Every holiday event on our radar for November and December 2026: Christmas markets, light festivals, parades and New Year's Eve across the US and Europe. Each one is worth doing on your own, and most link to a free 48-hour city guide. All dates confirmed for 2026.
Free ice skating (bring your own skates), 180-plus holiday kiosks and a rink-side lodge with two bars. The easiest drop-in holiday scene in Manhattan.
A new-music festival spread across downtown venues you can walk between in minutes. It is built around wandering, so it works well on your own.
Fireworks across nearly every borough, four centuries after a foiled plot to blow up Parliament. The last of our fall guides and the first night of the winter season.
At 11:11 on the 11th, Cologne's old town fills with costumed crowds to kick off Carnival season. Strangers link arms and sing, so you won't stay solo for long.
The Rathausplatz market sets the standard for Vienna's dozen-plus holiday markets. Schönbrunn Palace opens even earlier, on November 6, and runs to January 6.
Two headline markets ten minutes apart on foot. The Basilica square adds a nightly light show on the façade. Pair it with a thermal bath after dark.
The world's second-oldest amusement park buried in lights, with an ice rink included in your entry ticket. Peak hygge, and the Copenhagen Card covers admission.
Stalls packed into Roncalliplatz right beneath the twin spires. Cologne runs several separate markets, all within walking distance of each other.
Ice rink, giant wheel, rides and German-style market stalls. Entry is ticketed. Off-peak weekday tickets are the cheapest and the least crowded.
Nuremberg-style stalls in Daley Plaza under the Picasso, plus a second market at Wrigley Field. Glühwein comes in a collectible mug.
This year it opens earlier than ever, with stalls running from Marienplatz down to Rindermarkt. Live Advent music plays from the City Hall balcony.
Roughly three million white lights across the nation's oldest city. It is free, and the best way to see it is walking. Covered in depth in our Florida solo traveler's guide.
Berlin's most elegant market is back on its renovated home square between the two domes and the Konzerthaus. A small entry fee keeps the crowds in check.
The giant balloons run down Central Park West and Sixth Avenue. One person squeezes into a curbside gap far more easily than a family of five.
The 15th edition fills the canals with light art. You can see it free on foot, or book a heated canal cruise if the wind off the IJ is biting.
The market Chicago's is modeled on, first recorded in the 1600s. The Christkind opens it from the Frauenkirche balcony. Easy to reach by train from Munich.
Strasbourg calls itself the Capital of Christmas, and its market dates to 1570. More than 300 chalets are spread across the old-town island.
Lit-up barges float the River Walk and switch on the holiday lights, which then stay on nightly into January. There is a free viewing section if you skip the reserved seats.
A Bavarian-styled mountain village under half a million lights, about 2½ hours from Seattle. Go on a weeknight: weekend parking and dinner waits are rough.
A towering tree in front of the Týn Church with wooden stalls all around. It runs through New Year to Epiphany, unlike most German markets.
Catalonia's oldest Christmas fair, running since 1786 outside the cathedral. Nativity figures, mossy greenery and the Caga Tió log. A very local holiday you won't see anywhere else.
The ceremony itself is a crush. The next morning, before the offices fill, you get the tree and the rink almost to yourself.
The big fair is ticketed, but 20-plus satellite fairs, Wynwood murals and gallery parties make the whole week an art crawl. Book lodging early.
A one-weekend village market lit by oil lamps in Neukölln's old Bohemian quarter. Charity-run and very local, with no souvenir stalls.
Four nights of free light art on façades and squares across Lyon, rooted in a 1643 vow. No tickets, no reservations: just walk the routes.
A national holiday that unofficially opens Rome's Christmas season. Crowds gather at the Spanish Steps column for the traditional floral tribute, and the Piazza Navona stalls are in full swing.
More than 300 horned Krampuses, Perchten and Klause parade through the Christmas market with bells and chains. Free to watch. Get a curb spot early.
Candlelit processions and Lucia concerts in churches across the city on the darkest stretch of the year. Pair it with saffron buns and glögg.
Towering wooden bonfires lit along the Mississippi levees to "guide Papa Noël." About an hour upriver from New Orleans. Plan the ride back in advance.
Four days of New Year in Edinburgh: a river of 15,000 torches, the Street Party under the castle, and fireworks at midnight. Hogmanay pretty much guarantees you'll be singing Auld Lang Syne with strangers.
The bucket-list version of New Year's Eve. Expect hours penned in without restrooms. Many solo travelers watch from a rooftop bar instead and call it a win.
Neighborhood bonfires in the evening, then a midnight free-for-all of fireworks across the city. Hallgrímskirkja hill has the best view.
missed fall? the Fall Festival Calendar →