The Christmas Markets

Nobody does a Christmas market like the Germans, and no German Christmas market is quite like Dresden.  Dating back to 1434, this is the oldest in the country and the 250 pretty stalls provide a real hit of Christmas cheer.  Breathe in the heady scent of caramelized almonds and mulled wine as you shop for […]

Nobody does a Christmas market like the Germans, and no German Christmas market is quite like Dresden.  Dating back to 1434, this is the oldest in the country and the 250 pretty stalls provide a real hit of Christmas cheer.  Breathe in the heady scent of caramelized almonds and mulled wine as you shop for traditional crafts and gifts such as blown glass baubles from the town of Lauscha and brightly painted and carved wooden nutcrackers from the Erzgebirge mountains.

A slice of Stollen (German Christmas cake) is a must, especially if you are there for the Stollen Festival, which is held each year.  Echoing past times, when the local princes gave slices of the cake to the poor, a four tonne Stollen is paraded through the town to the market, taking in some of Dresden’s best sight along the way: the Baroque Zwinger Palace, the Semper Oper House and the newly restored Frauenkirche (the Church of Our Lady).

In Copenhagen the annual Christmas market is held at the Tivoli amusement park.  Packed with Christmas trees and shimmering with over half a million lights, the setting couldn’t be more enchanting and there is plenty to keep you busy.  Work up an appetite with a morning’s browsing around the many colourfully painted stalls, snapping up wooden dolls, Royal Copenhagen porcelain, carved Danish pixies and locally produced arts and crafts.  By then you will be ready for your share of cinnamon biscuits, candied apples, hot apple dumplings and a good draft of glogg, a potent mix of mulled wine, spices and liquor.

There are many fairground rides and the children will love the models of Santa’s helpers, making gifts, wrapping them and playing in the snow.  With moving parts and details, these tableaux are among the most popular attractions.

With white fairy lights illuminating the cobbled streets and a dusting of snow on the city’s Gothic spires, Krakow is a magical place at Christmas.  The market on Rynek Glowny, Europe’s largest medieval square, is quite bewitching.  The air is full of the aromas of grilled kielbasa (Polish sausage) and fried oscypek (smoked cheese), while whafts of mulled wine lure shoppers towards the wooden barrels dotted around the square.

Shop at the vibrant stalls for woollen slippers from the mountains, amber jewellery from the Baltic and delicious gingerbread.  Leave yourself time to visit the 16th Century Cloth Hall.  Dividing the main square, this is crammed with booths selling all manner of delicate wood carvings, chess sets and classic blue and white spotted Boleslawiec pottery. 

The Christmas market is Bath nestles between the Roman Baths and the gloriously illuminated Abbey.  The steam from the Baths seems to wrap itself around the Roman statues, the fragrances of mulled wine and mince pies mingle in the air and more than 100 wooden chalets offer Christmas gifts.  From embroidered table linen and handcrafted ceramics to Russian dolls.  There are quality goods to be had here, as many of the city’s established shops take stalls.