When Sandra O’Connor isn’t watching her beloved Newcastle United soccer team, you can often find her in another favorite spot over the holidays: Christmas markets.

Her hometown in the United Kingdom has a famous one, which she attends religiously every year. So when she came to the U.S. in November to visit her son and grandchildren, she wanted to see what New York City had to offer.

One of her first stops was Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park, that beloved spot of green nestled among Midtown skyscrapers. After an afternoon of careful scrutiny, O’Connor determined that NYC holiday markets were on par with some of the best in Europe.

“I just love it, it’s brilliant,” says O’Connor, sitting by the side of the glimmering skating rink as her granddaughter crawls over her lap. “The absolutely delicious food, the decorations, the hot chocolate with marshmallows … New York City has made me feel very welcome.”

“Welcome” may not be the first word that comes to mind when you think about NYC’s holiday atmosphere. Christmas in New York bears a reputation for being loud, over the top and a bit frenzied. Santa arrives in a shower of stardust as the closing act at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In early December, the nation tunes in for the lighting of the Rockefeller Center tree on network television, complete with ice-skating performances and famous musical guests.

And throughout the month, tourists and holiday enthusiasts filter down the jam-packed streets of Midtown to gawk at elaborate window displays at major department stores or wait hours to ice-skate beneath the storied tree. Then, let’s not forget, December ends with one of the world’s biggest New Year’s celebrations, in Times Square.

Such splashy events still hold the power to attract throngs of people to Manhattan’s marquee sites. In 2024, the holiday season from Thanksgiving through Christmas saw 3.2 million daily visitors to the city’s shopping districts, according to a report by NYC’s Economic Development Corporation.

But since the early 1990s, holiday markets, and the small vendors who participate at these venues, have increasingly captured a cozier spirit of the season.

Markets can be spotted throughout the city, whether at Bryant Park, Grand Central Terminal, Union Square, Columbus Circle or outside Macy’s at Herald Square. 

Each venue shows off a New York that’s intimate and warm, enticing shoppers with mulled wine spiced with cinnamon, apple syrup and apricots, or dishes like raclette (the gooey  Swiss cheese sensation) and sending them home with memories they can’t make anywhere else.

And every year, more people are eager to visit. Bryant Park’s market alone lures around 4 million visitors each year.

These visitors aren’t in search of cheap “I Love New York” trinkets. They want to hunt through each market’s deep trove of unique items that can’t be found on Amazon or anywhere else. Like vintage editions at the Once a Book stall in Union Square that have been turned into functional clocks with batteries (and analog dials that some younger shoppers don’t even know how to read).

“They’ve never seen these before, anywhere, so they get very excited,” says stall worker Kate Maloy, who remembers in past years working in a holiday stall so tiny she had to enter through a trap door to get inside. “The week after Thanksgiving is when you really start seeing holiday sweaters with bells on them, and hats with lightbulbs that look like a Christmas tree. It’s super fun to be in a place where tourists can have such a positive experience of the city.”

Alison Gottsegen is certainly doing her part to keep the holiday vibe humming. She traveled two hours from her home in Milford, Connecticut, to hit multiple holiday markets in New York City.

“At these holiday fairs I like to look for something different, something that I don’t see any place else,” says Gottsegen, a life coach. “This didn’t disappoint. I got wool headbands for my granddaughters and Belgian chocolate bars. And cashmere scarves. Merry Christmas to me!”

Market visitors are hungry for items that tell the story about “that time we went to New York City.” And that’s what Djordje Skendzic has on offer.

Skendzic is a photographer who shows his work just once a year. He’s always in the same location, at the holiday market in Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall, just off the bustling main concourse with the famous clock.

His framed photos are quintessentially New York, but also unusual. He’s got shots of iconic landmarks like the Chrysler Building, Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building, all printed on 23-karat gold leaf that gives the traditional city scenes a rich, supernatural glow.

“I’ve been doing this show since 2011, and my expectations were tripled that very first year,” he says. “Since then it’s only gotten better and better. The holiday market has been very good to me.”

As any fan of the Hallmark Channel’s slate of Christmas movies knows, the plot often ends up at a holiday market: It’s where community tree lightings happen, small towns come together after adversity, and romantic leads finally share a kiss.

While NYC is not exactly the Bedford Falls of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” its markets do play an important role in bringing people together at a time when many feel especially isolated. Sharing spaces, tables and casual chitchat with some of the other 8 million annual visitors from around the world makes the markets that much more exciting to Ann Sabo, also from Milford. For her, the markets are about people-watching as much as what’s for sale.

“I’ve been here so many times, especially later in the season, when the lights have been put on the trees,” says Sabo, holding a pair of freshly purchased mittens. “The ambience is so wonderful. You could find something for everyone on your Christmas list.”

And though much younger than Christmas markets in Europe — which debuted in the 1400s — New York’s venues somehow have a timeless feel. Just ask Laura Gugliamelli as she doles out shots of maple syrup from a 500-acre sugar maple forest in Vermont’s Green Mountains. The family-owned operation sets up shop every year in the heart of the NYC, tempting visitors with sticky sweetness that has been aged in bourbon barrels.

“I haven’t been this filled with holiday cheer since I was maybe 13,” says Gugliamelli, whose personal favorite tradition in Bryant Park is “chewy” hot chocolate that has been thickened with malt balls. “The sun is beaming down on us, the leaves are falling, and everyone is so completely into the holiday season already. It’s quite beautiful.”

The city’s holiday markets are much like the gold-tinged photos of Djordje Skendzic — a little bit vintage, a little bit modern and absolutely unique. He sums up the markets this way: “It’s the holidays, it’s romantic — and it’s very New York.”