Our family has embraced the tradition of the Christkindlmarket that has become so beloved in the Chicago area. For the last few Decembers (and Novembers) we have been celebrating at the Christkindlmarket at River Edge Park in Aurora, Illinois.
We have visited Christmas markets in Germany and Poland, and more recently in Daley Plaza in Chicago. While we appreciate the impressive location of the Daley Plaza Christkindlmarket, we have found that the Aurora location for the market is usually easier to navigate with small children. With the extra space, our little ones are better able to enjoy the multicultural experiences, food, drinks, music and holiday shopping. Now, the Christkindlmarket in Aurora, Illinois is part of our annual tradition, and we have some tips to help make it part of yours.
As we anticipate the opening of the Christkindlmarket on November 21, 2025, this guide offers tips based on our many past experiences and the information that has been released for this year. Once we visit the 2025 market, we will be back with updates.
The Christkindlmarket Is a Tradition that Goes Beyond Chicago
The Christkindlmarket is named for the German bearer of gifts, the Christkind. This holiday market has been popping-up in Chicago every Christmas since 1996 and in Aurora since 2022, but its roots are centuries older.
Outdoor Christmas markets with vendors selling food, drinks and gifts are a cherished tradition in Europe. Our local Christkindlmarket credits the Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt—itself going back to the 16th century—for being the inspiration behind starting here in Chicagoland.
At the Christkindlmarket in Aurora, you can see this tradition some to life in the charming vendor booths. Each honey colored booth is topped with festive garland and a red and white striped roof. Under each roof there is a sign proclaiming the vendors home country.
Our kids like walking from booth to booth and admiring the handcrafted ornaments, hats and traditional foods from diverse countries. I love the spicy smell of glühwein and the truly delicious raclette and pierogi.
Christkindlmarket Aurora is Easy to Visit, If you Know Where to Go
We love the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza in Chicago. Unfortunately, with its massive popularity (and thus massive crowds), it is hard to navigate with knee-high children. For that reason, we prefer to drive out to the Aurora location. The Aurora Christkindlmarket is in RiverEdge Park at 360 N. Broadway.
There is paid parking near the Christkindlmarket in the Aurora Transportation Center Parking lot at 233 North Broadway. This will cost you $10, so we opt for the free lot across the river instead!
If you do not mind a slightly longer walk, you can park across the Fox River in Lot W at 309 North River Street. This lot is connected to the market by a nice pedestrian bridge over the river. We always use this free lot, and we have never had trouble finding a spot. However, we have returned to our car as the market got busy and found others circling the lot, so your experience may vary from ours.
You can even skip the drive altogether. The Christkindlmarket is right by the historic roundhouse and the current Aurora stop for the BNSF Metra line. This could be a fun trip: a train ride plus a Christmas market is almost like riding the Polar Express!
Christkindlmarket is Hugely Popular
We mentioned that the Christkindlmarket in Chicago is very popular, the same goes for the Aurora location. The extra space in Aurora makes it easier to navigate than the one in Chicago, but the lines for the vendor booths can still get very long.
These long lines are particularly prevalent at the food and beverage booths like Baked Cheese Haus (raclette sandwiches, yum!), Bob’s Belgian Hot Chocolate or The Austrian Lodge. You will also have a long wait if you want to enter the walk-in booth for Käthe Wohlfahrt and admire the ornaments and other gifts from Rothenburg, Germany.
Fortunately the festive atmosphere makes it easier to be patient in line, but we suggest coming prepared to wait. That probably means dressing warmly: remember this location is along a river, in Chicagoland, in November and December. It is almost guaranteed to be cold and especially if you are more or less standing still.
If you are trying to avoid the heaviest crowds, your best bet is to visit on a weekday before the after work crowd sweeps in. We also like to visit when the market first opens for the day.
Christkindlmarket Aurora Hours
Christkindlmarket Aurora is open November 21 to December 24 at select days and times.
Its normal operating hours are Thursdays 11am to 7pm, Friday and Saturdays 11am to 9pm and Sundays 11am to 6pm.
There are some exceptions to this schedule. On Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve, it is open 11am to 4pm. On December 22 and December 23, Christkindlmarket Arurora is also open from 11am to 7pm.
We suggest double checking the hours at the Christkindl website before your visit.
Christkindlmarket Aurora is Fun for Kids!
Our kids look forward to the Christkindlmarket every year. It is an interesting and jolly place to explore, and they love the novelty and tradition of it coming just during the holiday season.
