Christmas Markets

trixxi

Hi,
Im looking for advice about german markets. I would like to take my Mum this year but she cant walk too far.
Any reccomendations for places that are compact or have good transport links? thanks

pogofish

I'd suggest Munich - the main market areas, Marienplatz and Viktualienmarkt are cheek by jowel, slap bang in the middle of the compact and very walkable city centre.

I never thought of myself as much of a Christmas Market person but I must say that I had a highly enjoyable time there. The seemingly popular and civilised local habit of starting your shopping with a few glasses of a wide variety of firewaters in a heated cabin was also much appreciated - to hell with Gluhwein!

And to make your life even easier, Munich's excellent U-Bahn/S-Bahn system drops you right at Marienplatz. I found this most convenient as Munich at that time of year was my first trip abroad after surgery for arthritis that had severely impared my mobility and I was still pretty limited in how much I could walk/do.

Also, much of the normal shopping there is in several km of covered arcades/squares and some major stores have direct access from the excellent U-Bahn arcades, which is great for limited mobility and keeping out of the cold.

richardw

Many places have hotels very close to the market, where you simply walk out of the hotel and within a 4 minute walk you are at the market.

Munich and Vienna can be very very cold.

Where in the UK would you ideally fly from?

trixxi

Hi,
We are looking to fly from Glasgow, but finding flights is proving tricky at the moment so would consider Edinburgh too

richardw

Eurowings flys non stop from Glasgow to Düsseldorf. There are trains from Düsseldorf airport direct to Cologne.

Ryanair and easyJet fly non stop from Glasgow to Berlin. There are trains from Schonefeld airport to many areas of Berlin. It can get very cold though. http://www.germany-christmas-market.org.uk/berlin_christmas_market.php

knightstyle

Why go abroad? Lincoln market is among the best, good park and ride from the racecourse parking and large number of stalls around the cathedral where you can go to recover.

EssexExile

Birmingham has a good German Market at Christmas I'm told.

Pincher

Bremen is compact and easy to do by foot.


Ryanair flies direct from Stansted, and Edinburgh I think.


They do a Night Market with no electric lighting, just candles.
A bit different, but more spooky than festive.


The rest are normal stuff, gluhwein, wurst and well lit.

Grumpelstiltskin

If you did consider Lincoln, it is easy to get at by train from Edinburgh, East Coast mainline to Newark then local train to Lincoln.


BUT the big problem with Lincoln is this. The area around the cathedral is flat,
http://lincoln-christmasmarket.co.uk/


It is at the top of a VERY steep hill, the railway station being at the bottom of the hill and shops all the way up. Just Google Steep Hill Lincoln images to get some idea. So you would really need to stay near the cathedral in the flat area.

trixxi

Thanks for all the info.
I'm now considering Berlin, as the flights are direct from Glasgow at good times, can anyone advise on hotels or the best place/area to stay?
Also, how do i find my posts once Ive left the page as I have had to go and search for it and look through them all till I find it?

Shelldean

For English markets I'd avoid Birmingham thought it was rubbish tbh. But Bath was lovely. And reasonably compact.
Not been to any abroad yet so can't comment on.those.