Re Xmas Markets, nobody advertises them as “Advent” (forget who that was!), the masses of ads, and trips & tours to same, all say “Christmas”. Advent CALENDARS, yes,
PLEASE DON’T tar them all with the same “tat” brush, some are indeed like that (the way of the world these days?) but there are some actual gems to be found.
And does every food/drink item have to be over-priced? Of course not, check before you buy! Some markets HAVE got overcrowded, due to popularity! We went to Lincoln once, never again, and the Birmingham one, just the twice. But we were in Bath 2 years ago, that was OK, some good stalls too, and Winchester (right by the cathedral) is also very good. They actually say they prefer stalls with a ‘craft’ aspect. BUT - my sister reports that the Brighton one is back this year, which prompted locals to make jokes about the previous one (an utter disaster!).
In general, those abroad are better, we went to a few in Germany, Austria and Belgium, tend to seem, well, more Christmassy (not Adventy . . .). Salzburg and Vienna have the advantage of being stunning locations anyway, and Brussels, Liege and Leuwen (etc) are all in easy reach if you can use Eurostar, also Aachen & Cologne. I don’t suppose we’ll be back to those soon, as we have to budget for higher heating bills now?!
