York Christmas Market | Illuminations, Events & Where to Visit 2025
Last Updated on 16th December 2025 by Sophie Nadeau
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York is a cosy historic city filled with charm and curious tales. Come the festive season, a warming glow and Christmas cheer take over the quaint cobbled streets of this northern English cathedral city. Here’s your ultimate guide to visiting York during the festive season of 2025!
Christmas Market 2025 dates: 13th November – 21st December (10 am – 7 pm)
Contents
A brief history of markets in York
York pre-dates many cities that were bestowed a market charter. It’s history of markets can be traced back over 1,000 years ago, when in 700 AD the Saxon town was bestowed its first market charter; this allowed for a market to be held in a specific place, on specific days.
While winter markets and whatnot would likely have taken place throughout the centuries, the first official Christmas market, known as ‘York’s St Nicholas Fair, ‘ first opened its doors in 1992.
Starting out with a humble total of twelve stalls. Since then, it has flourished into a popular festive marketplace now, boasting over 75 different stalls.
Each year, locals have the opportunity to apply for a wooden chalet for which to sell their handmade wares and treasures. Indeed, 80% of York’s Christmas market is made up of local businesses. Once the final decision on who will be allowed to sell is made, you can check out the year’s market traders here.
Where do the markets take place?
The award-winning York Christmas Market takes place on Parliament Street and in St Sampson’s Square, right in the heart of the city’s historic centre.
York’s Christmas Market
York’s annual Christmas Market, or ‘St Nicholas’ Fair’, is best known for its championing focus on sustainability, seasonal charm and thousands of twinkling lights that bring the city to life each winter.
The market features around 75 alpine chalets which house local artisans, many of whom embrace eco-friendly practices and sell unique gifts made with mindfulness and care for our environment.
Upon visiting York’s Christmas Market, it’s almost a breath of fresh air compared to that of the usual German-style markets in the UK, which tend to house Bavarian-style chalets crammed with overpriced mass-produced goods.
Instead, these small wooden garden shed-like huts are simple in their decoration and home to plenty of handmade and quality goods that make for the perfect Christmas gifts for loved ones.
There’s also, of course, the traditional offerings of mulled wine and hot cocoa to purchase, and some food vendors selling piping hot food to gorge on. But, by way of the market itself, overall it’s mainly a shopper’s haven and great opportunity to chat to locals about their wonderful creations!
Other Christmas events and attractions in York
Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland at York Designer Outlet
Presented by HARIBO, York’s Winter Wonderland is a fun, festive event which boasts the largest ice skating rink in the north of England!
Home to thrilling funfair rides, Santa’s grotto and a cosy alpine café, this event is particularly popular with families. And, as you might expect from an event brought to you by HARIBO, the tree is topped with a golden gummy bear.
Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland is free to visit, with tickets for sale for individual attractions, including the ice rink. The ice rink will be open until the 5th of January 2025.
Christmas at St Saviourgate (catch a Christmas film)
A favourite pastime when it comes to the festive season has to be getting cosy with a hot drink and watching familiar classics in the form of Christmas movies.
In 2024, the Picturehouse will provide a pop-up screen at St Saviour’s Church and be showing all the iconic festive classics, from A Muppet’s Christmas Carol, to Love Actually, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Elf! Check out what’s on here.
York’s Museum Gardens (visit the winter bar)
While York’s Museum Gardens are unlikely to be bursting with life in terms of greenery, at this time of year, they still make for a pleasant winter stroll when the air is crisp and the weather dry.
Found within the gardens is a small winter bar pop-up known as THOR’s Tipi. This huge tipi houses a roaring fire, a bar stocked with plenty of festive favourites and some hot food. It also hosts a range of live music performances throughout the season.
The bar is open from Monday to Saturday: 11 am – 10.30 pm & Sundays: 11 am – 9 pm (Last entry 8:30 pm)
Wander down Shambles
One of the cutest and most historic streets of York is Shambles, lined with well-preserved medieval buildings, some of which date back to the 14th century. It’s also said to be where JK Rowling drew inspiration for Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley!
The street name itself derives from the word “Shamel”, which was a name given for the butcher’s stalls or benches on which their meat was displayed.
As this is such a popular street to wander down, you can be sure to see plenty of twinkling illuminations, decked out store fronts and decorations on display here.
Imagine this, you’re Cameron Diaz, arriving in the quaint English countryside (granted, York is a city) and drinking a bottle of red wine as you fill your boots with local delicacies and Christmas delights. This is exactly the kind of shops you can expect to find here. *Note, this is a reference from the (amazing!) film, The Holiday (2006)
Stop by the House of Trembling Madness
While its name probably suggests the opposite of something festive to do, the House of Trembling Madness is a cosy medieval pub which serves delicious comfort food that’s perfect for the festive season and, hard-to-find Belgian beers.
The House of Trembling Madness takes its name from medieval times when people drank more beer than they did water, as it was deemed safer. As a result, they often suffered from trembling madness, more commonly known as “Delirium Tremens” (the name for a popular brand of Belgian beer).
Discretely hidden behind the guise of its main bottle shop, if you head upstairs you’ll find the charming ale house, brimming with punters and eaters. The pub itself serves a large selection of craft ales and beers on draughts. In terms of food, there are plenty of classics, including dishes with mashed potatoes!
This pub has two locations in York, but the cosiest one is at 48 Stonegate.
Festive cream tea at Betty’s
Betty’s Café Tea Rooms is a Yorkshire institution which has been serving tea and baked goods to the people of York since 1937 (it was the fourth Betty’s to open).
When York’s Christmas market starts to open, this traditional mainstay tearoom starts to offer ‘Betty’s Christmas Afternoon Tea’ to get everyone in the festive spirit. While this is a little more on the pricey side, it’s definitely the perfect treat and experience to share with some of your favourite people.
Surrounded by history, the tearoom is housed within a room of beautiful original Art Deco features, and of course, come Christmas, it’s decked out with all the decorations and trimmings you might hope for!
Christmas service at York Minster
York is probably most famous for its York Minster, a grandiose Gothic Cathedral that’s one of the largest in Europe. Also known as the The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, the cathedral was founded in the 7th-century and is now one of the most impressive ecclesiastical buildings in the world!
While throughout the year, a visit to this cathedral is one of the most expensive things to do in York (adult admission is £18), the one time of the year where you can visit for free is Christmas! Of course, this does mean you have to sit through the entire Christmas service on Christmas day itself, which isn’t for everyone, but magical nonetheless.
Watch our Winter in York vlog
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