Christmas market recommendations

[Muninem]

We're hoping to go on holiday around Christmas and take DC (who is six) to a European city with a Christmas market. Shortlist is Vienna, Copenhagen, Berlin, Strasbourg, Lille and Brussels (the last two because of Eurostar). Any advice or recommendations gratefully received.

Berlin is amazing and very child friendly. The Christmas markets are wonderful. The one near the TV tower is particularly good for kids as it has fair ground rides and ice skating.

Thanks! Any more advice would be gratefully received...

All the places you've listed will have very similar markets i.e once you're in the markets you could be in any of the cities listed (they all sell the same stuff, same atmosphere). I'd therefore select the city you'd like to visit rather than base it on the market, the market visit will only be a small part of the trip. If you opt for Vienna I'm happy to give more detailed guidance .

I've been to Brussels - the market itself is amazing but not a lot else to do, especially with children!

OK... Vienna is top of the list, but it seemed like the markets weren't open after Christmas, as they are in some of the other cities. Are there other things to do in Vienna at that time?

In my experience Christmas Markets aren't open after Christmas......many are actually called 'Advent' Markets, the clue is in the name. Vienna is very definitely a year round city with lots to see but, like elsewhere, can be cold an grey in Jan-Mar.

I have been Brussels, Bruges and Lille Xmas markets - out of these I really enjoyed Bruges - which is a great place to take the DC's....they normally have an Ice Sculpture Festival which is really cool for the kids as well as Ice Skating and everything Chocolate!

If your looking for somewhere different Bucharest is a great place to visit and they have the most amazing Therme (although we found the Therme better without DC...swim up cocktail bars).

We have also visited Riga (over the NY period) when the Xmas market was still on which is a beautiful city and Sibiu (Romania)- which was delightful and again over NY period.