Good Christmas market in uk and a recommendation of where to stay?

[Booksandflowers]

I’ve seen bath and Winchester are supposed to be good. Anyone been to either?

Cardiff have have quite a good Christmas market. Lots of “huts” spread over two areas so it doesn’t feel as crowded as some (bath was hideous last time I went). There are the usual mulled wine/food stalls, and there’s an ice rink/fairground set up in another part of town.

The Ice Kingdom at Winter Wonderland is lovely, but takes about 30 mins to go round , other than that the market stalls are very repetitive, food expensive as are rides . We pop in if we are close by for something else , but definitely don’t make a special trip just to go there .

I went to Bath and it was lovely. Certainly didn’t find it too busy but busy enough for a lovely festive atmosphere.
Have also been to Gothenburg Christmas Market and really didn’t like it ,expensive and dead by 8pm.

Birmingham has the biggest Christmas market outside of Germany and Austria so might be worth a visit

York Christmas market is terrible. It is over priced imported crap. Most of the stalls just sell food and mulled wine. I don’t understand why so many people go.

It all depends on what you want from a Christmas market. The best Christmas experience I had in recent years was at Chatsworth house. 60 odd Christmas trees and beautiful decorations plus an illuminated walk through the gardens. It also has a Christmas market in the grounds.

Lincoln Christmas market has been scrapped

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-68425004.amp

I live in Cardiff, it’s quite nice and the stalls can be quite unusual. Lots of stuff in the castle grounds too which is lovely.

I’ve been to Bath several times and found it lovely. Yes it can be busy, but last year we went early, in the first few days and it was fine.

Birmingham was bloody crap. Just a great big outdoor pub.

DH and I went to Bath two years ago , it was a coach trip - parking is a mare , all the car parks were full with queues . The coaches were allowed to drop us in the park
We had an overnight hotell then Oxford the next day , small market there .
It was the last weekend in Bath for the market so very busy but festive to nosey about in.

This year Dh,DD and I are going to Bruges , then I'll be Christmas Marketed Out .

Avoid Winter Wonderland.
We've been to Bath the last couple of years (DD had Inset days and DP was working in Bristol). It was a Friday daytime so not actually too busy and enjoyed it. The stalls are scatter around the centre. Not going this year as we've been 2 years in a row

When I was a kid, the Lincoln one was absolutely magical. Has gone completely downhill now.

I hear good things about Birmingham but have never been.

I think Bath is good but you won't get accommodation now. We booked a hotel in March and we had to go outside Bath itself. You need to book in January I think.

Yes Manchester Christmas markets get hideously busy and what used to be the main area at Albert Sq near the town hall is all closed off for building works so it’s spread around loads of roads rather than in one place.

The bit near Exchange square and the cathedral is normally not as packed and sometimes has an ice rink or ice sculptures show but it’s not normally announced until later in the year.

Winchester is a waste of time it's tiny, cramped, impossible to even look at anything you just end up shuffling around and glancing at the stalls as your pushed past in the continually moving crowd. If you do manage to stop and look at anything the prices are horrendous and it's same old thing every year

Everyone’s OPINION is different

A week day isnt to bad.
Santa land is also great for the kids

Its not on grass / mud and Avoid the Tube 😂

Not a market, but I love the Xmas event at Waddesdon Manor in Bucks. Stalls in huts, great light show and trail. Books up early.

NOT winter wonderland.

Spirit of Christmas is good in London.

Winter Wonderland is not a Xmas market, it's a horrendous massive fairground filled with drunk 20-somethings. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

The Birmingham one is horrible.

I went to Bath last year. We made the mistake of going on a Saturday and it was heaving as you would expect.

We normally use the Park & Ride in Bath but even that was rammed when we went to the Christmas Market.

The stalls were overpriced and one was selling ornaments almost identical to ones I'd bought in Lidl in previous years. I wouldn't rush back

I agree, but Lincoln Christmas market used to have coach-loads from Germany and France when it was going. (We went once, it was rammed and absolutely full of toot. Lesson learned.)

Leeds

I did Bath a few years ago, combined it with a morning at the Thermae Bath Spa. I normally get frustrated by Christmas markets - really not a fan of Brum or Manchester (just people getting pissed and generic stalls) but enjoyed Bath one, didn't find it more busy than any other and had more interesting craft stalls and actually managed to buy a few Christmas gifts where normally I don't buy anything as just generic crap.

I have heard good things about the alternative Brum one - Christmas in Cathedral Square which has much more focus on independent stalls and is smaller than the main one - but I haven't been myself....

We went to Berlin for the Christmas markets a few years back. It was really enjoyable and I found an excellent Christmas decorations shop just a few doors down from the Marriot Hotel where we were staying as a fabulous bonus. I love getting them on my Christmas tree, they're very cute and typically German

We really want to go back to Berlin for a city break too, the Christmas markets trip was only a few days and we wanted to see more. Really recommended.

UK Christmas markets tend to have loads of imported Chinese tat as well as interesting food stalls, we do like them but they're not a patch on the European ones imo.

It's awful.

Tiny, filled with overpriced tat, not remotely "German" despite being a "German market" and not at a`ll festive.