Best Christmas market for kids?

[LibbyJeffries]

I used to love going to Christmas markets when DH and I were foot loose and fancy free. Now have DSs 9 and 6 in tow, and would love to take them for a long weekend to Germany or somewhere with guaranteed snow in mid December.

Anyone been with kids and can you recommend? When DH and I went it was all about beer halls and gluwein and I didn't really pay much attention to what kid friendly activities were on offer.

Any recommendations?

I live in Germany and have been a few times to smaller, local ones with my kids (bit younger at 6 & 3). My tips would be to go early afternoon and aim to leave by 6pm when it can get very busy and hard to keep your eyes on the kids, takes forever to get food and drinks etc. Most markets will have old fashioned carousels, and there's lots of stands selling beautiful traditional Christmas ornaments and gifts which is fun for Christmas shopping also for kids. Our local one takes place in castle grounds which is gorgeous and has a mini steam train giving rides to the kids.
As far as snow goes, hard to guarantee it tbh (think we had two days of light snow last December) but you'd be best looking at cities/towns in Baden Württemberg and Bayern. Nuremberg is the obvious choice for one of the biggest markets but will probably be quite expensive for accommodation. It would be worth looking at smaller towns around larger cities too as they can often be more fun with kids.
Or at the other end of the country, go to Berlin where there will be the main market and then smaller ones in different parts of the city and also loads of other things to do if the weather isn't so great.
Hope that helps a bit!

Thanks marmite . I'll do some research

German Christmas Markets are lovely but extremely crowded to the point of being suffocating (in my experience). I have visited several ones in different cities but by far my favourite was the one in Trier, Germany’s oldest city which includes Roman buildings.

Dusseldorf is lovely too, there are several ones spread across the city.

An acquaintance of mine travels nearly every year to Vienna in Austria and she says the one over there is the most lovely one she has ever visited and that the whole Christmas atmosphere in Vienna is like a fairy tale.

Following because we are considering the same this year. I recently got talking to a couple from Austria and they (naturally) recommended their own markets...

Any in particular, DownRight ? Austria definitely an option

No not really. They did mention Saltzburg. I've been looking at Vienna...

Ideally for us I'd like one that's a very short hop from the airport to a (mid-range) hotel; and walking distance from hotel to market...

Salzburg has a fab Xmas market, and a great zoo just outside of the town. Some great restaurants too!

Snow in mid-December is not guaranteed even in Bavaria, it will be most likely cold though. We went the last couple of years before Christmas and never had snow.

While Rotheburg is lovely it is outside a main airport and not that easy for just one weekend.

How about Hamburg? Easy to get to, a big market and some little ones dotted around the town. You can also do other things as well. Friends went to Berlin 3 years ago, may also be an idea.

Nurnberg - lovely but a mayhem at weekends. I lived in the area for several years and we refused to go unless it was under the week.

You will find carousel rides, some do St. Nikolaus parades, can you go over the weekend 6.12 which is a big thing for children in Germany and there may be more activities?

Is there a Christmas market anywhere you can get to on the Eurostar? That would be an interesting alternative...

@Down - some people say Lille is nice. You can also take the Eurostar to Brussels and change to Bruges or Antwerp.