Best Christmas markets?

Author
Discussion

Cabrony

Original Poster:

222 posts

161 months

Thursday 1st October 2015
quotequote all
The Mrs is still a little girl at heart and wants a short break for some Christmas markets. 4 hours max is all I can be bothered to drive once we've taken the tunnel to Calais.

Any suggestions? We've done Bruges previously so it's looking like either Cologne or Brussels

Whitean3

2,182 posts

197 months

Friday 2nd October 2015
quotequote all
Have you considered flying instead? opens up a lot more opportunities

Moulder

1,463 posts

211 months

Friday 2nd October 2015
quotequote all
Paris?

andburg

7,214 posts

168 months

Friday 2nd October 2015
quotequote all
I was going to say not Bruges as its just too small

warp9

1,583 posts

196 months

Friday 2nd October 2015
quotequote all
Salzburg or Birmingham.

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 2nd October 2015
quotequote all
Cologne, great city, great markets - particularly in the Altstadt, and a great atmosphere at Christmas. Loads to do other than just markets. Also home to the world-famous Kolsch drink

5potTurbo

12,483 posts

167 months

Friday 2nd October 2015
quotequote all
Cologne's a good 4.5h drive, assuming no foul-ups in Belgium, which are numerous and unpredictable!

Aachen's a tad closer at ~3.5h from the Tunnel.

Antwerp's 2.5h from Calais.

ENJOY!

smifffymoto

4,527 posts

204 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
quotequote all
Cologne gets my vote.

Kenty

5,029 posts

174 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
quotequote all
Munich is good

rog007

5,748 posts

223 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
quotequote all
Düsseldorf; highly recommended!

Etretat

1,333 posts

221 months

Sunday 4th October 2015
quotequote all
Been to the Cologne ones and they are excellent but consider;

Winter tyres in Germany
The rules in Germany changed at the end of 2010 - regulations now require all passenger cars and motorbikes including vehicles from foreign countries to be fitted with winter tyres or all season tyres on all axles when conditions are wintery.

If your vehicle becomes stuck during the winter months because the tyres are unsuitable you will be liable to an on the spot fine in Germany. If the vehicle causes an obstruction and aggravation to other traffic, the fine may be doubled. You may also be prevented from continuing your journey.

Perhaps more importantly if your car will be not parked in a private car park whilst in Cologne;

http://urbanaccessregulations.eu/countries-mainmen...

I didn't know about this until we got back,. could have got a big fine on the emissions sticker.
Not the PH way I know, but if I did Cologne again in winter I would go by train!!!!!!!!!!


normalbloke

7,402 posts

218 months

Monday 5th October 2015
quotequote all
Winchester.

audikentman

632 posts

241 months

Monday 5th October 2015
quotequote all
Cologne. There are 7(iirc) different ones.
We flew with RyanAir and stayed at the Hilton by the Cathedral.

krallicious

4,312 posts

204 months

Monday 5th October 2015
quotequote all
Completely ignoring your 4 hours by car but the best Christmas markets I have been to were in the Alsace. Ribeauville is lovely and you have the added bonus of stocking up on great wine for the Christmas period. As a plus, you will also be driving past Reims so it would be rude not to pick up something sparkly on your way through.

Flying will open up alot more options. Vienna is beautiful and the chance of having some snow is quite high. Glüwein without snow is frankly crap.

If you are set on driving then Arras, Ypres, St Omer, Béthune, Lille, Amiens and Lens all have (so I have been told) nice markets.

chippy348

623 posts

146 months

Monday 5th October 2015
quotequote all
had ham said:
Cologne, great city, great markets - particularly in the Altstadt, and a great atmosphere at Christmas. Loads to do other than just markets. Also home to the world-famous Kolsch drink
Booked the Hyatt Cologne for 3 nights from your reply. Not a big beer drinker but do like the Kolsch beer

Been to Cologne for the past few years but never for the Christmas markets so looking forward to it. Going to see if our "love lock" is still on the bridge

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

197 months

Monday 5th October 2015
quotequote all
normalbloke said:
Winchester.
I can imagine that's pretty good actually/worth a trip if close ish in addition to the other one.
How about Bath ? Went a few years ago and really enjoyed it


Have done Rouen which was nice and has the added benefit of "holiday" to boot.

SickAsAParrot

304 posts

111 months

Tuesday 6th October 2015
quotequote all
We went to cologne a few weeks ago and stayed at the Mercure West at Marsdorf. Didn't need to drive into the centre there's a tram stop right outside, and it's basically free nobody ever checks the tickets.

shakotan

10,679 posts

195 months

Tuesday 6th October 2015
quotequote all
Etretat said:
Perhaps more importantly if your car will be not parked in a private car park whilst in Cologne;

http://urbanaccessregulations.eu/countries-mainmen...

I didn't know about this until we got back,. could have got a big fine on the emissions sticker.
Pretty much every big German city has this in force now.

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Tuesday 6th October 2015
quotequote all
Cologne gets my vote again. We did it when it was fantastically snowy biggrin

Cabrony

Original Poster:

222 posts

161 months

Tuesday 6th October 2015
quotequote all
Etretat said:
Been to the Cologne ones and they are excellent but consider;

Winter tyres in Germany
The rules in Germany changed at the end of 2010 - regulations now require all passenger cars and motorbikes including vehicles from foreign countries to be fitted with winter tyres or all season tyres on all axles when conditions are wintery.

If your vehicle becomes stuck during the winter months because the tyres are unsuitable you will be liable to an on the spot fine in Germany. If the vehicle causes an obstruction and aggravation to other traffic, the fine may be doubled. You may also be prevented from continuing your journey.

Perhaps more importantly if your car will be not parked in a private car park whilst in Cologne;

http://urbanaccessregulations.eu/countries-mainmen...

I didn't know about this until we got back,. could have got a big fine on the emissions sticker.
Not the PH way I know, but if I did Cologne again in winter I would go by train!!!!!!!!!!
Read up on this myself, sadly my MK3 MR2 has summer tyres so flying it is!
Cologne definetly wins the vote by the sound of things