There’s nothing quite like a Christmas market to offer a much-needed dose of holiday season splendor. Is there anywhere else where it’s acceptable to saunter about with a hearty mug of mulled wine in one hand, an even larger potato pancake in the other, while exceeding your budget on handcrafted ornaments and posing for photos in front of an artisanal Santa sleigh? The answer, we can confidently say, is no.

If you’re especially lucky, you might even find yourself exploring a charming European Christmas market this winter—a bucket list item for travelers with a proclivity for unfettered cheer. A natural place to start when curating an itinerary is Germany, and for good reason: It is, after all, the birthplace of the Christmas market, with Dresden’s Striezelmarkt first springing up all the

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