2023 Christmas Market In Osan, Close To Seoul

The Christmas market in Osan is located right in front of Osan Station and is just over 1 hour away from Seoul. This Christmas market is outdoors and in addition to offering food, drinks, accessoires and decoration it also features events and performances on specific days.

I stumbled upon a few Korean blogs mentioning that Osan’s Christmas market is smaller compared to others like the one in Jamsil, which gave me a pause for thought. Yet, I was yearning for a genuine open-air Christmas market vibe. Reflecting on last year’s “Christmas market” at the Hyundai Department Store – aesthetically pleasing, but more of a photo session with a daunting 4-hour wait – I thought, why not give Osan a shot?

Osan in Gyeonggi Province, around 35 km away from Seoul, is a calm city whose Christmas market has been advertised in trains in Seoul for weeks.
The Christmas market in 2023 runs from November 24th to December 24th, every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There’s a specific schedule for performances, although none were happening the weekend we were there. Still, the decorations and overall vibe were pretty charming.

Since it was a chilly day, and I had some work in the evening, we decided to head out there bit earlier, which is why most of the pictures are still in daylight. The Christmas market is right next to Osan Station, accessible from Seoul via Line 1.

Near the entrance were several stalls selling typical Korean street food, which you can see in the picture below.

In the center of the Christmas market stood a big decorated Christmas tree, surrounded by several stalls and a miniature train ride for kids, along with other small attractions.

Unfortunately, there was no mulled wine available to drink right at the Christmas market. However, there was a wine stand offering various wine varieties from Yeongdong. The seller, wearing a festive dog(?) hat, was cheerful, and the stand was quite popular. After a few samples, I ended up buying a bottle of apple wine and a bottle of red wine with a DIY spice kit. I’m usually not a fan of red wine, but the fruity berry aroma gave it a light and sweet flavor, making it easy to enjoy.

At the other stalls in the first part of the Christmas market, the “Gift Zone” (선물 Zone), people sold lots of smaller things like Christmas decorations, kids’ toys, hair accessories, and handmade scarves, hats, and bags. Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures, but this Korean blog provides a good overview and insights into how fun the Christmas market is, not only for adults but also for kids (just check out the pictures).

As time went on, more and more people visited the Christmas market, despite its distance from Seoul. As it got colder, we took a detour to the shops on a side street to check out duvet jackets for me. Lucky enough the street was lined with jacket and sport brands like Discovery, National Geographic, New Balance, and more. However, we just stuck to browsing because the new models of down jackets were all around €500.

After that, we headed to the second part of the Christmas market, which was on the opposite side of the street from the “Gift Zone.”

In the “Happiness Zone” (행복 ZONE), there were plenty of street food stalls offering 10-won pastries, homemade chocolate, steak, and right in the middle was a choir performing.

In the end didn’t check out the stalls towards the back of the Christmas market because it was getting colder, and Mr. Sogumbbang was only wearing a thin jacket.

Instead, we exchanged the lucky draws we got before at the wine stand (with an iPod and a coffee machine as potential prices) and then headed home.

All in all, I really enjoyed the Christmas market in Osan. It might not have been spectacular, but the decoration was atmospheric and the sellers at the stalls were warm-hearted and really friendly. The Christmas market turned out to be much larger than I originally expected, thanks to the additional “Happiness Zone” and the numerous food stalls there. After seeing several Christmas markets that were mainly photo spots, Osan Christmas market gave me a feeling of being almost on a European Christmas market again. And I believe it was worth it for Mr. Sogumbbang too, that I dragged him outside and along!