Christmas markets along the Dutch-German border
 

I'm interested in your opinions on where to find nice Christmas markets in the northwestern part of Germany. My husband and I might be visiting family in the southern-most part of the Netherlands, so we would prefer to choose 2 or 3 markets along/close to the Dutch/German border, no more than an hour's drive away, so we can do these as half-day or day trips. The nearby ones that come to mind are the markets in Köln (Cologne), Düsseldorf, and Aachen.

I've researched a lot of old posts here to find out where the best Christmas markets are, but the majority seem to be several hours drive away like Nürnberg, Dresden or Munich. Knowing this, I don't expect to visit the <i>best</i> or <i>biggest</i> markets, but ones that are nice: a festive ambience and stalls that sell authentic, local hand-made items, not kitchy junk made in China. I just want to munch on bratwurst and pretzels, find a few unique little souvenirs and gifts to bring home, and soak up the holiday season.

Given my criteria above, is it worth visiting Köln, Düsseldorf, and/or Aachen? Are there other cities you can recommend instead of or in addition to these?

In Köln, which of the markets would you recommend? The one at the cathedral? We've been to the city before and have seen the tourist highlights, so I'd prefer someplace else, but it sounds like the market with the cathedral as a backdrop makes for a gorgeous setting.

In the Netherlands, my sister-in-law recommended Valkenburg but in my research, it seems like the caves are the focus and the market stalls aren't selling anything good. Has anyone been there? Also, any thoughts on the one in Maastricht (the Winterland)? The last time we were there around the holidays, we rushed through the Vrijthof so I wasn't able to see much of the market, but from what I remember it didn't look all that impressive. What about Nijmegen? How are the Dutch markets compared to the German ones?

I can't help with the German markets, but the Dutch don't really go in for Christmas markets. Any that there are will be very poor imitations of the German ones.

You cannot go wrong with Aachen. The market around the cathedral is not too overrun, and I found the atmosphere enjoyable. There are many nice arts and crafts stalls (of course also a few with the inevitable junk but these are easy to distinguish). Aachen even has its own local variety of gingerbread, named Printen, that comes with white, milk or dark chocolate cover and with or without almonds.

Bonn is another option to take into consideration. The market is quite big and not bad.

When are you planning your trip? If it is early December (before the 5th) then you can get Sinterklaas specialities in the Netherlands.

quokka - thanks for the info on Aachen. I'll also look into Bonn as a possibility.

hetismij - our trip is not definite yet but if it does happen, the first week of Dec is absolutely the plan. Part of the reason for the trip would be to experience Sinterklaas and spend time with my husband's relatives, especially while our nieces and nephews are young enough to still believe in Sinterklaas.

That's great globetrooter, I hope you make it over and can join in the fun. How are you at writing poems? - Ask the family about that one :)

Yup, they've briefed me on the poems ... and the chocolate letter! Yum!

And these days Zwaartepiet seems to be just as popular and loved as sinterklaas is. They used to give me nothing but shudders & terror when I was a kid.
I enjoyed the christkindlmarkt around the cathedral in Cologne plus it's easy access if you decide to take the train. You can easily OD if you hit too many xmas markets in one trip as they all have the same theme.

http://www.monschau.de/touristik/ver....php?detail=en

The above is very romantic and has a great but still intimate atmosphere.

SV

Thanks for your feedback, DAX and spassvogel.

globe - I should have added the info: Monschau is 35k's from Aachen. So that would maybe make a nice combo.

Happy Travels!

SV