Can we have a Christmas Market thread? Where are you going?

[MissAmbrosia]

After avoiding them since before Covid/lots of cancellations I am planning a mammoth Xmas market season this year. Planned so far - Aachen, Lille and Arras, and Lyon, with the obligatory trip to the Brussels market and probably Leuven. Possibly Maastricht also.

Where have you been / are you going? Maybe we can share recommendations?

I've enjoyed in previous years:

Monschau,
Valkenburg (in the caves)
Bruges - small market but the city is always lovely to visit
Ghent - prefer to Bruges
Strasbourg - surprisingly lovely and very christmassy.
Cologne - lots of different markets. Very pretty. The main market near the Dom was packed though to the extent it frightened me.

Has anyone been to the Rome markets?

Zurich and Vienna for us, the kids and DH have never been to one in Europe! (And to be honest I haven't been since I was a child myself so it feels like my first time too!)

i've only been to the one on the south a bank in london ( very grim)
I just wonder what the ones in Europe would be like? what happens at them to make them nice?
My DH hates shopping so although i'd like to go he may not be too much fun to go with

The lights and the food and the ice rinks and merry go rounds.

We’re Strasbourg this year. Any tips from those who have been before? 😊

Our most recent trip prior to this year was Tallinn which was brilliant!

@newspecs - better decorations, better stalls, general feeling. You have often carol singers, Santa makes an appearance, it's not all about drinking and eating. People meet after work to chat.

I live in London since 2000 and never thought the ones here are anywhere as the German ones are.

You can but I would avoid it. Similar with buggies or small people walking. They will be squashed if you go on a weekend or when it's dark.

Everytime we are in Germany there were small children all on their dad's shoulders to avoid problems. You would have to carry your dog all the time.

Are there any good ones in the U.K.?

Oslo Folk Museum (more like a big village of ancient houses) is amazing and they do a Christmas festival on two weekends in December. Very norwegian and quintessentially Christmassy too, and theres always snow underfoot in December so it's like a winter wonderland! Oslo town has the usual Christmas Market you see in cities too, but the one at the Folk Museum is just gorgeous.

We love the European markets. Faves include Vienna, Munich, Nuremberg. This year we're going to Copenhagen. Very excited.

We live in Manchester. It's always had a fantastic collection of markets but even before COVID they were becoming a bit lairy. I'd avoid weekends and Friday evening if you are with little ones. Plus they get rammed. It's been worse the last few years with the main location in Albert Square closed off due to the massive renovation of the town hall.

Hoping to get to one next year with dd's aged 9 & 10... Anyone been to Krakow or Bratislava?

ItsOnlyWordsInnit - Thank you so much! Some great top tips. Going on Friday - your top tips are v helpful.

I've been to Bratislava in the summer - it's very pretty. Like a mini Prague without the stag nights.

I'm off to Paris next week. Any recommendations? There are multiple markets from the look of things. We only have 1 night, as we're in DLP for the other days.

TIA!

Has anyone been to the ones in Lille, Brugges or Ghent?

If so which is the best and are they worth visiting?

Thanks

Doncaster

I think the London one is far better than Manchester it offers more too. The surrounds are so pretty! I went to Manchester last year it was OK but it wasn't compable to Ldn buy maybe because its not on my doorstep.

Bruges market is quite small - but everywhere is pretty and very Xmassy. Ghent is lovely - also there are better shops. Lille is quite large with a big wheel etc. The Brussels Xmas market is huge and spread over different areas. We are going to Lille and Arras for the weekend next month so I will feed back.

We've been to
Prague
Frankfurt
Budapest
Galway
Hamburg

Loved them all!

I'm going to Basel
Used to live there I can't wait! Going on Friday

Thanks for that @MissAmbrosia

We're going to Aachen this Sunday. I will do a review.

I was in Budapest last weekend! Small market but so so festive, amazing food and lovely little stalls. Take me back please……!

Has anyone been to the Amsterdam one? I'm going in a few weeks so hoping it's nice!

I've been to Aachen today. It's not massive but spread over several squares around the Dom and the Rathaus. Quite pretty though. It was mostly food and drink orientated. All the sausages you could eat. Lots of stollen and egg Liquor and gingerbread. Plenty of warm places to drink gluhwein. Quite a few stalls selling Xmas decorations - some more reasonably than others. A couple of roundabouts for the kids. No ice rink. They didn't switch the lights on til later due to energy saving measures. So we really enjoyed it <<hic>> but for us it was an hour on the train. I wouldn't travel from UK specifically for it unless combining say with Cologne or one of the Belgian markets.