European Christmas markets

I'm going to watch this thread with interest for tips etc.
I have just booked a week in Vienna in December. Apparently there are lots of Christmas markets there in the city so you can choose different places each day. Also the cultural stuff like museums and churches and concerts. I kind of wanted the authentic Glühwein experience with pastries etc.
I was surprised the markets close at 9 pm, I thought they'd still be going until midnight, though I might be too shattered by dinner time anyway.
Tips on clothes would be good, also gifts to buy.

We love the one in Strasbourg, Nurnberg, Heidelberg, Vienna.

We wear trainers, jeans, thin thermals, down jackets, scarves.

Our grandchildren find these excursions fun also.

Already booked for the Markets on the Rhine. They begin late November and go on til Christmas Eve usually.
Really looking forward to it.

Berlin has a number of Christmas markets of varying sizes and they're all good.

Heidelberg is a lovely one.

We enjoyed the Christmas markets in Munich in 2019. We also visited the Nymphenburg Palace (birth place of mad King Ludwig) and one or two galleries..

For those who do not travel abroad, there are some great Christmas markets in the UK too.

Aachen from the 18 th November - 23 rd December one of the best , it’s in the old town ( Altstadt) right next to the cathedral

Think some of my favourites were Cologne, Trier and Hamburg.

Cabbie21

For those who do not travel abroad, there are some great Christmas markets in the UK too.

Sadly not many home-made, quality artisan stuff! Just the same cheap tat, socks and knickers, etc, than most 'normal' markets.

Mind you, don't like the Continental ones either- far too crowded and so so expensive. Will be much more so this year due to tanking Sterling.

I’m going with my daughter to visit the Christmas Markets in Austria in late November. We’ll be visiting Salzburg, Innsbruck and Munich - and staying in the same village her father and I honeymooned in many years ago. ?

As said, with the Pound so massively low now, holidays are going to be so much more expensive, and everything else one there.

Sadly not many home-made, quality artisan stuff! Just the same cheap tat, socks and knickers, etc, than most 'normal' markets.

Not always - the Winchester one has loads of artisan stalls for jewellry, knits and food and drink, plus other stuff. I'm sure that there must be others.

Years since I went but Berlin’s were magical.

We went to the Christmas markets in Krakow, they were not very crowded and sold lovely food.. Its a wonderful city. We were in Poland on 6th December St Nicholas Day and out hotel hung decorated stockings on our room door with chocolates inside and left a carafe of cherry.vodka in our room to enjoy.
We combined the trip with a visit to Auschwitz/Birkenau very bleak and harrowing but I was very glad I went.

We found "home-made, quality artisan stuff" at Christmas market in Porto, Portugal. Same holiday, in Madrid? Mostly plastic tat at market.

Wow, so many recommendations, which too choose? Will definitely look at everything mentioned, thank you

Up until 2019 for many years we went to Budapest. Lots of Arisan stuff there, folk dancing and very traditional food and drink. Would love to go again this year but just in case of a covid resurgence we'll give it a miss this time. Also agree about Winchester, it isn't huge but the stalls have lovely quality stuff.

AreWeThereYet

^Sadly not many home-made, quality artisan stuff! Just the same cheap tat, socks and knickers, etc, than most 'normal' markets.^

Not always - the Winchester one has loads of artisan stalls for jewellry, knits and food and drink, plus other stuff. I'm sure that there must be others.

It would be lovely to hear if things have improved and if any UK Xmas markets do have good, interesting stuff. I went twice to Lincoln and was so disappointed I never went again.

I can recommend the Christmas market in York, they have lots of stalls selling food and crafts made in Yorkshire - and it’s the perfect location, so pretty.

I've been to Lincoln and York and disappointed also the Keswick. You sometimes wonder who they're hoping to sell the tat to, it is often not related to Christmas.

There were a lot of artisan food stalls when I went to York Yammy, not all strictly Christmas I guess, but so delicious, and stalls selling knitted, handcrafted and wooden things were popular too - very little imported stuff. It was a while ago though, I think from memory 2017 - maybe it’s deteriorated since then.

No cheap tat in the Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas one. In fact nothing cheap at all. It's very continental. Not a sock or a knicker in sight.

To be honest we never went to the Winchester one last year, the first one since Covid lockdown. We heard that the stalls were a bit depleted, which was to be expected. We're planning on going again this year - we don't buy a lot each year but over the years I've bought some lovely fleece-lined gloves, a belt, usually get some sort of liqueur and bread/biscuits/chocs/fudge, some glass tree decorations and an original watercolour, amongst other things.

My apologies for going off piste, Jaylou, with UK markets