Most Christmassy place?

[Julynian]

Posting here rather than on the Travel board, because if you’re here in August you must love Christmas 😊

Where is the most Christmassy festive place you have been? I want to go somewhere in December, either a day trip, weekend or short break. I want it to be wonderfully festive, not just a Christmas market, it must be Christmas from beginning to end.

Not Lapland - done that several times already - but anywhere else at all.

Everybody really knows the truest Christmas is in your heart

But I can’t go on a mini break inside my heart, so…

Disneyland Paris is lovely, Castletown a little village in the Peak District feels fairly magical

Castleton not Castletown

Aachen

We went in October and walked around the corner into the main square at night and I felt like I had walked into the middle of December. I can’t imagine what it’s like at actual Christmas!!!

I’ve been to Castleton near Christmas and it is lovely but I’m not sure I’d want to be there for a weekend.

Would you consider Center Parcs? I like what they do but object to the prices!

Local light trails at places like NT properties can be nice.

Am interested to hear other suggestions

Tallinn, Estonia

Vienna, we just spent time wandering the beautiful streets, visiting markets, took a carriage ride, went to coffee houses, went to a carol concert and visited loads of churches with nativity scenes.

Salzburg
Bruges

I really really really want to go to Strasbourg in France, it looks amazing at Christmas!

I have already been to Tallinn, Vienna and Bruges, and I loved all three!
Disney, and Centre parks, I haven’t been to either, but I just get the feel that all the focus is on fun for kids? We don’t have any kids.

The other suggestions, I have not considered so will look up now, thanks.

Any more ideas welcome!

My DH informed me that Winchester is supposed to be the UK's most Christmassey town .
I haven't been but it does look lovely

We've been to Bruges , Amsterdam, Bath and Oxford for Christmas markets, last year we went to Glasgow and Edinburgh ( not markets but festive)

Loved Bruges (horse and carriage ride in the evening with a little snow? Thank you very much) but was honestly disappointed with Gdansk. Lovely architecture but only really the main drag of festive interest, and the products available at the market were essentially identical to anywhere else.

German Christmas markets, have been to many, love them!

May be a bit far for a weekend but Tromso? Dark days, northern lights, snow. It was lovely (plus you can do whale watching if that’s your thing).

Reykjavik was also lovely - similar to Tromso but with more to do and not so dark/cold/snowy.

For a city, Prague was lovely. It’s not guaranteed but we got a dusting of snow that definitely helped.

And there’s always NYC. Absolute busy madness at that time of year but you can do and American film Christmas with a show, skating, the tree, the big shops etc.
We did it and hired a car and travelled around some of the small Hampton towns and they were beautiful.

There are a lot of German towns that are meant to be very Christmassy that I haven’t tried yet so that could be something to look in to.

Salzburg stunningly beautiful and surrounded by snow capped mountains.

my family are also obsessed with finding the most Christmassy place. If you’re going long haul you can’t beat Quebec. For a shorter break, Lillehammer in Norway was magical we only spent the day there and stayed in Oslo (which was an average European city less Christmassy.) This year we’ve booked around Montreux to see Santa fly over lake Geneva and take the cog train up the mountain to see Santa with our 3 year old, lots for kids but doing some research looks like lots for adults too.

Oooh am also interested

https://www.christmastownvalkenburg.com/

I have never been but it’s on my to do list.

I’ve just been looking at Montreaux as well for a few days, it looks great

Rüdesheim am Rhein in Germany. The whole town just felt like Christmas.

I took my Mum to Disneyland Paris in November one year and that was extremely Christmassy.

One of the stately houses that are themed by CLW for Christmas - Castle Howard, Bamburgh Castle, Beaulieu etc? We visited Castle Howard last winter and it was stunning. Or Chatsworth.

Or many of the National Trust properties go all out for Christmas.

Or this. Not been myself but my mum loves it. https://www.thursford.com/christmas-spectacular/

Salzburg is stunning. It’s the best Christmas town I have visited. The market is in a picturesque location, and all the little shops and houses in the side streets are beautifully decorated. We went in early December and it was starting to snow. It coincided with The Krampus festivities, which was a lot of fun. We flew to Munich and stayed there for a few days, then got a train to Salzburg. Took about 1:45 and was an easy journey. Saw some beautiful scenery along the way, too.