Every European city in December seems to have the same mulled wine and the same wooden huts. What actually sets places apart at Christmas is folklore, and folklore gets strange fast. Here's where to go, and — crucially — on which exact date, because most of these events last a night, not a season.
In Austria, Bavaria and South Tyrol, Krampus runs on December 5th and 6th see costumed horned figures parade through town centres swatting bystanders with switches. The roots are Alpine and old, but the modern devil-on-stage pairing with St. Nicholas traces back to 16th-century Jesuit plays. A genuinely good alternative if you can't reach the Alps: Milwaukee's Krampusnacht, where a hundred horned figures march through the historic Pabst Brewery district behind a drum and bugle corps. Also worth knowing about: Frau Perchta, the Christmas witch of Central Europe — possibly a demoted pre-Christian goddess — and Poland's Turoń, a biting bull-beast that still tours villages.
Iceland arguably has the best Christmas monsters anywhere. The Yule Cat prowls on Christmas Eve and eats any child without at least one new item of clothing — less a random cruelty than an incentive to have earned your winter clothes. The cat belongs to the giantess Grýla, mother of the thirteen Yule Lads, who arrive one per night in the run-up to Christmas (names include Sheep Worrier and Spoon Licker). Their legendary home is Dimmuborgir, a field of jagged black lava formations near Lake Mývatn in the north, which also lent a famous black metal band its name. Visit between December 12th and Christmas Eve for the full Lads window.
Sweden offers a spectator sport of a different kind. Gävle has built a forty-foot straw goat in its main square every year since 1966, and it has been burned down — mostly by arson — again and again, alongside such incidents as a car attack and an attempted helicopter theft. It stands from the first Sunday of Advent to New Year's, webcam running, survival not guaranteed.
Two more that deserve a spot on any list: Catalonia's nativity scenes traditionally include El Caganer, a small defecating peasant hidden at the edge of the manger since at least the 18th century — spotting him is the game. And in Oaxaca, Mexico, the Night of the Radishes on December 23rd fills the main square with elaborate sculptures carved from radishes grown specially for the event, some up to a foot and a half long. Carved in the morning, judged at night, wilted soon after — timing is everything.
For those who can't travel in December, the US has made Christmas a year-round affair: the North Pole amusement park outside Colorado Springs (open since 1956), Santa's Workshop in the Adirondacks with a working post office, and Leavenworth, Washington's Nutcracker Museum, home to over 7,000 nutcrackers from more than fifty countries.
The takeaway: by all means enjoy the market, but pick your city for its tradition and plan the dates around that. The market runs six weeks; the Krampus run lasts one night.