In two weeks Munich will smell of roasted almonds again. The city’s Christkindlmarkt on Marienplatz opens on 20 November and the Tollwood Winter Festival on the Theresienwiese follows on 24 November. Both work well with children, and neither charges admission.
Christkindlmarkt on Marienplatz: 20 November to 24 December. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday 10am–9pm, Sunday 10am–8pm, and 10am–2pm on Christmas Eve. The market is closed on Totensonntag, 22 November. On 27 November and 12 December some stalls may stay open until 10pm, but not all will. Getting there: U3, U6 or S-Bahn to Marienplatz. The market spreads to Rindermarkt, and the Kripperlmarkt in front of the Alter Peter church sells nativity figures, full cribs and accessories.
Children aged 6 to 12 can join the “Himmelswerkstatt”: free crafting in the New Town Hall, daily from 26 November to 13 December, at 2.30–4pm and 4.30–6pm. You must register in advance with the Kindermuseum München; the meeting point is the Fischbrunnen on Marienplatz.
Tollwood Winter Festival: 24 November to 23 December. The easiest route is the U4 or U5 to Theresienwiese. The “Markt der Ideen” opens at 2pm Monday to Friday and 11am at weekends; it closes at 10.30pm on Monday and Sunday, 11.30pm Tuesday to Saturday, and 10pm on the last day, 23 December. Access to the grounds and the market is free, and the organisers say more than 90 per cent of cultural events cost nothing. Tickets are needed only for the Grand Chapiteau shows – “Ten Thousand Hours” (25–29 November), “Triptych” (2–9 December), “Mad in Finland” (12–20 December, no show on 14 December) – and the New Year’s Eve party on 31 December from 7pm.
The free children’s programme is aimed mainly at ages 4 to 12; Tollwood has not yet published the 2026 details, so check the festival site before you go.
Our take: on a tight budget, a weekday afternoon at Tollwood is the best bet – free entry, and before 5pm on working days it is usually much calmer than at weekends. Himmelswerkstatt places may go quickly; that is our assumption, not the organiser’s statement. Food and mulled wine cost extra at both markets, and prices are not published in advance.
Sources: muenchen.de – Christkindlmarkt, muenchen.de – Tollwood Winterfestival
