Best Christmas market with kids

[ZeroDucksLeft]

Hi everyone.
So its turns out we actually have a free weekend mid November and we would like to take ds7 away for a few nights. I was considering a Christmas market but it’s hard to tell online which would be suitable.
Does anyone have any recommendations or suggestions?
Happy to drive or take the train.

I can't travel to Europe at the moment so I'm looking for the best UK Christmas Market too.

I'm considering Edinburgh...

I thought the Reading & Winchester ones were crap.

I LOVE London at Christmas (mainly the 'Big' shop window displays etc) I've not found a Market I thought was any good.

My friend went to Birmingham last year & said it was 'dire! Dirty & lacking any good points.

it's a shame that none of the U.K. ones seem very good ☹️

would you consider taking him to one of the ones in Europe?!

We’ve got Friday night to Sunday mid afternoon so I don’t think we have time although I would love to.
I considered London, mainly for the Lego shop, but I worry it might be too busy for him.

Edinburgh was my first choice but train and hotel comes to nearly £800! I might be persuaded if someone says it’s amazing though.

Edinburgh is fab for kids but extremely busy, we usually go a mid week afternoon to avoid the crazy crowds. They had different sections last year and loads of rides for the kids, I love Edinburgh at Christmas it's defo worth a visit.

Last year I went to both Edinburgh and Glasgow Christmas markets and I was underwhelmed by Edinburgh it was tiny. The stalls at Glasgow were the same as Edinburgh but I felt it had a better atmosphere and they were cheaper.
My favourite Christmas market is York, the majority of the stalls are independents, it does get crowded but there lots of other festive events going on and several decent museums.

If you want to go outside of the UK go to Copenhagen- great market with kids.

within UK, Edinburgh is great but very busy

Christmas markets are always underwhelming in my (admittedly limited) experience.

Can you take a flight? If so, Bremen (small city in northern Germany) is a short hop. Traditional Christmas market in the town square and a medieval one along the river.

From Bremen airport there is a tram into the city. Not the huge crowds of Munich/Hamburg.

Random, but Chatsworth House have a gorgeous market and you can also go round the house and there’s a light trail too from memory. Different from a city centre but very family friendly

Christmas markets are generally identikit crap, way too busy, the kids will fleece you for shite rides. Sorry!

Berlin! Go for a weekend and try different markets in Berlin.

I wouldn't waste £800 and spending money on Edinburgh Christmas market.
It's very expensive it looks great from a distance but once you're in it ..it really is poor.

Oh god not Edinburgh! The market is truly awful, lots of over priced mass produced tatt and so busy at weekends I wouldn’t go myself let alone take a young child. They queue for miles down the road just to get in.

Cardiff is a bit different if you avoid the overpriced sausage and beer stands. Most are Welsh craft stands. It is very small though.

We’ve heard Bath Christmas market is good so we’re going midweek in December. Hoping someone will come along who has been and agree 🙃

Christmas markets in Germany won't open until later than mid November.

Not UK but we did Cologne last year with two kids aged 7 and 4 and had fun. I think flights + accomodation were only around £800....think we did Thursday to Sunday off the top of my head. Our hotel was right next to one of the Christmas markets (they have lots!) and a stone's throw from the Lindt chocolate museum too.

Think their Xmas markets open from mid-November.
https://www.cologne-tourism.com/experiences-lifestyle/christmas

It's not much better than the others if you stick to the main area but there are some offshoots which are a bit different. It's where we discovered that DD really doesn't like gin and raw chocolate is disgusting.

I live in Birmingham and always tell people how great it is but wouldn't take children to the Christmas Market. We do with dc when it opens in the morning, they have a quick look round then we go. It's huge and good if you want to eat and drink lots as an adult but is extremely busy and attracts pickpocketers from all across the Midlands I think (an exaggeration but it certainly feels that way).

Bath is really good, you need to do all of the lanes as each are different. Mostly independents and small businesses with some nice gifts. Lovely and Christmassy round the abbey. Very busy and quite tight for space in some spots, be prepared to walk slowly behind others and have to cut across to get to the stalls, especially at weekends. I took a break last year as it was getting a bit samey with stalls and locations of these remaining the same each year but I’m looking forward to going back again this year.

Stratford upon Avon is ok, smaller and some of the same stalls as Bath despite the distance. Lots of coach trips. Bought some nice bits though.

Some of the smaller ones can be better, OP have you considered clustering smaller market towns e.g. Stroud (Farmers Market), Cheltenham (Suffolks is good) and Tewkesbury if dates align? Or Stratford, Warwick and Coventry?

Hay on Wye do a fantastic weekly market and they have a few dedicated Christmas dates. Book lovers paradise if you’re looking for gifts.

Manchester has just been awarded 2nd best market in Europe (haven't been).
Bath is lovely but very very busy, I always go weekend before Christmas when the market has gone!

DH and I went to Bath a couple of years ago ,, first week in December which was the last weekend of the Christmas markets. It was busy , huge queues for food, parking would be a nightmare ( we were on a coach tour we were dropped off/ picked up in the park) . Park&Ride queues massive.All the car parks we saw were full/closed. .
We went with adult DD to Bruge and Amsterdam which had lovely markets last year.

I have done with Christmas markets now . I don't know if a 7yo would find much in them .
We did take the DC to the Southbank years ago but it was mainly the rides they liked

Thanks everyone.
I think we’ve decided to do Chatsworth one day and then Haddon Hall the next.

I would go to one of the smaller ones, mainly due to safety.

Chester is lovely and they’ve just added bollards to the area it’s held. They’ve also announced new security measures.

After last year I just wouldn’t feel safe at any busy ones.

Completely agree. It isn’t just if there is an attack. Sometimes they are cleared because of a security threat (I am in Germany) and at the big markets there is the risk of a crush of people.

The big markets look beautiful in pictures, but at the ground level it is more being in a big crowd. With DC we go to the smaller ones and avoid the main weekend before Christmas, despite living close to one of the major markets.