Winter Wonders: The Wonderful Brussels Christmas Market

The Winter Wonders Christmas Market in Brussels, Belgium is a fantastic city-wide experience that the whole family enjoyed (especially the attractions).

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I’ve always had aspirations of going to Europe to spend time at a Christmas market. I’ve heard some good things about them and now that I’ve been, I can say there are some pros and cons, but overall I’d say it’s worth it to stop by but I wouldn’t necessarily make a trip solely to go to one. We went during Thanksgiving week in the US, which is generally as early as the Christmas markets tend to start for the season.

Location of Winter Wonders in Brussels

The Winter Wonders Christmas Market is spread out all over the center of the city. You could start out at one end (Central Station, on the far right of the map below) and walk all the way to Vismet (on the far left of the map below), and it would take a good 15 minutes if walking non-stop. That might be tough given how many pop-ups are along the way.

One that thing might be helpful is knowing which are the nearest metro stops. The Winter Wonders Christmas Market can easily be accessed via any of the following:

Gare Centrale (Brussels Central Station)
De Brouckère
Bourse
Sainte-Catherine

Winter Wonders 2025 is open each day from November 28, 2025 to January 1, 2026. Hours are from 12PM to 10PM except for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve when it closes at 6PM. While most of the market ends on January 1, the set-up by Place De Brouckère will remain operational until January 4, 2026 at 6PM.

City Hall is nicely decorated

One thing we particularly enjoyed was the large Christmas tree outside City Hall. During the day, you can get a nice photo with the family by the tree–if the kids are paying attention. There will always be crowding by City Hall, even outside the Winter Wonders celebration, but this is still less crowding than at night.

Next to the tree is a Nativity scene, a reminder of the humble beginnings of what we now recognize to be a major holiday.

While we were hanging out in the plaza, we happened to catch a glimpse of Santa peering out a window. It’s not clear to us if this is where he hangs out during the day, but he could choose far worse places than a city known for chocolate, waffles, fries, and beer.

At night, the tree lights up and the crowding could really be seen. There was a light show splashed up against the exterior of the City Hall and nearby buildings. We were here for opening night, and the anticipation was building for quite a while. There would be a short light show, then a countdown to wait for another 30 minutes before it continues. We would have considered sticking around longer, but with younger children and a need to leave early the next morning, we thought against it.

Winter Wonders has plenty of delicious food

Just take a brief walk around the many clusters of pop-up stores and you’ll find plenty of choices. Some of them, such as the one below, will remind you of being at a county fair with all sorts of fried food. Not every pop-up restaurant looks quite this neon.

Instead, we started out with a brief stop at a smaller shop, right next to the Belgian Beer World Experience. Most of what they have here is alcohol, but the kids found something they like…

…beignets. Yes, we started our evening with a sweet dessert, but that helped give them some fuel to power through all the walking. Our daughter Char wanted banana beignets and our son Alex wanted Oreo beignets. Given the special occasion, we got both, which were warm and gooey on the inside. Given how cold the weather can be in the evening, they were much needed.

For dinner, we wandered around to another location (by Place Sainte-Catherine) to find a spot with some incredibly delicious salmon sandwiches. The baguette is fresh and chewy, and the fresh cream inside binds the flavors together. This was easily our favorite meal of the evening.

Alternatively, Alex was hoping for some delicious bratwurst, and we found a place serving up gigantic versions of it. Given his preferences, we didn’t get any toppings on it. I personally think it would have been a better eat with a little senf or some cooked onions on top, but he managed to finish most of it himself. Growing boys need their fuel.

Meanwhile, Char chowed down on some churros to go with the salmon she enjoyed. While this one is considered petit, it certainly seemed large enough to satisfy the craving. It looked like a news station was taking a video of her while I was taking this picture, so if you happen to stumble across it, let us know!

Not all snacks have to be eaten right then. One example would be this giant candy shop that sold candy at an affordable €3.50/100 grams.

Plenty of drinking at Winter Wonders

First, a disclaimer. It seems like every European Christmas Market has the thing where you buy a reusable cup for €1 when you get a drink. You can get your deposit back by going to any drink vendor and returning it to get a €1 coin. There are different designs, and you could certainly decide to bring it home as a collector’s item. However, if that’s your intent, you should hide your cup. There is no shortage of people wandering the market, asking if they can take your cup from you. Some might even ask you before you finish your drink.

With that out of the way, I started the evening with some Glühwein, a mulled wine that is warmed with some sweetness to it. Anything to stay warm with the cold weather hitting us all night.

If beer is more of your thing, I preferred the choices from the ladies at Cafe Lutgarde. They have a nice variety of beers. Not warming, but still satisfying.

Yes, they had their own special branded cup that also had a €1 deposit.

If you’re not in the mood for alcohol, there is also plenty of hot chocolate. The kids liked stopping by the large Cécémel pop-up shop to get some hot cocoa to end the evening.

If you’ve had a few too many drinks, there is a sobriety check by the Belgian Beer World Experience. Even though I stopped by relatively early in the evening, there were plenty of people here testing their alcohol level. I think most of them were just doing it for fun, but perhaps that wouldn’t be true by the end of the night.

Activites

There are a number of fun activities to try out when you’re at Winter Wonders.

Ferris wheel

Over by Vismet–which also houses the largest number of pop-up shops–is the impressive Ferris wheel. This attraction is actually a permanent feature in the city (called The View). For only €10/adult or €6/child, you can take a ride on the giant wheel. Jenn took Char up here, and they had a good time with just a short line to get in. It gives a nice view of the immediate area, but it’s hard seeing much further than that at night.

Carousel

At Place Sainte-Catherine, you’ll find one of the most unique-looking carousels ever. This ride is intended only for children aged 2 to 11, and those 3 and under are limited in what they can ride. The cost is €4/ride or 6 for €20.

What stands out are the many choices for children, including birds with wings you can move, unicorns, boats the ride the waves, ostriches, and giant beetles.

The kids wanted to board a giant fish blimp with bicycle peddles underneath. It took a little assistance from us for them to get onboard.

But once they were up, they had a blast. A very fun carousel that we felt was worth the investment.

Flying sleigh ride

If a Dumbo-esque ride is more of your thing, there is a flying sleigh ride over by Place De Brouckère. We didn’t get a chance to ride this one, but it looked like a good option for younger children (or adults young at heart).

Ice skating and curling

Also by Place De Brouckère is an outdoor ice skating rink and three curling lanes. Yeah, curling–you know, that Olympic sport that’s always fun to watch. The price is only €8/adult and €4/child for half an hour, and it’s first-come-first-served.

Well, there was no line when we showed up and so, naturally, we had to give it a go. I have to warn you that it certainly didn’t seem that blue when we were there in person, but all the pictures came out blue.

This was our favorite activity here at the Brussels Winter Wonders. It was our first time curling, and captivated the kids a bit more than ice skating would have. The kids did get a little goofy towards the end, so the 30-minute time limit seemed perfect.

We could also see the ice skaters enjoying themselves. Even though it’s considered an outdoor rink, it is covered, so don’t expect many views of the lights while you’re skating.

Meet Santa

On the path between Vismet and Place De Brouckère is Santa’s Workshop. Normally, you could find Santa here, but perhaps he was too busy relaxing by City Hall to show up.

Closing Comments

We haven’t yet been to many Christmas Markets in Europe, but so far this was our favorite. Between the great food and the interesting attractions, we had a great time. There truly is fun for the whole family.

On top of all the food, drinks, and attractions, there are also some shops selling gifts and trinkets, but there aren’t quite as many stores as we’ve seen elsewhere.

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