best Christmas market? Europe or UK?

welshspendthrift

Has anyone been to the Christmas markets in Nancy and Colmar( in France) ? Tried to book for Bruges but this was fully booked !

GH

I have narrowed it down to Krakow , Cologne or Basel for a Christmas market trip this year as these are served by air from where I live. Which of the 3 is the best?

uselesswith£

We are going to the Frankfurt Christmas market in early December. Does anyone know what this is like as its my 1st Christmas market experience. Any tips or advice would be great.

sarah*a

Birmingham's German Market opened today :rudolf:

Can't wait to get down there this weekend for my first pretzel and gluwein of the season.

I always go 3 or 4 times as I collect the 'russian' dolls and my husband buys me a new set each year for chrimbo.

:snow_laug

Mrs_Wossinge

I can recommend the market at Tivoli in Copenhagen. Lots of lovely tree decorations and nice bits and pieces. There is an entry fee but there's loads to do inside - light displays, food stalls, and the whole gardens are beautifully decorated there's also lots for children. Copenhagen is served by Easyjet and the youth hostel is good. Everywhere is walkable so no need to pay for transport once you're there. We loved it. Details here.

sm222

knightstyle wrote: »

Lincoln christmas market is really good, well organised, park on racecourse with frequent shuttle bus to the town and market, plus fantastic town to visit.
We went to Bruges a few years ago, that was really good as well but parking was a problem, Eurostar?

For parking in Bruges, drive to the railway station car park (2 storey), take your car park ticket to the bus ticket office outside the station and get free bus travel into town and back (its not far).

The staff speak enough english to get the ticket and point out which bus to take. Be prepared to get off very quickly when you reach the main square, or ask the driver to tell you when to get off - they don't hang around!

The car park's cheap, the ticket machine takes euros and credit cards, the buses are frequent, and the people friendly and helpful.


(Anyway, what's wrong with horse? my family love it!)

Stevelxls

Avallon wrote: »

I live near and work in Lincoln. I love it. However, the Xmas market no longer offers an authentic/cosy experience. I'd say that it's like a large farmer's market. A few food stalls selling nice but expensive food and a bunch of stalls selling tat. If you've never been to Lincoln, then it would be a worthwhile visit for the city itself, look at the market as a 'bonus'.

I'd have to echo this view exactly.

Apart from the superb atmosphere, the strength of the Lincoln xmas market used to be the weird, wonderful and wacky things that you used to find all over the place... 'that little bit of something special and different'.

Now, on the whole it's just another showcase for the mass produced tat that you can buy every week at the local Hemswell market, or quite often for a 1/3rd the price a few 100yds down the high street at the local Poundland.

As Avallon says, it's a great city (oversized town) to either visit or live in for what it offers anyway; the market is just a seasonal extra.

~Chameleon~

Does anyone have any experience of the christmas market in Hyde Park, London? We'll be in London around this time and thinking about visiting it so would like to know what to expect, how much time to allow etc etc.

Thanks :beer:

dougbanks

My wife and I have been to Brussels several times to the Christmas Markets. The Grande Place is especially magical as they have a live nativity scene (stable with real animals, people), a parade, laser light show, lots of Christmas cheer, shopping, mulled wine bars etc. etc. Beware that some restaurants don't take UK credit cards! This year we are taking the Eurostar from St. Pancras to Brussels Midi, which adds to the adventure.

See you there!?:o

morg_monster

Chameleon - I'm not 100% sure but I think that this is the first year the Hyde Park christmas market/ice skating has taken place. It is supposed to be pretty big tho and the rink is supposed to be bigger than any of the other outdoor London ones. If you def want to go, I reckon give yourself a half day - if there doesn't turn out to be as much there to see as you thought, there's always a ton of stuff to see/do within walking distance of the Park.