasted Maroni and the drink in your mug. Ask about the Käsekrainer at the stall, because we make no composition claim for Austrian sausages. Dinner at ★ Gasthaus Zum Wohl, a dedicated gluten-free Viennese Gasthaus.
• Day 2, Schönbrunn. The palace market at Schloss Schönbrunn. Cake in the afternoon at ★ Die KonditoFrei, a dedicated gluten-free patisserie.
• Day 3, Spittelberg. Brunch at ★ Simply Raw Bakery, a dedicated gluten-free bakery and bistro, then the craft stalls in Spittelberg’s lanes. Or take the half-day across the border to Bratislava. Dinner at ★ Frau Fuchs, a dedicated gluten-free restaurant.

Stays with gluten-free breakfast evidence, and the rest of the city’s list, are on the Vienna page. From Vienna, Salzburg, Graz and Innsbruck each make a base of their own.

More easy pairings

• South Tyrol: base yourself in Bolzano and add Merano and Brixen / Bressanone, each a short regional train ride away. The Alpine stalls are heavy on Strudel, Knödel and barley soup, so plan the real meals from each page’s list.
• The Harz: Goslar pairs with Braunschweig.
• Alsace, south: Mulhouse pairs with Basel, just over the Swiss border.