The Most ‘Instagrammable’ Holiday Market is Only Three Hours from Dubuque

It's almost impossible to go to a holiday market of any kind and not feel the holiday spirit wash over you. Thankfully, the one deemed the "most popular" after some extensive research, as well as the one billed as the most "Instagrammable," isn't too far from Dubuque and the Tri-States. It's only three hours away, and it's located in a city that is brimful of things to do.

This survey recalls one conducted earlier this year, which deemed Lake Okoboji the most "Instagrammable" location in all of Iowa. The website FloridaRentals.com looked at holiday markets all over the country, and examined their popularity based on the traction they gained on Instagram. Here's a deeper look at their methodology.

1. The top 30 most popular holiday markets in America were sourced by finding the most popular matching terms for ‘holiday market,’ ‘Christmas market,’ and ‘Christkindlmarkt’ on Ahrefs. 
2. For each holiday market, the most popular hashtag was found by searching for the hashtags ‘#[market]holidaymarket,’ ‘#[market]christmasmarket,’ and ‘#[market]christkindlmarkt’ on Instagram and finding which one had the most posts.
3. The top ten most Instagrammable holiday markets were ranked based on the number of posts under their most popular hashtag. - per FloridaRentals.com

It's also worth noting that Dubuque has some fun holiday markets happening very soon, including Cowboy Christmas, which takes place November 24th at 10am at the Dubuque County Fairgrounds, and A Merry Millwork Market on December 6th and 7th.

After extensively mining Instagram, it was revealed that Chicago's Christkindlmarket is the most-tagged with over 19,100 posts mentioning the popular holiday attraction. This figure accounts for a whopping 34% of all posts using the most popular hashtag for each market in the top ten.

Every year, the Chicago Christkindlmarket receives a ton of press coverage. It's billed as the most authentic German-style shopping experience outside of Europe. And it's free to attend:

The German-style Christmas Market provides a safe outdoor experience for the whole family. All Christkindlmarkets are always free admission. The smell of roasted nuts, fresh pretzels, bratwurst and hot spiced wine, the sound of festive music, and the glimmer of sparkling Christmas ornaments, all in a cozy atmosphere – a visit to the market takes all your senses on a journey! Visitors can explore vendor products from around the world, participate in special events, and enjoy the unique shopping experience. - per Chicago's Christkindlmarket's website

Even better, today is the day it launches! The market will be open from November 22nd thru December 24th, and is located in Daley Plaza at 50 West Washington Street in Chicago. There's also another suburban market located in Aurora, IL.

Read more about Chicago's beloved Christkindlmarket on their official website!