At this time of year there is nothing better to get you into the festive spirit than a trip to the Christmas markets! Naturally not many of us can just jet off to Germany for a day out so the next best thing are the markets here in Britain. Read on to see what we thought of the Christmas markets…
Birmingham Markets by Jordaine Hulse
This year was the first time that I had ever been to visit a Christmas market here in England and I have to say that I was definitely not disappointed with what I saw! The markets in Birmingham are twinned with Frankfurt Christmas markets and so they have a very German feel about them.
In Birmingham the stalls are generally all together in the one area so it has a very Christmassy feel around Victoria Square, New Street and Chamberlain Square. There are plenty of stalls throughout the market which sell all kinds of weird and wonderful things including many handmade items which are perfect for a personalised Christmas gift for someone special. Obviously I couldn’t talk about the markets and forget to mention the vast amount of food stalls that there are to offer – ranging from traditional German food such as the traditional German dish Schnitzel to more unusual flavours such as Ostrich Burgers!
As I am absolutely obsessed with Christmas and anything festive – I loved the whole experience. If you do manage to see markets in the evening time it is especially magical. I definitely recommend a trip down to see them and will endeavour to go again myself sometime very soon!
Rating: 5/5
Manchester Markets by Cathryn Emery
Having only been to the Christmas markets in Birmingham before, and French ones during my year abroad, I was a little sceptical about what Manchester could have to offer but I wasn’t disappointed! Once the coach dropped us off, it was a short walk before we found ourselves in the hub of the Christmas spirit. We had been given a map beforehand of where everything was so we had no trouble finding our way around and we were ordering our Bratwurst sausages before we knew it. There was plenty of opportunity for drinking mulled wine and cider and we saw a waffle stand as well as many others. It was situated right by the Arndale Centre so we popped in there when the cold started to get the better of us.
While the market is rather spread out it does give you the opportunity to mix in your other shopping with browsing the stalls. As always, the products sold were on the expensive side but from what we saw they seemed good quality and by the crowds you could see the markets were very popular. Definitely recommended, dress up warm!
Rating: 4/5
Leeds Market by Becky Payne
Leeds Christkindelmarkt is a well-established German market in the heart of the city. Whilst visiting a friend a couple of weeks ago we decided to check it out, I had never been to a German market before and presumed it wouldn’t be my thing and to an extent this is true, but I am a big lover of food and drink and half the stalls cater to this, we indulged for about an hour on frankfurters and hot honeymead as well as not so German foods (fried feta and cranberry sauce). I could have gone back every day for a week and still tried something new and with the great atmosphere, definitely the perfect way to into the Christmas spirit.
Rating: 4/5
