This year I want to go to a Christmas Market...

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I've convinced DH (he's but he's going along with it )
The DC are on board.

We do a Christmas day out, but London is so busy and TBH we do the same things. (Winter Wonderland, Hamleys, the South Bank Christmas Market)

DH and I do a shopping day, and I really fancied going away overnight, but couldn't decided where.

So...
a trip to a Traditional Market solves it all (well I think so )

Somewhere different. Traditional. We can stay in a hotel and buy some unusual things.

Should I go on an organised trip (the bus tours, they book it and take you to the market?)
or plan it myself?

(I'm in Essex)

TIA

I've only done the ones near us, Liverpool, Chester, Manchester. They're ok but I'd like to know if there's anything better

Funnily enough, we're going to London this year to do the Winter Wonderland, Hamleys and South bank and the Harry Potter Studio tour.

We go to Brugges/Lille from Cambridge. Haven't done any of the English ones but if you were looking further afield it's easy to do in a weekend from Essex.

Lincoln Christmas market is good fun. The cathedral is beautiful and there is a good shopping centre too.

Arras Christmas market is also good. The town is beautiful. They had a huge big wheel and a small ice rink, good restaurants and Flemish taverns, cheese shops (v stinky), chocolate shops (chocolate rats), good clothes shops (Galeries Lafayette and chic boutiques). Under the town is a series of tunnels (boves) to explore. And don't forget the famous moules et frites.

I like the idea of Christmas Markets but having seen the one in Brussels worry that they are all similarly full of very expensive stuff or tat...

Slytherin you're going to love Harry Potter Studio Tour

Ahem... Sorry I did come on here to see what Christmas markets where recommended :)

The Birmingham Christians market is fab, gets bigger each year. Lits to see eat drink, carousels for kids etc. would def recommend it!

Christmas, not Christians. My phone is trying to tell me something

Having lived in Germany for many years, I can vouch that the Birmingham Christmas market is very authentic and similar to the ones in Germany. So if you are happy with that, go for it. Otherwise, the nice ones in Germany that I like are Cologne, Munich and Nuremberg.

We're heading to Bath for the market, I am already ridiculously excited!

The Cologne Christmas market is fantastic....would thoroughly recommend it.

There's going to be lovely one in Bristol on the 1st and 8th December, there's a vintage market inside the speigeltent - it's amazing.

If you're near Stansted airport, could you get a cheap flight to Europe to visit a Christmas market?

Munich's is fantastic, and a short, easy flight from Stansted, but I'm sure there are lots of others too.

VoldemortsNipple I know, I can't wait!!!

If you have the time Sieburg in Germany have a fantastic Medieval Christmas market everything they sell is what you could buy in medieval times.

The Burgermeester ( mayor) if Sieburg along with other burgers dress up in medeval costumes to open the market and inspect the stalls, there is entertainment and it is not to far from Cologne which also has lovely Christmas markets.

We loved it, went with our daughter who was two at the time, the even had a medieval merry go round which my husband had to physical turn by turning a wooden wheel and hope to go back when my ds is older.

I like Winchester, it's big enough to be enjoyable but not so massive that it's overwhelming and crowded. The also do the best stollen and mulled wine! It's a nice town to visit as well - usual shops but all in really nice buildings plus lots of little gifty nick nack places. We went 2 years ago, tried Oxford last year but are going back to Winchester this time because we enjoyed it so much.

for the replies.

I really fancied the Munich or Belgian (we've all got passports now )
but Birmingham sounds a better option TBH.
I can scoot up the M6 and we can stay in a Travel Lodge.

My DC are too old for places like Lapland UK and though I'd really like to take them to Lapland, I don't think we could do it in a day.(3 day is an option but ££)

Where is Winchester BigPaws?

Er, my sense of direction's not the best but about an hour South of Oxford the way I go. I think it's in Hampshire.

Lincoln christmas market is lovely, but it is absolutely chocka block with visitors. They have a one-way pedestrian path around the market, it is so busy. We're local and sacrifice a bit of the atmosphere (its nice in the dark with all the twinkly lights) and go on sunday morning when it's the least busy. We don't buy a lot of gift stuff, although I do get some and it's not all rip-off prices. The kids have a go on the rides, we get hot, spiced nuts, have a hog roast-type thing for lunch and some warm, mulled wine to sip. You can tell we're a foodie family. OK, we only go for all the food stalls !

Birmingham Christmas Market is marked on my calendar already. We are abandoning the kids and going to drink gluhwein, an enormous beer and eat enormous hotdogs and candied nuts, get a big box of flavoured marshmallowy cakey things whilst baulking at the prices on the expensive crafts.

Do you mean in the UK or in Germany / Holland?

I'm in Wolverhampton, there is a 10 day market, the last time I went it was almost exclusively Hungarian, I think they are trying to compete with Birmingham which is the big one around here, schools take coach trips.

If there are nice ones in the UK I'd pick that over traversing the channel.
(We've got guinea-pigs so I couldn't leave them) but we could drive up to Birmingham, stay overnight and go to the market the next morning.

Bigpaws - completely agree with you on Winchester. I live on the Swiss/German/French border and having visited quite a few through Germany I find it to be just as good and authentic.

The surroundings of the cathedral are beautiful, you could spend a day in the lovely centre and the ice rink is great for the kids when they get fed up of shopping.

Nurnberg Market is huge - practically the entire city centre. I agree with others though - it is stalls and stalls of Chinese made plastic tat baubles. The kids section for little children is nice, they had a play mobile hut (it originates from Nurnberg) and some rides. The drunken jostling in the square got on my tits though, and it's hard slog working your way up and down on a Saturday evening.

Basel market is nice, calmer, same tat, ice rink, huge ferris wheel on the Rhine. Swiss food of course - fondue, raclette. More expensive that Germany.

I've been to the one in Montreux that has stacks of stalls along the lake, beautiful setting, French style Market, quite expensive though but other things to do.

Goteburg in Sweden has a Christmas Market in it's old funfair Liseberg (pronounced Lisaberry) and it's light up with over a million White lights, great glogg, reindeer kebabs, Swedish crafts are a bit more traditional. Rides for younger kids, an ice bar, ice exhibitions. You do have to pay entry though but it's not extortionate. you can fly Ryanair from Stansted and it used to be so cheap - as no one really went there.

There is one in Colmar France that everyone here raves about too.might try that one this year.

Winchester is good but pricey. Bath is far nicer and has more variety in the Market IMO and the town itself lends itself to Xmas v well however in Winchester you can skate in the cathedral cloisters! And it's cheaper to stay as bath is v expensive.
Manchester Christmas Market is lovely too and was a big highlight as a student.

See, I don't really get Manchester Christmas market! Am I missing something or is it just a few stalls here and a few stalls there with no real centre to it?

Manchester Christmas market is MAHOOSIVE! You must have been in the wrong bit... ALL of Albert Square, St Ann's square and most of the streets in between, and some more...!

I love it - we try to go every year,just for the gluhwein and the crazy talking reindeer.