With Christmas fast approaching, ABTA’s latest data shows that 27% of people who are planning to go on holiday this winter are heading off on a Christmas market break.

While many may choose to visit their local Christmas market in the UK, there are plenty to choose from in Europe and further afield – from Dresden's Striezelmarkt (thought to be one of the oldest Christmas markets in the world) to Union Square Holiday Market in New York or even locations in Asia such as Christmas Wonderland in Singapore.

As revealed in ABTA’s new report, Travel Trends for 20251, Christmas market breaks are so in demand that they are the third most popular type of trip at this time of year2, only behind city breaks and winter sun holidays.

In fourth – and rising in popularity year-on-year – are trips to see the Northern Lights. Although the phenomena have been seen over the UK in recent years, this seems to have whet people’s appetite to see them ‘in situ’, with almost one in five people (18%, up from 16% last year) looking to take this type of trip this winter.

¹ The Travel Trends for 2025 report features research from ABTA’s annual Holiday Habits survey which asks how people travelled in the 12 months prior and what their travel plans are for the year ahead. The research is carried out each summer with a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK adults by The Nursery Research and Planning (the-nursery.net) on behalf of ABTA. The 2024 survey was carried out from 24 July to 2 August 2024.
² ‘At this time of year’ refers to November to March.