Christmas market recommendations?

[Mooandmae1]

Hi Everyone

It's my sisters 50th birthday and she apparently doesn't need or want anything! As we both adore Christmas I was thinking to book us a Christmas market trip. We're based in the midlands and I would prefer to travel away from where we're based.

I've looked at Edinburgh which looks great and also Prague. We can gly from East Midlands or Birmingham airport. I also love travelling on the eurostar. Does anybody have any insights or recommendations?

Thank you

Avoid Bath, mass produced tat and overpriced food. As for parking, there’s places you can park with a bit of a walk but not putting them on a public forum! We sing in the market with our choir, otherwise I’d give it a wide berth

Budapest. More than one market in the city. Authentic, especially outside the basilica.

Barcelona was beautiful too. Quite low key, beautiful buildings around it. I wasn't there for the market so it was an unexpected joy.

Cologne is absolutely rammed at weekends. In an unpleasant, I can't move, OMG there is no security how do I get out of here kind of way.

Munich is a lot better.

Personally I’d avoid the major ones in Germany and Austria, the slightly smaller ones are usually much nicer and less crowded.
Slightly less busy but lovely ones ones are in Münster (six markets), Essen also has a nice one and you can take the Eurostar from Brussels direct a couple of times a day. You could combine Essen, Dortmund, Bochum and even Münster from there, depending on how long you have. In fact, you could go back from Cologne and take that in, too.

F

I second Vienna, but the south bank of the Thames is also pretty good.

I looked at going in early December to Vienna but the prices are crazy. We have decided to try Basel, Strasbourg and Colmar Christmas markets this year. Only a short train ride from each other.

@Theonewhogotthecake Vienna has an excellent public transport system. You can save money by staying further out and travelling in. We booked cheaper accommodation that on the transport map looked pretty far out but actually only took 20 minutes to get to the centre.

A few general points about Christmas Markets in Europe:

In many cities there is more than one market - some have 4 or 5 markets, each one different and offering a different atmosphere and products.

In many cities, the markets don't really come to life until mid- or late afternoon when the lights really begin to twinkle as darkness falls, so there is the time to experience other things before heading to the markets. For example, in Salzburg there's time to take the Sound of Music tour during the day; in Vienna there are the palaces to visit and so on. Or use the time in the morning (as pp above) to travel from one city to another.

It gets cold outside so you need to wrap up warm - just as you would if you were going for a 2 hour winter walk somewhere. If it gets too cold there are always numerous restaurants and cafes where you can warm up.

This thread is bring back many lovely memories from our trip.

I just wanted to reiterate what a PP mentioned about weekends. We timed our trip to be at the markets midweek but I've seen some photos/comments of weekends in the popular places and it's crazy busy and looks as though it wouldn't be much fun.

I'd love to go to the Ravenna Gorge market. I think tickets get sold out pretty quickly (most markets are free but some you have to pay entry for).

https://www.hochschwarzwald.de/en/christmas-market-in-the-ravenna-gorge

We did Brussels one year and it was amazing! Such a beautiful city, easy to walk around everywhere, huge market, not crowded. I couldn’t recommend it enough! It even snowed. We got a ferry and drove there. It was about 5 hours from where we were. Definitely better than UK Christmas markets which just seem overpriced and manufactured

Valkenberg was the best for me, we did Brussels, bruge and valkenberg on the same organised coach trip and it was just so beautiful being in the caves!

Another vote for Germany. My daughter and I went for a few days last December, partly to visit a relative in Bavaria, but we also fitted in Christmas markets in Bamberg, Nurnberg and Augsburg. Things to see and do in town earlier in the day, then afternoon/evening enjoying the markets. We came home with Christmas decorations, biscuits etc. Flew in to Munich and actually hired a car to get around in the end, we had planned to use trains but for various reasons the car ended up easier and cheaper.

I live just over an hour away from the Ravenna gorge market. It is beautiful, but very, very small so I wouldn't make it a destination trip, as you only really need an hour or two max there, however it can be combined with a few other markets quite easily. You could fly into Basel via easyjet and visit three countries markets. Colmar is busy but an extremely cute setting for a Christmas market, Basel is a huge one as the entire city has markets all over, and little streets with food stalls (including the famous bread filled fondue stall) , fondue and raclette served in little ski gondolas, and of course the essential gluhwein stands.

Strasbourg is also easy accessible with Ryanair for a another French Christmas Market experience.

I'd add Goteborg as a great destination also easy accessible. The theme park Liseberg turns into an entire Christmas Market with a million twinkling lights. It really is lovely, and the whole city has such a cosy vibe.