Has anyone on Mumsnet ever been to a UK town or city Christmas Market and thought "that was great, so glad I went"?

[LindorDoubleChoc]

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Two years ago , DH and I went to Bath Christmas Market on a bus tour .
It was : pick up then driven to Bath, coach was able to drop us in the park ( there was nowhere for cars , every car park was heaving )
Wander about , really cold but dry so festive .
This was the last weekend so the shops were probably delighted to get back to normal and the shoppers going instore .
Overnight stay in a hotel , breakfast then driven to Oxford on the 2nd day .
Then back home .

No way would I fancy driving and trying to park , even getting a hotel would be ££ £ and the Park'n'Ride queues were manic.

We;re going to Bruges and Amsterdam this year then I think I;ll be Christmas Market-ed Out !

I was coming on to say Winchester x Its so beautiful with the ice rink and the cathedral in the background….so Christmassy. Last time was before Covid though - I really hope it’s still as charming as it was x

I thought Winchester was crap, very disappointed.

It’s pretty but there are lots of ice rinks in pretty surrounds near me. The actual market was pants.

They're all a bit shit really

I am very fond of the Edinburgh one. This year I'll miss it for the first time in 10 years.

Manchester markets are fab.

Manchester Christmas market felt actively dangerous last time I went. It was awful and the worst atmosphere

I went to a Christmas market - I think it was actually marketed as a Dickensian market - in Wiltshire one year. It must have been twenty years ago now. Possibly Devizes? I’ve gone blank but it was so lovely and felt so festive and had people dressed in long Victorian dresses and it was magical.

Exeter is pretty good. Lots of local producers. I would avoid it at the weekend if you want to buy stuff though. If you want to eat street food and get pissed though, the weekend is when to go!

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Of course it is, same with teepee style bars , worth a fortune. Most the market stalls move as a unit too.

I remember Edinburgh being really nice but I am unsure as to how is it now.

York must be lovely in winter.

I only really enjoy small local type ones with independents. I went to a lovely one at Ely Cathedral today, and I'm heading over to Norwich tomorrow as The Assembly House there has one on, and I'm also meeting a friend there as they have festive afternoon tea in domes outside!

I walk through the one in my city on the way home from the office. I enjoy seeing the lights and the pretty stalls and the music. But walking past is more than enough. I wouldn't want to walk around it, buy any of the stuff, or stand in the pen thing drinking beer in the rain.

i enjoyed Winchester and went several years on the run although that was years ago now, not sure if it is still as it was.

Winchester about 10-15 years ago. When it still had the ice rink and before vast numbers of coach trips started arriving

It doesn't have the ice rink any more. And it's even more insanely busy.

Stratford-upon-Avon (fairly local to me) has usually been okay. They are changing it quite significantly this year, so we’ll see if it’s better or worse.

I quite like Beverley, which is not a typical Christmas market at all, and Ulverston Dickensian Christmas Festival (on this weekend, despite Bert).

Exeter is good, nice local stalls selling different things.
Bristol is very commercial with the same stalls repeated in different places in the city.
For me Bath is too crowded it is a struggle just to walk down the road and hard to get near the stalls.

I went to Cologne a few years ago. Brilliant. They even had medieval knights sword fighting. Meanwhile, my home town has a "Bavarian Sausage" stall and that's about it.

I would love to go to this. We usually go there in May and it's 7 hours away, but a Christmas market in Fowey sounds perfect to me!

TBF, this is good
https://historicdockyard.co.uk/christmas/

The Manchester one was brilliant for the first few years, it just got too big and too busy. But I remember a couple of occasions when I was there and it started snowing, and it was absolutely magical. Sadly not now, I haven’t bothered going for the last few years.

No. Edinburgh is ghastly.

Edinburgh is awful. Always has been.