Kid-Friendly Scavenger Hunt
For the past few years, the first thing our kids do when they arrive at Rivers Edge Park is the special scavenger hunt throughout the Christkindlmarket. The scavenger hunt theme for 2025 is gingerbread and “six charming gingerbread friends” are hidden around the Christkindlmarket in Aurora. You can read more about that in our post: Christkindlmarket 2025, Opening Weekend in Aurora.
In past years, our kids each collected a map at the Christkindlmarket entrance and wound their way past the vendors looking for the festive statues. Once they found the nutcrackers or reindeer or character, they used the attached hole punch to mark their map. After they had collected each unique mark, we all went to the info desk inside the “Timber Tent” for our kids to collect their prizes. The prizes have been generously sized German sweets (you can see examples in the photo just above this section). This year, we were told that participants will need to both pick-up and return their maps to the information desk inside the “Timber Tent” (more on that location later in this post).
Festive Sights and Sounds
Also inside the Timber Tent, there is frequently live German music. On our latest visit, our kids were tickled to recognize “The Chicken Dance” being played on accordion. Another offering aimed at kids was Christkind’s Workshop: an open vendor booth where kids can pretend to sell their own festive treats and pose for photos, and our kids found other great photo spots throughout the market. Christkindlmarket Aurora has a section of their website dedicated to family-friendly fun here. We have not yet seen Christkind;s Workshop advertised for this year, but there is information about purchasing tickets to participate in a children’s lantern parade.
Our Best Tips for Christkindlmarket Aurora
We hope that you get a chance to make your own holiday traditions at the Christkindlmarket in Aurora. Here are a few of our best tips to get you started.
Visit the Timber Tent
The heater Timber Tent has long tables and live music reminiscent of German beer halls. We like grabbing a spot on a bench to get warm and maybe meet some other visitors.
New last year, there is an outdoor seating area on the south side of the market and some standing tables scattered throughout, which should be nice on slightly-less-cold days, but we still like the Timber Tent.
Try the Glühwein
We dream about this warm spiced wine when the weather turns chilly. In 2024, it came in a charming boot mug you can see throughout this post. For 2025, it is set to come in a heart-shaped mug (similar to the one below, but with different colors and images). You can find glühwein at various locations throughout the market, but we prefer to get ours from the Timber Tent. In our experience, the line is surprisingly shorter at the Timber Tent than at the outdoor windows.
You can also grab a non-alcoholic beverage, like hot chocolate or cider, in a cute gingerbread-themed mug. If you really love either mug or the ceramic beer stein, you can even buy them empty from the information booth. The glühwein is only served in the signature mug for the year, so you will end-up with a souvenir if your order it.
Park Across the River (or Take the Train)
If you can handle the slightly longer walk, park in Lot W at 309 North River Street and walk the lovely pedestrian bridge. We actually enjoy admiring the Fox River as we head to the Christkindlmarket. And, there is no fee to park here.
Dress warm!
The location on the Fox River (it’s called RiverEdge Park for a reason) can get chilly. This is winter in Chicagoland after all. We suggest wearing your coziest winter gear and something that is good at cutting the wind as it sweeps over the frozen river.
Come hungry and with open eyes (and try the raclette sandwich)
There are so many great food and beverage choices at Christkindlmarket Aurora, we suggest visiting for lunch or dinner. Our personal favorite meal is the Alpine Raclette from Baked Cheese Haus. (In this case I am counting pickles as the vegetable portion of a balanced meal) We know you will find your own favorite treats.
With a warm drink or treat in hand, stroll the many vendor booths. You can find some truly unique gifts for loved ones among the many vendors. Last year, we even spotted some visitors crafting their own glass ornaments, which is something you can also buy tickets to do.
Embrace the Crowds (Probably Not Literally)
We are going to say it one more time, Christkindlmarket Aurora is POPULAR. You can try to avoid the largest crowds by going on weekdays in the morning and early afternoon (or maybe on epically cold days), but you will probably still encounter lines. We suggest accepting this as part of the experience and setting aside a few hours for your visit.
Thank you for reading about our experiences at Christkindlmarket Aurora. We hope you find our tips helpful.
For articles about other fun Chicagoland locations, we suggest visiting our Chicago section where you can find posts like Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, 5 Bright Tips for Visitors, plus Why The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry is Great for Kids and Top 5 Tips for Visiting Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. We also have some plans for at-home fun with our Disney Sunday Night Movies. To get future articles in your inbox, please subscribe below. Thank you and happy holidays!
