Saxony at Christmas: Dresden, Leipzig and the toy village in the mountains

A Christmas market in its 592nd year, a Stollen parade and a toy village in the mountains 🎄 Seiffen is my favourite of the three, and the smallest by far. Saxony, the German state on the Czech border, does Christmas properly. Three stops, one trip: 📍 Dresden: the Striezelmarkt, in its 592nd year, fills the Altmarkt from 25 November to 24 December (from 16:30 on opening day), then daily 10:00 to 21:00 and to 14:00 on Christmas Eve 🎂 Saturday 5 December: the Stollen festival parade sets off around 11:00 and winds through the old town to the Frauenkirche 📍 Leipzig: about 300 stalls round the Old Town Hall, 24 November to 23 December, Sunday to Thursday 11:00 to 21:00, Friday and Saturday to 22:00 📍 Seiffen: the wooden-toy village in the Ore Mountains. Its market runs only 27 November to 20 December ⛏️ Saturday 12 December: Seiffen's big miners' parade at 15:30, with more than 400 people in traditional dress Two traps: Leipzig closes at 20:00 on 22 and 23 December, and Seiffen's centre is closed to cars on Advent weekends. If you want all three, go between 27 November and 20 December. 👉 Swipe for the dates and the parades. Save this for your trip and send it to who you'd go with. Dresden, Leipzig or the mountains? 👇 📷 Anna Blake, Nico Knaack, Andreas Haubold / Unsplash