A round-up of European Christmas markets to visit
This year, I couldn’t manage to escape to one of the Christmas markets I love in Europe, so instead on this post I’ll pine away thinking about great Christmas markets of the past take a look at some of the Christmas markets I’ve posted about in European cities.
Should you find yourself in any of these cities in the next few days – enjoy! And be sure to drink an extra Gluehwein/vin brulé for me!
Christkind’l markt, Vienna – I lived for one year in Vienna and I’m certainly not objective when it comes to this Christmas market. It’s my favorite.
I’ve been countless times, but getting back to visit Viennas’s Christkind’l Markt always puts me in a good mood. And yes, I’m a sucker for Gluehwein, so that might be part of its charm. : ) See my earlier post about what to do for the holidays in Vienna here.
Christmas Market, Nice – Okay, I was as surprised as anyone to discover that Nice hosted an impressive Christmas market, complete with Christmas trees painted with fake snow – since the real stuff is in short supply in this Mediterranean beach town. : )
There was even an ice skating rink and rides for kids to make it even more impressive. Oh, and an abundance of vin brulé – the French equivalent of Gluehwein. So I was bound to love it. Visit if you’re in the French Riviera! See my post here.
Christmas Market, Toulouse – Another nice surprise. I wasn’t expecting this, but I was pleased to have stumbled across the impressive Christmas market being set up on the pretty Place Capitole when I was in Toulouse.
See my earlier post on the Toulouse Christmas market. It was a great place to stop off in the evenings after our days of wanderings.
Piazza Navona’s Christmas market, Rome – Okay, I’ll fess up. This isn’t one of my favorites AT ALL. And anyone who knows me knows I’m ready to sing Rome’s praises in a heartbeat. But that doesn’t include Rome’s Christmas market, which doesn’t compare to my favorites and mostly has junky stands not worthy of one of the most beautiful squares in the world.
If the holidays find you in Rome, however, and you have kids in tow, you’ll have to make your way here. And it’s Piazza Navona, so you’d be foolish to skip it anyway. But a plea to the future mayor of Rome: implement some zoning laws so this seems less a souk, more a Christmas market on such a gorgeous square.
Here are my Christmas market tips – enjoy!
