Christmas markets 2009 - please update

Suggestions for Germany

Albannach1876 wrote: »

I would suggest southern Germany, for the Alps and the snow. Maybe Garmisch-Partenkirchen, with the Zugspitze mountain and railway which is well worth it, and close to Munich with its Christmas markets? It's also not too far from proabably the best big city market at Nuremburg. Lots of the smaller towns will have their own, less commercial markets. The atmosphere is wonderful - so Christmassy. I can highly recommend a visit to any European christmas market. Bear in mind that most of the markets close a few days before Christmas if you are planning to be there at Christmas itself. Have a look at the following website for some ideas about the markets and the dates:

http://www.germany-christmas-market.org.uk/

Have a great time wherever you decide on!

purple12 wrote: »

I went to the Munich christmas market a couple of years ago. Absolutely loved it. It was so...well.. christmassy and Munich wasn't really a place I'd thought of visiting but it was a very pleasant city to just hang around in. There was lots of music and it certainly have a very different feel to anything in this country and was on a much larger scale.

I would recommend it. I went with Easyjet and used Priceline to bid for a hotel and ended up paying about £40 for a lovely 4 star hotel which although not in the centre was next to a subway station.

This year, we are going to Copenhagen for the market at the Tivoli Gardens..

apurplemind wrote: »

I went to the ones in Berlin a couple of years ago. There were quite a few Xmas markets in each district/area.The underground was cheap and easy to use, also children under 3 are free I think. A lot of the stalls sold the same kind of thing, but the atmosphere was great. Nuremberg is supposed to be the best place to go for the Christmas Market. Manchester has Christmas markets which I also go to every year-if you have ever been its like that but better. Maybe try there this year and see what you think for next year?

richardw wrote: »

I've been to Cologne and smaller Hannover, the hotel in Hannover was much cheaper.
This is quite useful http://www.germany-christmas-market.org.uk/index.htm
BUT the airlines bit can be out of date.
Look at your preferred airports' website and look at convenient flights and www.hotelscomparison.com and www.tripadvisor.com for hotels.
Weekend flights do get very expensive to the popular cities.

martindow wrote: »

My German friends tell me that Nuremberg is considered the best

http://www.christkindlesmarkt.de/english/

Meadows wrote: »

I have been to Koln (Cologne), Christmas market several years ago and there are many markets in the town.
As for price, yes the things are reasonably priced and you will be able to get many things that you are not likely to come across in this country, I also used to live in Germany for several years a long while ago and you will find it a good experience and the people very friendly. If you went to Koln, try to go up the cathedral for a good view.
How about a coach trip that includes a market, Christmas shops, sights etc?

kingston_toon wrote: »

We visited quite a few in Germany last December, but my favourite by far was in Heidelberg. It's a really lovely small German city with a big castle overlooking from a hill, and a picturesque river running through it. The pedestrianised road through the old town is one of the longest in Europe, and the market winds its way all the way along, with clusters of stalls in each square and an ice rink at the far end. There's something magical about walking along at night when it's cold, and experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of the market. None in the UK even come close.

We also visited the markets in Stuttgart, Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Koblenz and Mainz but Heidelberg was the best!

emg wrote: »

I love cologne christmas markets and have been lots of times. I did a coach trip once and it was dreadful - took so long to get there and was more expensive than it would have been to fly! I can recommend Germanwings airline - really cheap flights from stansted to Cologne but seem really reliable. One year we did a day trip, early morning flight out to Cologne and late evening flight back. It cost about £40 each.

I've also done Brussells/Bruge christmas markets in the past using Eurostar but was a bit disappointed by them as they are tiny in comparison to Cologne.

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Hi there

I went to Bremen xmas market a few years ago and it was lovely, and surrounded by quite a few lovely shops that open late in the evenings (if you look you can get some lovely gifts and wonderfull bargains - quite often better value than the market its self;) ), and have been to Celle... just had to check my gleuwein mugs to see which i had been to :rotfl:

If you do go to one... you must try the gleuwein..you pay for the mug too and then you can keep it if you want - or take it back and get some money back.... be sure to look for the stalls with the lovely terracotta beakers that have the name and date on and not the cheap mugs they are lovely
Off to the nearest one tomorrow..Bielefeld :T not been before so i can't wait
I hope you have a really lovely time, you will deffinitely get the lovely warm chritmassy glow from it :j if only from th gleuwein

daveyjp wrote: »

Went to Toulouse a few years ago and their Christmas market happened to be on at the same time.

It was no different to any UK Christmas market I've been to and this included stalls selling thousands of "frog with a spiny back - you rub a stick along it and it sounds exactly like the noise a frog makes!" in about 10 different sizes.

Go for the trip abroad and not for the market experience - agree about Salzburg - lovely place.

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Carcassonne is really lovely - both in the city and in nearby villages. Olonzac (nearby) does a wonderful outdoor market with wooden toys / gifts. My favourite is a frog with a spiny back - you rub a stick along it and it sounds exactly like the noise a frog makes!

It's lovely when it's cold, too, because they dish out hot mulled wine and mince pies (for free) as part of the Christmas market experience...

fifitrix123 wrote: »

Hi I have been to most of the German ones and they are lovely but the best one in my opinion is Valkenburg in Holland as the markets are held in caves which are all lit up with bands playing.
You can also take a trip on an underground train in the caves which show you the nuclear shelters that were built and the stone carvings underground. There is also a lovely castle, the little town is lovely and it has a Casino at the top of the hill and also a gorgeous spa and you can swim outside in bath hot water and sit under the stars with snow all around you, they also have saunas, (nudey ones) and jacuzzis etc it really is lovely. You can go to the Casino for free with your passport.
My favourite restaurant is a mexican buffet and barbeque with so many choices and courses it was so hard not to have everything, including around 30 different desserts!!! The decoration in there was awsome!
There are loads of coach trips to Valkenburg markets and I am sure we went to Maastrict on the train from there for about 3 euros (quote me if im wrong!)
Everything seemed very cheap out there too which is a bonus!
Have fun wherever you go!!!