--- title: "Events Worth Crossing the Border: The Week Starting 16th November 2026" description: "Cologne and Salzburg Christmas markets open, Beaujolais Nouveau Day, Venice's Festa della Salute and IDFA: eight European events for 16th to 22nd November." author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-11-12T12:18:48.254Z updated: 2026-11-12T12:19:15.195Z canonical: https://richwoman.co/article/events-worth-crossing-the-border-the-week-starting-16th-november-2026 image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-29906500.webp categories: Lifestyle content_type: Guide publication: Rich Woman Magazine schema_type: Article --- This is the week Europe switches on its winter lights. Two of the continent's most loved Christmas markets open their stalls, France pours its first wine of the 2026 harvest, and Venice keeps a promise it made in the 17th century. If you have one free weekend before December, these are the places to spend it. ## Cologne Cathedral Christmas Market The market on Roncalliplatz is due to open on Monday 16th November, earlier than most German markets, and runs until 23rd December. Around 150 wooden stalls sit directly beneath the cathedral's twin spires, with a free programme of music on its own stage. Cologne has several separate markets across the old town, so you can walk from one to the next in a single evening. Plan around one date. The cathedral market, along with the Neumarkt and Rudolfplatz markets, closes on Sunday 22nd November for Totensonntag, the German day of remembrance for the dead. Arrive on Friday or Saturday instead, and keep Sunday for the cathedral itself and the river. ## Salzburg Christkindlmarkt Salzburg opens its Christmas market on Thursday 19th November in the squares around the cathedral and the Residenz, and it stays open until 1st January 2027. That long season makes it one of the few great markets you can still visit after Christmas Day. Mozart's birthplace is a short walk away, and 2026 marks 270 years since his birth. Go on a weekday afternoon in the first week, when the crowds are thinner and the stallholders have time to talk. ## Vienna's Christmas Market at the Rathausplatz [Vienna opened its biggest market](https://richwoman.co/article/luxury-destinations-before-christmas-2026) on Friday 13th November, so by this week it is in full swing. The Christkindlmarkt in front of the City Hall has 97 stalls, an ice rink that winds through the park, and a 31-metre spruce from Damüls in Vorarlberg lit with 2,000 lights. Almost three million people visit each year. The market is open daily from 10am to 10pm until 26th December. Vienna has 15 licensed Christmas markets this year with 814 stalls between them, and most are fully open from 20th November. ## Beaujolais Nouveau Day in Lyon [The 2026 Beaujolais Nouveau](https://richwoman.co/article/the-happy-table-a-beaujolais-nouveau-supper-for-thursday-19th-november) goes on sale from midnight on Thursday 19th November, the third Thursday of the month, as French law has set since 1985. The wine is young, light and fruity, made from grapes picked only weeks ago, and it is meant to be drunk now rather than kept. Lyon is the place to taste it. The vineyards sit about 40 kilometres north of the city, and the bars and bouchons of Vieux Lyon and the Presqu'île open their first bottles in the early hours. Order it slightly chilled, with a plate of sausage and lentils. ## Festa della Salute in Venice On Saturday 21st November, Venice lays a temporary bridge of boats across the Grand Canal to the basilica of Santa Maria della Salute. Venetians walk across it to light a candle and give thanks, as they have every year since the city survived the plague of 1630 and 1631 and built the basilica in gratitude. This is a local festival rather than a tourist event, which is its charm. Eat the traditional dish of the day, a slow-cooked soup of smoked mutton and cabbage, in any neighbourhood trattoria, and walk the bridge at dusk when the candles are lit. ## Alba White Truffle Fair The International Alba White Truffle Fair in Piedmont runs on weekends until 6th December, and the weekend of 21st and 22nd November falls at the height of the season. The truffle market fills the old town with stalls where hunters sell their finds by weight, and the restaurants of the Langhe hills shave them over fresh egg pasta. Combine the fair with a day in the Barolo villages, a short drive south of Alba. ## IDFA in Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, the largest documentary festival in the world, runs until Sunday 22nd November across cinemas from Rembrandtplein to Amsterdam West and Zuidoost. The 39th edition hands out its awards on Thursday 19th November. If you hold a Cineville pass, you can book free tickets for IDFA screenings on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st November at participating venues. ## Brussels Design Market On Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd November, Tour & Taxis in Brussels hosts the Brussels Design Market, the largest vintage design market in Europe. Dealers bring mid-century chairs, lamps and ceramics, and you can carry smaller pieces home on the train. The contemporary art fair art 3f runs at Brussels Expo across the same weekend, from 20th to 22nd November. Brussels is [under two hours from London by Eurostar](https://richwoman.co/article/the-real-cost-of-getting-there-a-christmas-market-weekend-by-train-costs-426-to-704-and-your-departu), which makes this the easiest crossing on the list. ## Choose One and Book It You do not need to see all eight. Pick the one that pulls at you, check the train times tonight and go before [December's crowds](https://richwoman.co/article/underrated-christmas-markets-europe-2026) arrive. A weekend spent in another country's square, with a cup of something warm in your hands, will stay with you long after the year has turned.