1 week Ago By Delicious. team
The best Christmas markets in the UK Pre-book tickets for the palace’s Great Court market showcasing artisan homewares, fashion, jewellery and toys. There’s an ice rink this year too, while the 18th-century baroque stately home’s rooms host a Peter Pan-themed trail along with Neverland Afternoon Teas, complemented by glorious garden illuminations. Stock up on British cheeses and award-winning meats, or indulge your sweet tooth with posh , marzipan or traditional such as chocolate kisses.
There’s street food too. Toast the season with local , Hebridean gin from the island of Colonsay and flavoured rums. Just a bracing winter stroll from the Palace, offers five cosy rooms (doubles from £112 room only)) and a picture-perfect old-school village pub vibe, with quirky touches such as wallpaper inspired by Blenheim-born Winston Churchill.
Framed by water meadows that inspired Keats’ ode To Autumn (Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness...
), the Cathedral green of England’s early Saxon capital provides a fine backdrop for the market. Regional food champion sources from over 400 producers, including ( , pâté and gravadlax), myriad cheeses and more. Bag wines from excellent , complemented by Hampshire brews and cockle-warming local apple liqueur from .
Check into the original (doubles from £154 room only) or do time at the cosy vintage-styled (doubles from £95 bed and breakfast), whose bedrooms feature doors sourced from an old prison. York’s atmospheric medieval streetscape becomes a Christmas fairyland, with artisan chalets on Parliament Street and carol singing in St King’s Square, plus festive mini golf at the Spark community space. Head to The Shambles – the medieval enclave that reputedly inspired Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley – where the Food Court will dish up an enticing range of and global nosh.
The city’s Norse heritage underpins the Scandi vibe at Thor’s Tipi on Parliament Street – a Viking-themed bar with a roaring fire and mulled hooch, plus great . Step straight off the train into (doubles from £107.10 room only), a grand 155-room Victorian station hotel given a stylish modern redecoration mixing classical style with a restrained soft-toned palette.
Try to bag one of the Minster-facing rooms. Enlivening the Welsh capital for the duration, Cardiff Christmas Market combines top quality crafts and design with distinctive Welsh food and drink. Scoop up artisan farmhouse cheeses, scrumptious Welsh and , while Bake Off fans can look out for bara brith (the classic fruit bread) kits.
Taster stalls on Trinity Street showcase newer producers, while St John Street becomes a beacon for German nibbles. Enjoy liqueurs, poteen and Celtic whiskey, local cider and perry, and flavoured rums and gins. Drink in views across Cardiff Bay at the upmarket (doubles from £165 room only), on the city’s regenerated waterfront, augmented by a state-of-the-art spa for corporeal treats and a restaurant creating fine dishes with Welsh produce.
Amid honey-stone Georgian and Roman façades by the Roman Baths and the Abbey Churchyard, Bath’s market features about 200 stalls, an ice rink, plus a glow-in-the-dark mini golf course. Look out for excellent West Country produce at stalls selling raclette-covered spuds, hog roasts and . Local spirits such as (made with milk), and and – plus West Country wines and .
(doubles from £104 room only) is a substantial Georgian hotel that also feels luxurious and boutique. It’s markets, plural, and they carry on into January: a Caledonian Winter Festival with a cracking view, beneath the castle in Princes Street Gardens; the Scottish Market in George Street; and a European Market on The Mound and St Andrew Square Winter Garden – plus a funfair. Feel like a local indulging in mulled Irn Bru, haggis and grilled salmon, plus pheasant and from Fife’s .
Look out for hot cheese delights such as from Melted by The Pitt. Whisky galore – smuggled into seasonal – alongside and local ales like . At one end of Princes Street Gardens, (doubles from £235 room only) is an award-winning boutique hotel balancing Pop Art-tinged bling with relaxed excellence.
Chester Christmas Market sees traditional wooden chalets light up a historic square by Chester Cathedral. It’s a riverside city whose Roman roots are complemented by the gorgeous medieval shopping streets known as The Rows. Try cherry mulled wine to wash down scrumptious meaty offerings from , including award-winning Cumberland sausages and Christmas burgers.
There’s fine cheese too, plus sweet pleasures including local fudge. Sip a glass of prosecco at the Christmas Market bar and look our for distinctive local liqueurs and producers such as . (from £89pn B&B) is a Georgian townhouse transformed into a boutique hotel as whimsical as it is stylish, with arty bedrooms and a tea room inspired by Alice in Wonderland.
The best European Christmas markets Where better for a festive break than the home of Good King Wenceslas? Expect stalls selling Czech glass, textiles and wooden toys, plus famous local vittles such as carp soup and beer. Dating back to 1458, this market has 300 stalls in the historic city centre. Travel through time at the ‘Old Leipzig’ market and explore a Finnish-themed village.
There are elves’ workshops and a funfair, too. Denmark’s capital serves up seasonal cheer with beer and glögg amid the rides at Tivoli Gardens (15 Nov to 5 Jan) and Nytorv Square (15 Nov to 21 Dec) – or see the reindeer at the zoo’s market (16 Nov to 2 Jan). France’s oldest Christmas market (c.
1570) has 300 stalls around the canal-laced Grande Île, Place Kleber and the cathedral. Tuck into , Alsace wines and . For a warmer but still traditionally twinkly festive foray, Seville offers Andalucian crafts at the Feria de la Artesanía Creativa by City Hall, and nifty Nativity gifts at the Feria del Belén near the Cathedral.
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