Has anyone been to any Christmas iMarkets in Great Britain?

My wife and I are hoping to visit a couple this winter.

I located a wbesite called http://www.christmasmarkets.com/Default.aspx and found quite a few listed.

Let me know if you have any information


Thanks

We go to the one in Manchester with friends most years, it runs from around the last week of Nov./start of Dec. to a few days before Xmas. Lot's of continental stalls, the shopping doesn't float my boat but it's a great venue for some al fresco gluwein drinking.

There is no tradition of Christmas Market, as it is generally known in Germany for example. There are church-, school- or community-run Christmas fairs and bazaars, usually only lasting a day for fundraising, but they are aimed at local population. There are some 'continental-style' commercial markets as in Manchester (and possibly other places), but they are much smaller and limited affair than what you get on the continent. Not something to make a special journey for, but nonetheless a fun thing to drop by if you are in the area. Many Brits go on an organised trip to Germany to attend a 'real' Christmas Market!

Yes -- all my friends in the UK fly to Germany for Christmas Markets. As far as I know none have ever been to one in the UK (other than local fetes/etc)

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the outstanding Birmingham Christmas Market

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/marketschristmas

It is the largest Christmas Market outside of Germany, let alone the UK! Real Germans, great atmosphere and fantastic food & drink. I'm surprised that Birmingham don't shout about this more. We have friends come up from London just to experience this.

Takes just over an hour on a Virgin Train from London Euston to get to the market.

There's been a boom in European themed markets in the last few years (German etc) but we don't really have a tradition of special Christmas markets in that way. Normal markets will just fill up with Christmas tat.

Anyway, if you get tempted by the Bluewater mall 'German' Christmas market, don't bother, it's absolute rubbish.

It's certainly true that Christmas markets aren't traditional in Britain.

But that's because we have a rather high hurdle for calling things traditional. Bath Christmas Market (www.bathchristmasmarket.co.uk) doesn't have quite such nice merchandise as Nuremburg (though there's surprisingly little tat), and our climate doesn't guarantee Germany's crsip frostiness. But it's as big as many German ones and in a stunning setting.

There's generally a slightly phoney whiff to whatever's on in London's Hyde Park. But again, there's all sorts of stuff going on in it, there's a reasonable number of stalls selling interesting non-tat and an AWFUL lot of people go there and enjoy themselves.

That rarely includes me. Because these markets are very recent, they pass a lot of people by, and that might be why you're seeing so many iffy comments about them on this board. But whenever I've found myself walking past one, they always seem full of other people enjoying themselves. And I don't know of any Briton, except the perpetually housebound, who can honestly say they've never been to one.

You need to look quite carefully at the website you've quoted. A lot of the markets listed are one day only, and they're simply standard British markets with a couple of mulled wine stalls tacked on. Other than Birmingham and Bath, I'd doubt any are worth a specific journey. And if you're in London, non-Christmas ones, like Covent Garden or Camden Lock, will probably offer more interesting products. But if you've nothing better to do, a meander through Southwark's or Hyde Park's might be interesting.

We visted the Manchester Christmas market last year and had a very enjoyable evening with all the family. There were quite a number of stalls, spread over various locations in the city centre and lots of interesting and delicious smelling things to eat (and drink). We will certainly return for an evening again this Christmas.

I went to the Lincoln Christmas Market several years ago and really enjoyed it. I think at the time it was the biggest Christmas Market in Europe (or maybe the UK).

I actually enjoyed it more than the Bath or Manchester markets, and actually more than Baden-Baden as well. The Lincoln market is very big though, so you have to like crowds.

http://www.lincoln.gov.uk/Info_page_...72&sec_id=3560

I saw a Christmas Market advertised at Kingston-upon-Thames last year. We didn't go but Kingston is a lovely place with nice old buildings, lots of shopping and is right on the Thames.

One way to reach Kingston is Central Line tube to Ealing Broadway then No.65 bus from outside the station to Kingston. The bus takes 50 mins and they run frequently, all day.

Kay

Bath had a reasonable Christmas market last year, about 120 small stalls.

There were quite a few interesting "arts and crafts" places - if a little "hippyish" for my taste. Plenty of food and drink stalls many offering free samples - probably why I came away with three very nice, but horribly overpriced Christmas puddings, and several Kilos of Cheese.

nona1: "<i>if you get tempted by the Bluewater mall 'German' Christmas market, don't bother, it's absolute rubbish.</i>"

Every time I see a mention of Bluewater I have to smile. A few years ago I stayed 3 or 4 nights in a lovely B&B overlooking Bewl Water on the border of Kent/East Sussex.

I went on and on w/ a couple of my friends from London about the view of 'Bewl Water', the marvelous location for touring the Kent gardens, yada yada.

I didn't realize for weeks that they thought I'd totally lost it and had stayed somewhere between Dartford and Gravesend (I still haven't been to Bluewater)

That's very useful information. I think we might visit a couple of UK based Xmas Markets and then go over to Bremen. Apparently, it's the closest of the German Christmas Markets to the UK. There's some useful information on the Bremen Christmas Market on this website http://www.christmasmarkets.com/Germ...as-market.html

Pretty sure Bath has a great xmas market.

Leeds has one in Millenium SQ in rughly the 2 weeks before christmas. Last year the Germans left early and left the German Thais to finish off. Great fun but not massive

Don't think I'll be visiting the Bluewater Christmas Market!!

Birmingham and Bath sound good though!!

Hi Everyone

I've been foraging the net for further information on Christmas Markets and keep getting referred back to the smae site.

Anyone, I really fancy a trip to the Moselle region to sample one of their markets. They sound really good and most importantly authentic. Nothing worse than visiting one of these 'plastic' markets and wasting your time and money.

I'd recommend visiting this link http://www.christmasmarkets.com/mark...spx?PressID=41 to get some more details

And I don't know of any Briton, except the perpetually housebound, who can honestly say they've never been to one.>>>

I know of one. Me.