Christmas Markets in Europe

Krakow in Poland is meant to be one of the best around according to a workmate of mine. Haven't been to it at that time of year but I can vouch for the fact that Krakow is a beautiful city.

Vienna!
Book some tickets to listen to some classical music, go see the Vienna Boy's Choir on Sunday morning and then spend the rest of Sunday in the Christmas markets before flying home that evening.

Copenhagen is magical. Check out the Tivoli !!

The company i work for takes us there just before christmas evey year for a weekend.

QuiteInterestin wrote: »

It was fantastic, the music was brilliant (was surprised how much of it was familiar) and it also incorporated some ballet dancing as well.

Sounds like you went to the exact same thing we did!
Was it in a building near Michaelerplatz by any chance? A relatively small room.

angel2011 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I'm hoping to go on a break in December with my mam and sister to a Christmas market. Strongly thinking of Cologne. Can anyone recommend this or another one???

Cologne is great try and stay in the hotl at the Dom it 4 star but well worth it witha complimentary mini bar refilled twice daily and it's right next to one of the big markets.

Of all the markets I have visited its the nicest with the best atmosphere, Munich was a close second though.

I have just booked 3 nights in Munich the first week in December.
Really looking forward to it.:D

We have 3 full days, I have never been to Munich, any recommendation of site to see, best christmas market etc.

Thanks alot

salad dodger wrote: »

Unfortunately the funds won't stretch to a trip to the continent for a market.

But I have heard that the one in belfast is supposed to be good.
Has anyone here been, if so is it worth going to?

If someone could recommend a hotel near to belfast city hall it'd also be appreciated(budget ~200yoyos)

thanks

if you want to save funds a little more then you could look into cheaper hotels like the days hotel (which also has free parking) or the travellodge which are no distance from city hall. I found the days hotel great for the price. Its also right by great victoria st station so very handy if arriving by bus, but if coming by train from the south you'll need to change. And is handy for town so saves on a taxi at night.

A little further out are the Ibis Queens quarter which for the first weekend in december works out at a bargain 60euro/night per room (free on street parking) and nearby the holiday inn express which is a couple euro more but has free car park and breakfast included. Stayed in both and found them both to be grand. The ibis is a little newer and much nice than any other Ibis I stayed in on the continent (it really should be a Mercure brand to be honest) so that little bit nicer in my opinion but the holiday inn has its advantages too that balance things out.

Theres lots of other good hotels that have spung up in the last years but most are not for budget concious travellers/ folks that know theres no point spending a heap of money when you'll only be sleeping in the room anyhow.

Oh, and the market: its not spectacular but its a good diversion on a December afternoon. It'd be akin to one of the smaller christmas markets like you would say find in the suburbs of Munich.
The drinks tent though had a pretty good selection of beer so something for the men there too.

And you won't have to be careful what pub you go into

Kingkong wrote: »

Hi Countdown,

Would you mind telling me what hotel and airline did you book with.

I'm looking at doing similar. Just working out the cost

aer linges from cork, flights work out at 120 return, out mid week, back Sat.

hotel regent 3 nights, double room
120 per nite

Hi Krissovo, I plan to go to Munich for the one day in December, fly out Saturday morning, fly home Sunday morning. Is it do-able in that time?

I've been to markets in Budapest, Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, Nuremburg, Vienna and Salzberg.

This year I'm doing a little Christmas road trip before flying to home Australia of Cologne, Heidelberg and Strasbourg...I need to get my Christmas fix before going home to Oz where it seems like it is non-existant

My opinion on the ones i have been to...

Budapest - a lovely small market with lots of home made craft type things. I didn't actually realise it 'was' the christmas market until later when I asked someone where it was. Budapest is a great city for a visit.

Brussels - it was just a few stalls scattered on the roads leading to the Grand Palace but again they had some lovely homemade gifts.

Bruges - I love Bruges, so am a bit biased. It's probably about 40-50 stalls in the main square with an ice rink in the middle. The setting is gorgeous and Bruges is a fantastic town to visit at any time of the year.

Ghent - A smaller market than Bruges, I can't really remember what the stalls had. A good city to combine with a trip to Bruges and less touristy, but better for shopping (it's a university city) it still has beautiful buildings.

Nuremberg - A massive, massive market and very very crowded. A lot of the stalls are repeated, so once you have seen the first few rows you have actually seen them all. It didn't have the same range of homemade gifts but lots of Christmas
decorations, food etc.

Vienna - We went to the largest market and the setting in the evenings is just spectacular, all lit up like a fairy tale. A real mixture of stalls from nice gifts to trashy 'carnival' type stalls. Busy but not so much that you couldn't get close to the stands.

Salzburg - The setting isn't as picturesque as Vienna but I preferred this market more. They had some beautiful decorations - I still wish I had gotten the wicker reindeers I saw there. A great atmosphere and probably in the region of 70 stalls.

We now have a bumper/annual Christmas Markets thread open in our Travel forum. Feel free to have a look, great info inside and also Feel free to add in for others.

Linkie right here.

Thanks,
kerry4sam