Best European Christmas market for city break?

[incognitopurple]

Really torn. We have 3 days to spend somewhere, I adore Christmas and want to go somewhere super festive. Recommendations?

Currently considering Prague, Berlin and Cologne. Open to comments on all of these or suggestions for anywhere else.

I was going to say Budapest has a lovely Christmas market and it's a beautiful city.

We are going to Bruges on the 16th Dec for 3 nights via Eurostar. With hotel it has cost us £700 for 3 of us (1 DC)

Sorry to hop on your thread @incognitopurple - @BishyBarnyBee which UK markets would you recommend?

A colleague always recommends Cologne @incognitopurple - her family live there and she goes often.

Following, leaning more towards Berlin but it’s interesting to hear people talk about other places. I’d have never thought of Austria!

I'm thinking of going to one too so this thread is brilliant.

Quick question - I'm vegetarian and have generally found German/eastern European countries a bit meat intensive, although it is a while since I've been to that part of the world. Can anyone recommend someplace for an amazing Christmas market where I can get decent veggie food? My preference is places that do both in the same restaurant as I will be with meat eaters.

@chatterbug22 as a matter of nerdy historical trivia, I think Austria might actually have started the whole xmas markets thing with one in Vienna in the 13th Century. Germany then ran with it and now are more famous for them.

The ones I've been to in Austria, Germany and Northern Italy (esp the part that used to be Austria) have all been lovely- I especially like the little ones in smaller towns, so cosy and friendly rather than tourist oriented.

@OchonAgusOchonOh maybe look at the Italian towns/markets? Lots of lovely food options and a much lower emphasis on sausage!

Just googled and my so called nerdy historical trivia is quite possibly fake news sorry - it looks like the Vienna one was a winter market rather than xmas market specifically, which did start in Germany. As you were!

We did Dortmund and Cologne. Stayed in Dortmund which has a huge market ( with, weirdly, no beer) and then got a train to Cologne. Much cheaper to get to , and stay in, Dortmund. Cologne is really the quintessential Christmas Market.

Thanks. Any one in particular you'd recommend?

Cologne (Köln) is wonderful, and you can get there easily by train - Eurostar to Brussels and then change for a direct train to Köln. Fast, comfortable and very easy. I did it about 5 years ago and it was the perfect start to the Christmas season.

@OchonAgusOchonOh not been to the Christmas market but I found Berlin had a decent vegan scene.

Thanks @Twilightstarbright

I went to one in Edinburgh last year and it was awful. Very tacky.

Apart from that I’m glad I found this thread as I’ve just started another one in Holidays.

I quite often holiday in Bolzano in the South Tyrol and I’ve been told it’s generally considered to have the best Christmas market in Italy. The whole region is beautiful and as an added Bonus you have the Archeological museum which houses Otzi the Iceman. It’s also not far by train from Austria and I’ve even gone as far as Munich by train and flown home from there.

Prague is magical any time of the year, however we found the market all very samey.
But from Prague we did a day trip by bus to Dresden, and their Christmas market was so much better, with a far greater variety of stalls.

That sounds good. I'd love to see Otzi too.

Vienna Vienna Vienna!!

Cologne’s Christmas markets are fabulous. There’s seven in total I think. Have also been to Brussels and Bruges, both of which are also lovely but not quite so big.

Prague is lovely to visit at any time of year and Berlin has so much to do outside of the markets (which you might not have time for if you’re focusing on the markets) so I think I’d choose Cologne and visit the other cities separately.

@OchonAgusOchonOh Agree with PP re Bolzano and the whole south tyrol region being completely gorgeous.

As a general rule of thumb (this is in my experience so very happy to hear from others!) Trento is roughly the lowest part of the more Austrian/Germanic part of Italy. So above that (eg Bolzano) there will be a lot more German language and Austrian type food culture and architecture. Of course people still speak Italian and you can get good coffee and pasta! But there is much less pasta etc than the more southern areas. It's much more reflective of its Austrian heritage and the gorgeous little Tirolean towns, Xmas markets and cuisines fit with that.

Below that you get more of what you think of as traditional Italian food and culture. But there are still Xmas markets in lots of the northern Italian cities and also the lovely tradition of the preseppe (Nativity scene).

Verona would be a fabulous choice in that region as the food options are really fab and the town has a great Christmas market as well as lots of other things to explore and great train links.

For the best of both worlds I'd consider making it a 4 day trip and having 2 nights in each of Bolzano and Verona - it's a quick train ride in between.

Plus if you've got another spare night you could then nip over to Venice or Milan for a night and fly home from either of those. Perfection!

Great thread 🎄🎄🎄

The Edinburgh Christmas market is horrendous. Packed into a small space, every mediocre thing costs a fortune, reeks of stale oil and onions, you'd need to look high and low to find anything made locally. Just a horrible experience.

As a general tip - the larger German cities usually have more than one Christmas market, and they often differentiate themselves in the types of stalls on offer. There is usually a big central market near the main cathedral for example - this tends to be busy and mainstream (which is a good starting point). There will be others a bit further afield, some with a more alternative feel, or a higher end/designer-maker/artisan focus; Cologne even has a gay Christmas market I believe!

For the PP who was looking for vegetarian options: Among the traditional food stalls you’ll find Reibekuchen (a kind of fried potato pancake, usually eaten with apple sauce and absolutely delicious). There will probably also be Schupfnudeln (though check it’s not a version including speck), Käsespätzle, Flammkuchen (a kind of thin pizza with a choice of toppings)… Generally I don’t think you’ll have a problem finding vegetarian options, though vegan might be more tricky in smaller places.

lf you want to go somewhere a bit smaller/off the beaten track I’d look at towns and cities that have preserved some medieval flair in their town centres. I’ve not been to any of these at Christmas time but imagine they’d be very atmospheric: Freiburg, Heilbronn, Heidelberg, Limburg, Quedlinburg, Dinkelsburg.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is pretty but probably extremely touristy - it has year-round Christmas shops!

Vienna is wonderful for a winter break and the markets are fabulous.

That s pounds great. I've been to Verona before and would happily go again.