Europe Travel Blog

Christmas is coming, and for many people that will mean vast amounts of Christmas shopping – choosing presents for friends and family, trekking around the department stores and small shops, trying hard to come up with some new ideas. Can you really get Uncle Jim socks again this year? But wait a minute – why not combine the marathon Christmas shop with a visit to one of the wonderful European Christmas markets? That way you get some great new gift ideas to delight your nearest and dearest, and you get a refreshing city break too, which will wash away some of those cares in the run up to Christmas. The Christmas markets of Europe provide the perfect excuse to get away for a few days, as well as giving you some novel ideas in terms of Christmas gifts, food and decorations.

Germany especially has some great Christmas markets – after all, this is the country that gave the world the Christmas Tree and the Advent Wreath. Here you will find stalls selling wooden toys, crafts, souvenirs and many of the traditional German Christmas goodies, such as the famous nutcrackers from the Ore Mountains, mulled wine, hot chestnuts, ginger and cinnamon biscuits, honey cake, that delicious cake known as stollen, nut bread and grilled sausages.

If a traditional German Christmas market is what you fancy, then you have a choice of Cologne, Nuremberg, Dresden, Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, or the town of the Pied Piper himself - Hamelin.

But it’s not only Germany that hosts fabulous Christmas markets –markets are also held in the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Spain, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and yet more places. Over the next few posts I will tell you something about the individual markets on offer.

It could be said that a Christmas market really provides the quintessential European Christmas experience. And you might even find something for Uncle Jim that isn’t socks.

Filed under: Christmas markets