Christmas markets are crap !

[KittyCatsby]

There I've said it . Over the years I've been to a few ( Bath , Chester , York , Lincoln , Edinburgh , Manchester , Harrogate )
Never found one that have lived up to expectation. Mostly selling over priced rubbish , atmosphere almost zero , can hardly get to see the stalls as over crowded , kids miserable etc etc .
Anyone else feel the same ?

Oh I agree. It's all overpriced tat.

Yes, completely agree.

I've only been to the one in Manchester & I absolutely hate it, last year there was a stall selling german frankfurters for £8, they were Lidl's jarred hot dog sausages, they didn't even try to hide the jars either because they knew people would still pay it.

I remember going on a school trip to cologne Christmas markets though and they were amazing!
Thinking of trying the Krakow one this year.

Agree. Has anyone actually ever seen any good items for gifts at one? The ones here are very samey: soap, jewellery, carved wood, and chocolate moulded into the shape of things like hammers (why?).

Yep.

Overpriced fudge, carved wood and chocolate.

And the most expensive mulled wine you’ll ever see.

Waste of time.

nope, I love them, but I prefer to go Germany for them, or France. But IMO the German ones are best. I don't go to buy much, but Love the atmosphere, mulled wine & fiood.

I think Cologne has been my favourite so far, but I loved Copenhagen too.

Prague
Munich
Vienna
Dusseldof
Strasbourg

Bruges

• great for a day trip

Edinburgh looks great, but not been

southbank is about as Christmassy as sorbet 😂 as I imagine are many other U.K. ones. It's just not the same.

I refuse to go to the one where I live. It's shite. My mum and aunt went thinking it was going to be beautiful handmade stuff and it was elk burgers and cheap beer!!

I only know the Edinburgh one and I think it's horrible. Hugely overcrowded and full of plastic tat. Local people who made things were priced out by the cost of stalls a few years ago. It also takes out a whole garden with lovely views from the quiet enjoyment of citizens. The operators have recently announced that they are pulling out this year. Who knows what will happen now.

I also don't understand people who go abroad just to visit a Christmas market. How long do you spend there - like an hour or two at the very most? Is that literally your plan for the entire holiday, or do you include it in a holiday where you do other stuff like visiting museums etc? I never understand it when people say "I visit Germany to go to the Christmas markets".

I think it depends on who you go with, but that said, you could go somewhere cheaper and warmer with the same people and have a much better time.

So yes... I agree.

They're also pretty rough! Especially at night.

Also, I did once go to one abroad (as part of a longer holiday) and it was crap too. So it's not any better just by sheer dint of being in another country.

I agree. I don’t like wandering around with a plastic cup of mulled wine, I prefer sitting somewhere inside. I plan my food and present s in advance, check ingredients etc and do a lot of baking myself so not interested in gigantic brownies, toasted marshmallows and overpriced fudge.
I think these markets are for spontaneous buyers who have too much spare time and plenty of money. I would rather go to NT property for Xmas installation and have coffee and a piece of cake in their cafe.

I don’t go to any of those big ones, I live in between Birmingham and Bath, I refuse to go to either Christmas Market.

The local one in our town is lovely. It’s local food producers and trades/ crafts people. There are Carol singers, fabulous food and drinks stalls.And lots of good presents ideas. I always buy local cheeses/ chutneys/ Jams which I make into hampers for my sisters.

The German ones are brilliant, not really overpriced, actual artists selling their wares. To the PP, I went to visit family, but we spent nearly full days in some. The German ones I’ve been to are massive and the stalls varied and interesting, so you really can spend a good chunk of the day in one. The UK ones are a poor imitation.

UK ones yes. German ones are great though. I used to live in Germany and they were the main place to socialise in November and December and nowhere near as pricey as UK ones!

The Birmingham German Christmas market was lovely the FIRST year.

After that, same old same old, tat, tat, tat, overpriced lidl sausages, hot wine in plastic cups and 5000 drunken men boozing in the street.

Sheds of shit 🎅🏻

The last UK one I went to was about 30 stalls, 9 of which were selling nothing but gin and 5 selling soap. It was so depressing we took 10 minutes to walk round and went and got some lunch in a local cafe, walked round the high street instead then left. Waste of the park and ride cost.

The ones in Germany are amazing, the ones inFranfurt and Nuremberg are massive with beautiful artwork for sale and have an amazing atmosphere

I quite like Birmingham's. I do agree more generally. The most disappointing of all was Bruges - was meant to be amazing but no, same overpriced tat imported from oversea, overpriced food and luke warm wine. The torrential rain certainly didn't help

Yes!!

It’s the same 4 stalls on repeat.

The only decent one I've been to in the U.K. was in Victoria Park in Newbury. There was a glass maker with handmade glass Xmas tree decs, and a wood turner with lots of lovely hand turned bowls etc. Not expensive either.
But I wouldn't take ds to a Xmas fair. He would hate it no matter how good.

Just as long as we don't have to go to Winter Wonderland! It looks like an overcrowded nightmare. Never understood why so many Londoners flock to it.

Regarding the Edinburgh Christmas Market - it’s awful.

In fact I’ll never again go to a Christmas Market in the UK such was the dismal affair in Edinburgh. **