Christmas markets - am I the Grinch?

[MrsCampbellBlack]

My local town is in the middle of christmas market season - oh so jolly. Or in my opinion a load of overpriced tat blocking the streets.

So am I the grinch or do others loathe them too?

Manchester - all of the above plus a stall that sells ornaments made out of nuts and bolts.

Crepe stall

Paella stall

lots and lots of gluehwein stalls/huts which get a bit rowdy nearer to Christmas when the office workers take up residence.

I like Winchester, it's the only one I have ever been to. Lovely atmosphere in the cathedral close with an ice rink in the middle, the farmers market is separate and keeps going in Dec. Parking a nightmare on weekends in Dec though.

Yanbu. People get v excited about the Birmingham one but it does little for me. I'm veggie so the 'giant German sausages' are no good for me; I don't like doughnuts much and the gingerbread is all too sweet and covered in nasty icing. I don't want an itchy hat, a carved figure of the Nutcracker or a giant piece of rock with a light in the middle of it and I hate crowds and mulled wine.

I liked the Prague one for yummy huge hot bread things with either garlic butter or Nutella type spread. And Prague is so much prettier than Birmingham too.

Oh, I missed the Paella stall off my list. There's one of those as well. It's clone Christmas villages. It goes with the clone shops like Debenhams, Next, M&S...

A bit of a grinch,I love the idea of Christmas Markets and had lovely trip to a real German one.

Howerver the on in Brum is hell on earth with DCs to keep track of and has very few of the amazing decorations. There is a lot of the aforementioned tat.

There's a Christmas decoration shop in St Pancras. Most of it can be bought in the pound shop, thus saving lots!

I like the one in Stockholm because it's at the zoo :o There's also a beautiful waterfall of lights.

Generally though I only like them for the chestnuts.

We go to the Manchester one.

I like the food, drink and the atmosphere.

Can live without the overpriced tat.

Although I did purchase a dead scorpian in a keyring last year.

Theres one in Bath where a man sells lovely unusual candles.

Just wasted a day in Bury St Edmunds looking for non existent parking, trudging round overcrowded stalls and now hungry as the usual chain eateries were only taking booked groups. YANBU.

However I live the ones in Germany and Strasbourg

Love, not live!

I like it, Winchester is a nice city to potter around in anyway, lots of nice individual shops, the cathedral, lots of restaurants and cafes. The market is tucked away in the cathedral close, which is only a couple of mins walk from the high street but totally separate, it has lots of stalls round the ice rink. It does get very busy at weekends though, so an overnight visit and get to the market early, take in the rest later on might be a good idea. Also very atmospheric once it gets dark, so popping back again late in the day is also a good idea. The skating gets pretty booked up. Have a look at the website

Winchester

I like the manchester one

I'm going to be going to the Winchester one. Unfortunately nobody I know would want to go on the ice rink with me. Being a 30 year old male, If I did it on my own I'd get very funny looks, people would snatch their children away, and I'd end up on Santa's bad register.
I might go to Southampton too and they've got one. I'll also be off to the Hyde park one when that opens.
The atmosphere gets me in a Christmassy mood and makes me feel full of love and peace. A bit crowded, but being tall I kind of escape it. People under 5'4" are perfectly easy to walk over so I ignore them.

Christmas markets are the biggest anti climax of my lifetime.

Santa's bad register has made me laugh TiggyD

The Bath one is my local one - am intrigued by unusual candles - I like Diptyque normally or the White co at a push - would these compare I wonder.

Some are really disappointing like the Leeds one but the Manchester one is fab. I love the atmosphere and the smells.

But I agree, there's some cute stuff but all way overpriced. Does get me in the spirit though.

YANBU.

I have to work at 3 of them in December... If it weren't for the money I'd have run a mile. I have now refused to work another ( different town, considerable travel).

What about the Christmas markets abroad? Germany? Belgium?

I grew up in South Africa and now live in England but I am DYING to go to a German Xmas market... or should I not bother?

Even in Germany teh markets can be a bit hit or miss. I've been to a great one, Darmstadt, and a not so great one , large city, in the same weekend.

Darrmstadt is moderate size town, the market had a stalls bit and a fun fair bit all in the old town square. Carol singers, and art exhibition, ommpa band, lots of greasy food options and stall selling tat.
The big city one seemed to be row after row of idetikit stall selling indekit tat and sweets and fast food. Laid out down the middle of a modern pedestrian shopping street.

The Cardiff one is usually lovely (and in a pedestrianised area anyway do not really in the way) but I've not checked out this year's offering yet.