If you’ve been to a Christmas market, how much did you spend?

[Forgottenmyphone]

I don’t mean transport and accommodation, I mean actually at the markets on purchases from the stalls (inc food). Just wondering approx what the prices are like. It would be helpful to know where you went and how many nights it was.
thanks

I went to Brugge last year which was nice. Food stalls around €10-€20, drinks we paid up to €10 because they took €3-5 for ‘use’ of the cup, but if you took it back it got refunded.
Other spends depends on what you’re in to, there was heaps of crafts and homemade ornaments, baubles, sweets/fudge/chocolate, candles, knitwear which are all pretty pricey.
We went for 3 nights and spent around €350 in total (we didn’t buy much to bring home, just wanted to enjoy the experience more than anything. 🙂

Vienna , drinks such as mulled cider around €6 to €7 if you returned the mug . Street food dinner type things , think goulash in a bread roll about €10 . Baubles price range was massive so hard to say , glass ones prob €10 to €12 average. Nothing was cheap , but as previous poster we went for the experience rather than to come home with lots . I wouldn’t actually say there was much you would buy as gifts despite the fact we visited all but one of the markets .

If you are looking for a cheaper one , I would say Poland is a good bet , Krakow sells Christmas things from the indoor stalls all year round . Be ready for the cold if you go in December though . Christmas market stalls have a lot of well priced wooden things .
To be fair you may be thinking of a Uk one , which in general all seem to sell the same things as each other . Winter wonderland in London at least has the ice sculptures and an ice rink normally, but try to go at a quiet time , it’s a tourist trap, but I guess they all are really. I wouldn’t make a special trip for it , but if we are in the area for something else we will pop in. Prices are high , but you can pre book the experience things beforehand.

I would go for the experience not to actually purchase anything, the ones I've been to you'll probably need 25-30 euro/at least 25 quid in the UK a head for a drink, something savoury and something sweet but then we just mooch around, looking, enjoying the atmosphere- they all sell the same tat as one another but some cities have higher prices than others, none of it is stuff you can't buy online cheaper tbh.. My sil treated the kids to a small paper lantern thing at a UK one last year, for the outrageous cost of over 15 pounds each, I'm 100% confident they were factory made somewhere else and I could've got them on amazon for less (£13 for 3 identical to theirs). Enjoy the vibes but don't use them for shopping would be my advice...

This was last year, but around $40 at Union Sq holiday market in Manhattan.

Overpriced, but a once a year tradition.

Been to a few different ones and spent different amounts. Spent quite a bit at Riga (€50ish) but that was because it was good value, so bought hot food, hot chocolate and treats and mulled wine. Tallinn we spent.about €20ish just in hot drinks. Helsinki - nothing. Found it a total rip off...just walked around and then went to McDonalds on way back. Doing Gothenburg and Krakow this year. Will see how that goes!

ETA - We had 1 night in each!

Berlin 2 years ago:

Bratwurst in a bun - €10
DD had Käsespätzel (short noodles in a cheese sauce) - €8
Drinks - €5 plus deposit

Purchases - as much or as less as you want. DD bought some silver jewellery - I think the rings were around €15, a small wooden figurine - €10.

We bought a proper Christmas pyramid - that was over €100 but the good ones are worth the costs.

Some ceramic ornaments - €5-10/each, the wooden ones similar.

A Dresdner Stollen - so good, a far cry of the decent ones from Lidl - €25 for 500g.

We do these trips because we are slightly homesick in December and like going back to Germany.
The vendors were in the two markets we mainly went to are craftpeople, they are not your Temu crap. You can get that as well, so it all depends what you want to bring home.

This year we are off to a smaller one, near my hometown and the prices will be slightly lower.

8 years a go £4 on two Xmas decorations as a mementoes of visit(crap made from MDF)
Everything rip off prices.
Lunch and drinks at a pub.
Edinburgh Xmas market.

I'd look more local tbh much more of a festive feel than any of the UK markets, they are so tightly packed it not enjoyable and while thy usually have small pockets of the artisan locally made stalls a lot is over priced tat that is cheaply made. As for food most so3 a cup retun for a discount but honestly the hot chocs are smaller the a Costa and twice the price and the mulled wine is usually premade bottles of it so like 3/4 quid a bottle and charged at about 9 quid a cup. We're lucky we have a lovely light switch on where I live and a visgorian style Xmas market too only on for a day but we'll worth it compared to the big city one

This is what I was going to say.

Home or abroad, it is a similar vibe. Nice to go and mooch round and enjoy the 'vibe' but everything is overpriced. So 'how much you spend' is going to depend on how much you are willing to spend on overpriced tat.

My local City has had one for years and years and I still like to go and have a mooch or wander round with a friend each year but I am most likely to get myself a caramel latte or Christmas hot chocolate from Greggs and wander round with that, then pay the prices at the stalls.

British- £30 each for food and drinks plus extra on presents and decs. More if having Mulled wine which is usually £5+ per cup

Probably about the same in France €30 or so each

A few years back I used to work near the one in central Manchester. There would be a crush to get in and it was full of over priced tat and so crowded you could scarcely move. I could never understand the attraction. The annoying thing was that it was near the taxi rank which I normally used to get home at 9 pm. There would be a massive queue and I though this was unfair to have to join it when Id been working. I always managed to catch the taxis as they came empty into the square to avoid the queue. Its good to have a bit of local knowledge.

I went to the Manchester one a few years ago and thought it was fun. It’s quite a grey city in winter and I think the Christmas market brightens things up. There was a bit in a square (Albert square?) that was a beer garden with cover and it had live music and people dancing on tables. What’s not to love haha. Can’t comment on the overpriced tat though.