Christmas Markets UK & Europe (2014) [Help me find some fab ones please!]

[ChippingInAutumnLover]

So, I am determined to find some good Christmas Markets this year! Please help me

Europe

We have a few days prior to Christmas (18th to the 21st) when I would like to go somewhere in Europe to a/some lovely Christmas Market/s.

Lots of pretty lights, mulled wine, atmosphere and preferably grapes in toffee (The ones in Bruges were A-May-Zing). I'm not looking for somewhere to 'shop' but a couple of nice decorations would be good (but definitely not a priority), I just want the atmosphere and to go somewhere new/different.

UK - I'd like to book up some weekends so we don't end up 'busy' & not able to fit them in!

I live in the SE & we'll be going to Winchester (flexible with this as we can either 'make a weekend of it' or just go for the day).

Happy to travel for the weekend as long as it's worth it

Where do you love/hate & why? Thank you x

Valkenburg is ok, but not as a main Christmas market trip, the caves are beautiful, but the stalls are few. Cologne is lovely, does get busy but is absolutely fine with a buggy, we went there several years in a row with them. Stay near the Cathedral for convenience. Erfurt is also beautiful and the market is gorgeous, Trier is also fabulous.

Now we're back in the UK, we'll be going to Manchester and the smaller ones in Lakeland villages. It won't be the same, but I have a need to chug gluewein and pretend to be back in Germany.

good luck little milla!!!

Bremen or Lubeck ( the home of marzipan!)

Dortmund Christmas market is great and has a huge 45 m tree in the middle. You can fly there from Luton with Easy Jet. I am off there at the end of the month for the weekend.

Another photo of the tree

Cologne Christmas Market was fantastic. Gluwein, apple doughnuts, a German Oom pah band playing. Just sublime.

Bath Christmas market - don't bother it's rubbish.

The choir was singing carols but oh no, they were far to posh/up themselves to sing carols that PEOPLE ACTUALLY KNEW.

The look on another lady's face at the market of, 'what's this shit ?' just about summed it up.

Would love to go to Lincoln Christmas market.

I would love to go to Edinburgh or Scotland generally at Christmas time. Maybe people who live in Scotland would tell me I'm welcome to it !

Also at the Christmas Market in Cologne I wanted to buy the figurines of the nativity scene. I learned they are called, 'The Holy Family' in Germany. I couldn't afford to buy the whole set. I was advised that people buy each one per year until their set in complete.

Lincoln was very atmospheric with the cathedral bells and carols but the market itself was so crowded that there was a one-way system to walk round. You couldn't even see the stalls.

Southbank London was very poor last year.

Lille (one hour drive from Calais) was very good. There was a big wheel and a skating rink. The shopping centre is also very good with some nice clothes shops.

My fave is Arras (just under two hours) from Calais. Big wheel, roundabout and skating rink. Stalls selling hot chocolate, gallets, hot wine, rat biscuits and wooden decorations. I think the local market is on a Saturday selling good local produce. Stinky cheese, fruit syrups, beer, cidre, sausages. Lots of nice restaurants too - I recommend Le Petit Rat Porteur but you need to book in advance.

If you stay over go and have a look at the bove tunnels and Wellington Quarry.
[[http://www.frenchconnections.co.uk/en/guide/miniguidepage/148156-arras-christmas-market-pas-de-calais-28-november-to-30-december-2014

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This year we are going to try out this event in Hastings on 6 December. Once upon an Old Town Christmas

In defence of Bath I went a few years ago and it snowed , people were singing carols, the market was bustling but not too busy and we found a really nice Sardinian restaurant for dinner. In the slightly mild drizzle I guess it would be less good.

Winchester is nice but can get dreadfully busy. Even the park & rides were full last year. Top tip: the Cathedral refectory is very nice and spacious and less crowded than the more obvious places.

We're going to Rome in December and I was hoping to look at this and everyone be saying 'Rome this and Rome that' but no such luck! We're not going for the Christmas fairs anyway, would have just been a nice bonus.

OP we go to one every year in Bury St Edmunds, and the whole town has stalls all over it, in the cathedral grounds, everywhere! The Greene King brewery is in the same town and I would have thought they run tours etc so lots to do if you were coming for the weekend. Only thing is that it's next weekend- 29/30 November so maybe too soon for this year but one to bare in mind for next year :)

Something a little different . Dixter Christmas Fair in Northiam near Rye East Sussex 29 and 30 Nov.

