It's the dreaded ' Christmas Market ' time !

[Rainbow321]

So I've been to a few ( UK only ) Christmas markets , and my opinion of them all is they are all crap !
The ones I've been to are York ( a few times over the years )
Chester , Harrogate , Edinburgh , Bath , & Lincoln & a few other towns local ones , all equal crap .
Are you with me on this or do you find them magical & wonderful and leaving you full of the Christmas spirit ?

I went to the Alexanderplatz one in Berlin years ago. It was great. Snow and pear schnapps and a ferris wheel. I have never seen one in the UK that I wanted to go to although I might do Hyde Park.

Winchester Christmas Market is in a lovely setting in the cathedral grounds - nice stalls not ever seen any tat which means it’s a pricey market.

very very popular so crowds of people of course.

I have never purposefully gone to a Xmas market but have had the misfortune in various towns to be there when the market is on and walked through. York last year was a particularly unpleasant experience when we had gone for a girlie shopping day and could barely move.

so Lincoln, York, Birmingham, Manchester all seemed rubbish from what I saw of them. Ghent is my only continental experience which also seemed like tat, food and fairground rides.

@AutumnLeaves24 i hate to say it but the Edinburgh one is terrible!!
Manchester used to be good when it was smaller and genuine crafts and European small holders and Birmingham had some nice local produce when I was there years ago.

I went to Manchester a couple of years back and it was absolutely awful. I have no idea how it rates so highly.
I used to love Lincoln but it ended up being incredibly dangerous and has now stopped.
York was lovely, but rammed. At least it had some proper handmade stalls.

I'm planning on trying Cologne next year. I went this year at Easter and it's a lovely City and the Christmas Market is supposed to be amazing.

We went to our local city centre Christmas market last night and it was disappointing. The stalls were poor and a lot were in darkness and closed.

We went to Ghent last year for the Christmas market. They don't start it until the first weekend in December, and it's just so lovely compared to all the UK ones we've been to.

It's definitely a place to meet friends and family, most of the stalls are selling interesting things, and they have a fabulous deposit return system for all the reusable cups and plates from the refreshment stalls so there aren't overflowing bins and there are clear tables.

It was the most Christmassy experience I've had as an adult.

What’s not to like about eating bratwurst and drinking outside surrounded by Christmas trees, twinkly lights, chatting with friends?!

The local ones I’ve been to in London have been festive and Christmassy. I’m not hugely into shopping, but there were some lovely locally made products.

I’ve been to a couple of others in Bath and Winchester which were a bit tacky, but I’m not from there so don’t know if they were local crafters/makers and that’s the fashion there. But in general, I love eating and drinking outside with all the decorations out, so I’m a fan!

Bath Christmas market is so squashed together and you just shuffle along feeling as if you can’t breathe properly. It feels so claustrophobic

The one on parkers piece? Walked through it last year and it was a small version of hyde parks winter wonderland. Basically a tacky money making fest. They may have added more stalls this year. But it still looks pretty tacky. It's central though so easy to get to the rest of city for a browse if its dull.

Ely christmas market is on tomorrow and saturday Its held in the cathedral and is actually quite festive and twee. An old style carrousel in the grounds and lovely setting. Tickets often sell out but worth a look to see if they have slots still. Have seen some last minute availability in recent years. It's packed usually, with coaches coming from far and wide, but they do have an outside bit thats free and generally quieter. I like it. I don't ever buy much but it makes me feel full of festive cheer. Train from Cambridge is 15 minutes. Or driving park and ride from bens yard.

I've been to several. My favourites were Winchester, and Amiens (France). Lille (France) was quite good. Bruges looked good but it rained heavily so the visitors left, and tfe stalls shut down early!
Nothing would entice me to return to the ones in Birmingham, or Manchester.
The rest were just 'meh' (Bath, Chester, Cambridge). We were going to go to York for one, but watched a YT video walk through and decided not to bother!

I'll just leave this here: www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/4091892-To-try-and-recreate-a-Christmas-market-in-my-back-garden

I love a browse interspersed with a mulled wine or a hot chocolate with baileys. It can be a nice atmosphere with a small group of friends in one of the huts before it gets heaving.

But it's nearly always heaving now. There seems to be only 10 stalls and they just repeat over and over, I swear it used to be more varied.

If I can get an afternoon off work on a crisp day I'll have a walk round but I'm not fighting through Taylor swift level crowds to buy some overpriced cheese.

They are all a load of over priced, over crowded sheds of utterly shitty tat. I cannot fathom why people go to them. The ideal home Christmas show is exactly the same thing except under cover. RUBBISH

I agree they are crowded, overpriced, mostly tat, freezing cold and no parking for bloody miles.

I'd rather run a hot bubble bath and buy online while reading mumnet.

A key problem with them is that they make busy places even busier at the busiest time of year. If you're a resident or worker near them your heart sinks when they start - queues, crowds, rammed public transport - just getting out to buy a sandwich uses your entire lunch hour.

I was in the Edinburgh one today but just as I live near and was going to thr art gallery, in the day and when quiet it really is just the same old tat and sausages and mulled wine, but I do like the merriment of them in the dark with lights twinkling and happy people around.

The best one I've been to was in Oslo, they have one on two weekends in December in their folk museum (which is more like a village) and it's just lovely. Snow all over of course, slightly different traditions and decorations and a rosy cheeked Santa wandering round with his wooden spoon for the naughty children 🤣 it's magic though, and walking back to the city past the neighbourhoods all lit up and lights reflecting in the water, really recommend!

It seems like the European ones are good , but the UK ones not so good ( pleased it's not just me that doesn't feel the love )
For those that say don't go , I haven't been for the last 3/4 years and no plans to go in the next 3/4/5 years.
A few of you have asked why ' dreaded ' , answer is have gone because friends say it will be good , fun , festive etc etc . Well non alcohol drinking / veggie me never finds much to eat or drink except overly sweet hot chocolate or cheesy chips so that's why they are not for me .

York is awful (we live there) very overcrowded to the point of being unsafe, and absolute shite on offer at extortionate prices. We avoid the city centre on weekends until it’s over 😂

We had a reasonably nice one at Bury St Edmunds but covid stopped it and it hasn't been same since, which is ashame.

I’ve been to Manchester and agree it’s horrendous. However a friend persuaded me to go to Haddon Hall (in Derbyshire) and it’s fab.
A beautiful setting, a medieval hall which is like a fairytale castle and great stalls of tasteful goods.
I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend.

You don't like them, and it makes sense when some posters say, 'don't go then!' You say you haven't been for several years. What's your point? I will still say the same. Don't go then!

The Chester one is great by the way, so YABU!

To the posters saying the German/Austrian/Swiss/Dutch ones are better. Most of the UK ones are German/Austrian/Swiss/Dutch!

/

I liked Winchester when I went but don't think they have the ice rink in the middle any more, which really added to the atmosphere.

Bath is awful, total bunfight.

We have a one-day-only local-Christmas-market-for-local-people which I love - it's nicely spread out so no bottlenecks, good products, no tat and lots of local musicians/choirs etc all through the day. DD1 often buys my Christmas present there and it's always something lovely.

Bristol is a Christmas downmarket lol.

I dont like the crowds, nor does rain make me feel festive. Most UK ones have either excessive crowds or excessive damp (if not both). I love mulled wine, but live somewhere without decent public transport.

But I love the romanticized idea of Christmas markets. so I'm torn!

I do go to a couple of one-off afternoon craft fair type ones, thoigh.