Cardiff Christmas Market: A Festive Weekend in Wales

Cardiff's Christmas market leans more towards craft than kitsch. Its stalls are run largely by independent makers — potters, woodworkers, jewellers, printmakers — alongside seasonal food and drink, and it runs for most of the six weeks before Christmas, which makes it one of the easiest big markets to fit around a weekend.

At a glance

When: 12 November to 23 December 2026. Where: the streets around St John's Church, near the castle. Cost: free to browse. Best for: Welsh makers and crafts over a long season.

When it runs in 2026

The market runs from Thursday 12 November to Wednesday 23 December 2026, from 10am to 6pm and 5pm on Sundays, with late opening to 7pm on Thursdays in December.

Where it is

The alpine-style huts fill the streets around St John the Baptist Church in the city centre — St John Street, Working Street, Trinity Street and The Hayes. It is a few minutes' walk from Cardiff Central and Queen Street stations and from the castle.

What to expect

More than two hundred businesses trade over the season, and many rotate through rather than staying for the whole run, so a second visit can turn up different stalls. The church at the centre gives it more character than the usual shopping-street market.

Building a weekend around it

Cardiff Castle

Two thousand years of history inside one set of walls — Roman fort, Norman keep and a lavishly decorated Victorian Gothic mansion. It is right in the city centre, a short walk from the market.

The arcades

Cardiff's Victorian and Edwardian shopping arcades are one of its best features, and they are covered, which matters in December. Cardiff Market, the Victorian covered market, is close by too.

National Museum Cardiff

Free to enter, with one of the best collections of Impressionist paintings in Britain, and a good few hours for a wet afternoon.

Cardiff Bay

A short bus or train ride south, the Bay has the Wales Millennium Centre and the Senedd building, and a waterfront walk that is pleasant on a clear winter day.

Practical notes

Further out

Castell Coch

Just north of the city at Tongwynlais, this fairy-tale castle in the woods was rebuilt in the Victorian era by the same architect and patron as Cardiff Castle's interiors, and is a good half-day out.

St Fagans

The National Museum of History, on the city's western edge, is a free open-air museum of rebuilt Welsh buildings from across the centuries. It makes a good contrast to a day of shopping. Our listings have more things to do in Cardiff.

Big rugby internationals at the Principality Stadium fill the city and its hotels, so check the fixture list before booking a December weekend. Our Cardiff staycation guide covers where to stay, and you can browse hotels in Cardiff. For more of Wales, see staycations in Wales.