Christmas Markets (Europe)

domtheone

Thinking of a couple of days away in Dec.

Anyone been to any cities overseas that have traditional Xmas markets/nice towns?

Any recommendations?

phatbear

Despite my hatred of xmas we do a xmas market every year.

In preference order we’ve done budapest (cheap and lots to see and do) krakow (cheap again christmas market was pretty much what you find in any xmas market, however cheap and good food) amsterdam (great city lots to do but not much of a market per se)

This year we are off to prague.

worz

We went to Brussels and Bruges a few years ago. Both had ok Christmas markets.
It does feel like Christmas markets are all pretty similar now, be it in the uk or Germany.

Grimley

I've been to Cologne (Twice) Frankfurt (Twice) Trier, Aachen,Berncastle, Koblenz, Bruges (Twice) & Lille over the years. The big German City ones get very crowded & are targeted by pickpockets. out of all of them I'd go to Trier. Bruges is nice though.

rampant

prague or warsaw are my fav's - warsaw because it 'feels' like christmas (sub zero, freezing breath, crisp mornings) - but prague is just an awesome city to visit

MisterRigsby

Been to Krakow and Berlin.

Krakow’s market is in the city’s main square, a lovely setting around the Cloth Hall. It’s the only market in the city but absolutely lovely. Krakow is a wonderful city with some great old buildings and not expensive at all. You’ve also got the castle to have a look at and lots of history to explore, albeit not especially cheery. Not guaranteed to snow though. We’ve been four times in winter and it was covered in snow and subzero twice out of our visits.

Berlin has lots of markets dotted around the city, some very busy and some fairly quiet. Nice place Berlin. You’ll need more than a couple of days really.

domtheone

Can't believe i never replied

Did Frankfurt market in the end.  Was pretty good for a first time Xmas market visit.  Much bigger (spread out over a few areas) than I was expecting.

Expensive (£ trash) but overall a good experience.

Might go somewhere else this December.

Miss Mandy

Good timing on the reply though, I was just going to start a new thread asking this exact question.
I’m looking to do a short city break with my sister in November and wondered what people recommend for that time of year. I’m thinking of Prague or Krakow.
I think it might be too early for the Christmas markets though.

domtheone

They appear (generally) to start very early Dec from the research i've done.

Can you not go at the 1st of Dec or something?

Gonna have a word with my colleague next week to see if she fancies another trip.

I'm thinking Budapest or Krakow this time.

filmofil

If you guys still wants Christmas in Europe i can strongly recomend Zagreb, Vienna and Budapest. You would love it. Make sure u get hotel reservation before november, it could all be sold out soon.