Where are they this year? What site is nearby?
We went to the Edinburgh one yesterday, which didn’t happen last year. Mobbed! A fitting end to the afternoon spent at Murrayfield watching Scotland beat Japan. “Castle of Light” event tonight, which will be magical.
Suggested site: Mortonhall, especially if you have a dog; catch no. 11 bus.
Been there once about 10 years ago, full of expensive tats being marketed as 'artisan' or 'designer', and I was charged a tenner for a small piece of handmade fudge that was tasted OK.
Masses of people and queued for hours to park and to get out of the car park.
Never again!
DK
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We were at the game too, some beers after , then an excellent Indian meal in Costrorphine. Have found that all the Christmas markets we have been to sell the same stuff and are too crowded to enjoy browsing! The atmosphere is good though!
Manchester's is on now. I would stay at Burrs Country Park at Bury, then get the tram to Manchester. Make sure it includes Wed Fri or Sat, and you can do Bury market too.
I see the 2 campsites in Heywood and the one at Hollingworth Lake are all open all year, so any of them could be used for Manchester, for any reason.
Heywood is all free parking so you could park there and go to Manchester on the bus. Hollingworth Lake is a bit of a walk to Littleborough station for the Manchester trains, but there is free parking in Littleborough too.
Not that I'm a fan of Christmas markets either, I walk through part of Manchester's every week on the way to my vol job.
I'm completely spoiled by having been to the Christmas Market in Munich, that was brilliant.
We (briefly) went to the Birmingham market on Saturday to buy one thing from one stall. An unfortunate combination of Covid and Brexit meant that it was a shadow of what it's been on previous years - many of the usual stallholders are German citizens and the announcement that the market was going ahead came too late for them to apply for visas! Despite this, the crowds were horrendous.
On Sunday, Rose wanted to try a local craft market in Lichfield, Staffordshire. The crowds were so dense it was just about impossible to see any of the stalls never mind browse. We abandoned it after a few minutes and are hoping that our vaccinations gave us sufficient immunity against Covid. We won't be attending any more this year.
Kevin-t, I can recommend Camper UK Leisure Park for Lincoln. It's about a 20-minute drive (or an easy cycle ride) but in previous pre-Covid years they've laid on a minibus service to and from the market.
Quote: Originally posted by Mrs. Bonce on 21/11/2021
The very idea makes me cringe, hate crowds. Fiona, as a matter of interest, what do you do with your dog when you go to these events?
She stays happily in the MH, digs up the rugs on the seats & sleeps; doesn’t bark. Gets a good walk before we go, and half her dinner if we might be back a bit late (she gets breakfast anyway). The MH is left with the blinds closed at this time of year, heating on low.
Edinburgh market was crowded, I wore my mask even though it’s not required. The views from the top of the Big Wheel of the sun setting behind the castle made it worth battling past the Wurst and Crêpe stalls.
Pre-Covid, we went to Germany each December to see a Christmas market.
Hamburg had fantastic markets through the city and Koblenz had a good but much smaller one. The worst one was in Munich which was low key and too religious. Some smaller Rhine towns have surprisingly good markets.
I've got no real interest in UK markets, though I recall seeing the Manchester one while visiting our daughter who lives in Sale.
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Quote: Originally posted by Capt Lightning on 23/11/2021
Pre-Covid, we went to Germany each December to see a Christmas market.
Hamburg had fantastic markets through the city and Koblenz had a good but much smaller one. The worst one was in Munich which was low key and too religious. Some smaller Rhine towns have surprisingly good markets.
I've got no real interest in UK markets, though I recall seeing the Manchester one while visiting our daughter who lives in Sale.
We too have been to the German markets quite a lot, and always enjoyed them. The bigger ones, like Cologne (7 separate markets all over town) and Nuremberg, we liked. But we also ended up at Remagen one weekend where by coincidence that was the only weekend they had a Christmas market there. It was fabulous, one of the best we've been to, although it was quite small. Others we've been to off the top of my head are Hameln, Soest and Lemgo.
Have visited a few UK markets, but I don't think they are as good somehow.
Quote: Originally posted by dk168 on 21/11/2021
Bath's has been cancelled for a second year.
Been there once about 10 years ago, full of expensive tats being marketed as 'artisan' or 'designer', and I was charged a tenner for a small piece of handmade fudge that was tasted OK.
Masses of people and queued for hours to park and to get out of the car park.
Never again!
DK
Always a real pain when trying to get to the Rugby, 8 bazillion people walking round 50 sheds of sh&&e trying to buy a candle stuck to a log. Glad when it's not on!
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Christmas Markets?
via mobile 21/11/2021 at 1:19pm
crowds and shopping I can't think of anything less appealing