The Cologne Christmas markets are great, but beyond the cathedral Cologne is no thing of beauty (bombed flat in WWII). Its easy to travel back and forth between Cologne, Dusseldorf and Aachen though, so you could base yourself somewhere else and do Cologne as a day trip, especially as the train station's right beside the cathedral and main market.

Strasbourg. Capital of Christmas

You can get in a train in London and be there quite straightforwardly (change at Lille).

I've been to the Birmingham one a couple of time, I quite liked it . It's the biggest outside of Germany, isn't it? We were going to take DD this year, I reckon she'll love it whatever (FIL lives there, it's not a random excursion!).

Bruges was shit when we went, the city itself is beautiful (and COLD!!!!!) but the market was rubbish.

Not a market as such, but this weekend is the Scandinavian churches Christmas bazaars in Rotherhithe in SE London. One street has the Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish churches and they have their Christmas bazaars inside the churches and out on the street. We always went as children and now I live close by I'm taking DD too.

Also, check out if any nt places nearby have one going? It's not quite the same, but pretty good IMO and a fun atmosphere.

If no-one's mentioned it the Bath one is very good. You can either do a day-trip or an overnight stay.

www.bathchristmasmarket.co.uk/

Some train companies were doing a spa/train deal combined to Thermae Spa.

There's also a nice (Georgian) youth hostel just outside town if hotels are too dear. have stayed there.

lauranorder - I beg to differ my brother's IL's live in Bath and both times I've gone it's been great... maybe you're just hard to please!

lauranorder also there are snobs everywhere, I didn't notice that many in Bath... and if the carols were different... do you expect the choir to be singing 'Away in a Manger' etc?!

My brother's BIL always moans about out of towners coming to Bath... I think they cramp his style.

Brother's ILs have disabilty badge (as FIL is disabled) makes parking a bit easier but train much quicker, Bath Spa better. The car parks are doable (done this at Christmas) but can get crowded.

Tons of cafes around in/out of Abbey/Market area from local ones to Caffe Nero etc to wait in before market opens.

There is a nice one at the South Bank by Waterloo station in London this year - there is always one but this year it looks much better than usual and more atmospheric with quality stalls.

The best ones I've been to overseas were Cologne (several in the city and you can also go to Bonn), Frankfurt (and you're close to Mainz as well) and Nuremberg.

Ones I've been to and recommend in Europe: Prague, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf and Cologne - easy to do both the latter in one trip as it's only a short train journey. We stayed in Dusseldorf for a long weekend and went to Cologne for an afternoon/evening. Main thing is to get a fairly central hotel within a short walk of the market!

UK: Lincoln, Edinburgh and Glasgow (also possible to do both the latter in one trip).

If you've not made New Year plans, then Edinburgh would be good as I believe the Christmas markets are still on after Christmas too, along with all the big wheel/ice rink stuff, and you also have all the Hogmanay celebrations (torchlight processions etc) for 3 days over New Year. Lots on!

We are going to Krakow this year - looking forward to that a lot

LittleMilla good luck with your stall. Despite being relatively local, I've never been to the Bath Christmas market before but am planning on doing so this year. I wonder which is your stall?

I also feel the need to defend Bath. I did live there many moons ago, and even in those days when Christmas markets had not been heard of, at least, not in Britain, Bath was still a mecca for Christmas shoppers because of all its little boutiquey shops. That is still the case today. I love Christmas shopping there because there are so many shops selling non High Street goods. Eg last year, I went looking for incense for my dd's stocking and came across an entire shop selling nothing but incense! Also, a shop selling the produce from Lindisfarne monastery, another selling carved wooden items, another selling retro toys, the most incredible art shop, and, still going after more than 30 years to my certain knowledge, the very best kitchenwear shop - think Lakeland Ltd but better.

Even if the Christmas market is rubbish, the shops alone make Bath worthwhile. Plus it is the most beautiful city in Britain

That said, I did Lincoln market many decades ago and it was delightful. Good to know it still wins some votes.

SuperFlyHigh - thank you for your comments.

Years ago Lincoln was delightful. Now it's really not.