Best Christmas markets in UK

[Serialprocrastinator2]

I'm trying to be super organised and book a short break away at the beginning of December for dh birthday. Need some recommendations for the best / biggest Christmas markets around or Christmassy type events. We are based in the south but am happy to travel anywhere in the U.K. Not London though as we visit quite regularly anyway. It would just be us two adults on children.

i've been to ones in bath and manchester over the last few years. bath is beautiful as a city but i found the markets much too busy - the station was so full that they were making people queue outside it. also the streets are very narrow.

Manchester - its got more squares where the market is held, so i preferred this as it was still busy but not so enclosed. but i guess it also depends on which sort of city you prefer. obviously manchester is not as quaint and old as bath.

Thank you, I've never been to bath, although it's on my list of places in the Uk to visit. I have spent the day in Manchester before and I wasn't too impressed, can imagine how busy it gets!

Avoid Birmingham like the plague.
It's big but it's too busy, incredibly busy and in a really ugly busy shopping street. The nearest when I was a teenager so I got dragged with school/friends endlessly. It's like the inner circle of hell. The name always seems to crop up though - just don't do it.

Edinburgh was lovely when I went last year, and I hate that sort of thing normally! Big but didn't feel crowded. Near the Scots monument, beautiful buildings and the castle which was brilliant.

Chatsworth House do a modestly sized one. Some nice things, not very big but by no means tiny, and a wide variety of stalls and food. Not very German though, if that matters! The house is lovely and very festive decorated for Christmas and the area is great if you're making a weekend of it.
Saw in the news that the parking aspect was horrendous this year though. Apparently they were backlogged for hours trying to drag cars from the field with tractors - I'd walked from a friends so obviously had a lucky escape.

Thanks tender, that's really useful information, we visited Edinburgh the year before last in the autumn and wanted to go back, so the recommendation sounds good, just worry how cold it will be in December? I will check our Chatsworth house.

Really recommend Edinburgh....gorgeous city, lots to do beside Christmas markets which are also pretty amazing though! Very pretty city feels very safe and doesn't feel too crowded either unlike Manchester

Edinburgh. Markets and then loads more.

Bath is a wonderful Xmas market. Because it’s spread through little streets it feels cosy and very christmassy. I wouldn’t go at a weekend though as it gets very busy.
I went to Winchester market last year and thought it was awful. I was so disappointed.

I went to Winchester in December and I enjoyed it but was disappointed that everything but the ice skating closed by 7pm. So different to those abroad. It was to do with residents complaining about the noise.

I was going to recommend the Chatsworth one too because there is the added bonus there of looking around the House itself when it has been decorated for Christmas and that is usually fab.

I have been going for a number of years and never had problems with parking but I know a few did this year because of some very wet weather. However, I know someone who worked there and apparently the problem was exacerbated by visitors simply not parking where they had been asked, i.e. "Please don't park in this area as it is too wet", so they parked there anyway and grumbled when they got stuck!

@5foot5 and being able to have a Christmas roast dinner in the restaurant afterwards!
They were charging £6 I think for burgers from vans, when 200 yards away in the self-serve restaurant you could get a roast roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings for I think about £8/9.

Even if busy traffic wise, parking at Carlton Lees is cheaper than at the house, only a short riverside walk with imo the best views of the house. Forgot that!

@tendergreenbean
Yes parking at Carlton Lees is very reasonable and it is a nice walk if you like walking (we do!), but I guess if you buy a load of stuff at the market it is a long way to carry it.

Also I think if you go around the house you get your parking refunded.

The farm shop is definitely worth a visit.

Bristol's is a waste of space, all catering well over priced and only a couple of stalls that weren't tat. I've also been advised not to go to Bath as it's heaving, even mid week