Christmas Markets in Europe

munchkin_utd

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.

ActingDanClark

Instead of a e200 hotel in Belfast use your funds to fly to edinburgh instead and stay in travelodge or ibis. Market and ice rink set up between princes st and the castle, perfect setting, lots to see and do, and best of all, very few shops

ActingDanClark

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

Kingkong

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

Countdown1982

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

krissovo

+1 for Munich, its has a few Christmas markets and its a great craic. The biggest is around the center Marien Platz, you really cannot miss it! The atmosphere is always happy and jovial. Lots of local food to try and of course the various gluwiens, the loaded ones with snaps can knock you out.

Its worth heading out around town as well as there are a number of smaller markets and even a gay one for those inclined. If you go with man make sure you take him to BMW world! Take a train to Garmish (in the Alps) for snow and a real Christmas feeling at their smaller market:D

Cologne is the biggest market and a nice city, not as much to do as Munich but it has a great night life and restaurants.

Vienna is also a beautiful city to visit and the markets are good but Munich is the best by far!

The lips

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?

paddy147

The Christmass fair and market in Hyde Park,London is brilliant.

been to it twice before with,and we all loved it.

homersimpson

Booked my flights today. 14th to the 18th of December

Going to Weisbaden again :D

Posy

Take ALL the photos!

homersimpson

Landed in Germany yesterday morning and travelled down to Bavaria which had koads of snow. Went to the Nuremberg market last night which was lovely.

Going to the market in Eppstein tonight

In Exile

Hi guys,

Did anyone do any markets last year?

Coming home for 3-4 weeks in December with the missus and looking to go somewhere for a few days.

She's Australian, so while she has been in Ireland for Christmas, has never seen a real Christmas market

mel.b

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.

In Exile

mel.b wrote: »

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

Thanks Mel.

I know the feeling. Can't wait to have a real Christmas this year!

I've been to Salzburg and loved it. For anyone who does go there, I suggest taking a trip out to the Hellbrunn Palace.

They host a Christmas market in the grounds of the Palace and also open up the house itself. The smells and noises in an enclosed area seem to multipy the feeling and smells.
The gardens, which are amazing to see covered in snow too.


Actually going to head to Berlin myself this year. Main reason is I can fly from Shannon with Ryanair and its cheap enough. I'm living in Limerick and flying Melbourne to Dublin so don't want to have to travel to Dublin during my month at home to fly somewhere else.

So it's Berlin for 2-3 days. Now I have to figure out where to stay and what markets to go to!

kerry4sam

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

homersimpson

A video of Wiesbaden Christmas Market which I have visited a few times

https://youtu.be/YzQFSK-ml4A