Christmas markets originated in Europe during the late Middle Ages, but of late the United Kingdom has embraced the concept of bratwurst and glühwein with enthusiastic passion. When the nights draw in and the festive lights start to twinkle, Christmas markets begin to pop up across the nation.
Click through the gallery for our ranking of our favourite yuletide markets where seasonal cheer is in abundant supply…
Set around this beautiful city’s Victorian Gothic town hall, medieval cathedral and recently rebuilt market, the Chester Christmas market is certainly one of the most beautiful festive experiences in England’s northwest. The famous big wheel (pictured) appears a little incongruous but the view across the bustling stalls in this picture-perfect cathedral city are unparalleled. In 2024 the market will run from 15 November to 22 December.
For a truly bespoke festive shopping experience, you can’t beat Cowbridge, an artistic hub in the Vale of Glamorgan. The town's annual Christmas market is only held on one day each year (30 November in 2024) and features gifts created by local craftspeople. The town is famous for its independent shops, galleries and boutiques, so there’s no shortage of singularly unique items, ranging from rustic crafts to high-end jewellery and art.
Between 16 November 2024 and 2 January 2025, this port city on England’s south coast transforms into a little corner of Bavaria. The city’s Above Bar pedestrian zone and Bargate Street is lined with wooden chalets offering bratwurst and pretzels, mulled wine and German weissbier, as well as Christmas decorations made from recyclable materials. The skating rink (pictured) is popular too, with a Bavarian band wandering through the market providing a suitable festive soundtrack.
Visiting this stately National Trust property in County Down during the festive season is like stepping back into a Georgian Christmas wonderland. The halls of Castle Ward here are not just decked in holly, but garlanded with traditional decorations and festive foods as well. Looking for a truly unique Christmas gift? Over the weekend of 29 November to 1 December the mansion’s stable yard is transformed into a Christmas Artisan Market, bursting with local craftspeople and food vendors selling their festive wares.
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Everything about this Palladian style mansion in the Norfolk countryside is bespoke, including its annual Christmas market. Held over a single weekend (13-15 December in 2024) its chalets offer tempting seasonal food, drink and gifts from over 60 local producers. If you’re looking for truly unique gifts to put under the Christmas tree this festive season, this is the place to come, especially for lovers of artisanal gins, cheeses, puddings, mushrooms… and even Christmas decorations made from the feathers of game birds.
Set under twinkling lights in Exeter Cathedral’s historic Cloister Garden, the Exeter Christmas market is the largest in Devon. It also has a strong focus on supporting local producers and artisans, featuring over 200 stalls offering the very best in West Country goods and handicrafts. If you’re looking for Cornish cheese, artisan gin, a good crumbly fudge or even a festive jumper made from local wool, head to the cathedral between 15 November to 15 December, 2024.
The Leeds Christmas market is already one of the most popular in West Yorkshire and this year organisers are promising it will be even bigger and better. Rather than having stalls all across the city, the markets will cover just two prime locations – Millennium Square (pictured) and City Square. From 22 November to 22 December 2024 visitors can expect festive trails, choir performances, festive feasts, seasonal treats and a vast array of unique handicrafts, particularly at the Artisan Market held every Saturday and Sunday. More good news – Ice Cube at Christmas, the popular ice-skating rink on Millennium Square, will return too.
Coventry’s popular Christmas market returns to the city’s Broadgate shopping precinct on 15 November 2024, bringing its wildly popular ‘Big Wheel’ along for the ride. Cute wooden chalets offer a treasure trove of delicious eats, delightful drinks and one-of-a-kind gifts, but it is the giant shiny Ferris wheel that brings a sprinkle of enchantment as well as expansive views of the city when it’s at its sparkling festive best.
The annual Christmas market is one of Newcastle's most anticipated festive events, bringing sleigh-loads of Christmas cheer to the heart of the city centre. From 16 November to 22 December 2024, you’ll find stalls offering unique gifts and seasonal treats, set around the well-known Newcastle landmark, Grey’s Monument, as well as North Pole igloo pods where you can cosy up and watch the world go by. This year sees the addition of a brand-new Christmas village in nearby Old Eldon Square.
The Christmas market in Truro is the biggest in Cornwall and offers a wide array of beautifully crafted local goods that showcases the best of Cornwall’s artisanal talent. For 33 festive-filled days (22 November to 24 December in 2024) the city’s Lemon Quay is transformed into a cosy Christmas village that literally sparkles under the twinkling lights. Step inside the giant snow globe and you’ll become a magical part of this enchanting scene as well.
The annual Harrogate Christmas Fayre transforms this charming North Yorkshire market town into a sparkling winter wonderland. From 29 November to 15 December 2024 an eclectic mix of local traders and traditional European Christmas stalls fill the streets, tempting revellers with their wares while the spectacular Music and Lights show at Fountains Abbey will delight visitors of all ages. The popular Candy Cane Express road train is a must too, taking visitors on a truly unforgettable tour of this magical town.
Bath’s picturesque Christmas market lines the cobbled streets of its handsome Georgian centre and it is not too fanciful to imagine that this is how Jane Austen experienced the festive season when she lived here between 1801 and 1806. Set around the striking Abbey, backed by the city’s famous Roman Baths, revellers peruse handicrafts made by local artisans and foodie treats produced locally at surrounding farms. You can expect to be serenaded by local carollers too. The festivities begin on 28 November and continue to 15 December.
Cocooned in Winchester Cathedral’s Inner Close, the Winchester Christmas markets are arguably the cosiest in the UK. Under gorgeous twinkling lights the charming wooden chalets offer all kinds of locally-produced trinkets as well as farm-sourced seasonal treats like oven-fresh mince pies and warming hog roast. Running from 22 November to 22 December in 2024, make sure to sample the local mulled wine served from traditional copper vats beside an inspirational quote from the late Queen.
Despite its grand setting in front of the imposing columns of the city’s neoclassical St George’s Hall, Liverpool’s Christmas market is hell of a lot of fun. As well as the usual seasonal treats of bratwurst, pretzels and mulled wine, other incongruous delights include a snow slide (pictured), a carousel and a Karaoke Ski Lift in an Alpine Bar, all under the disapproving glare of Benjamin Disraeli, cast in bronze. In 2024 festivities begin on 18 November and continue until 24 December.
As you’d expect from the birthplace of William Shakespeare, the Stratford-upon-Avon Christmas market leans heavily into history with most of the stallholders dressing in traditional costumes dating from the time the Bard was writing his plays. Held over two consecutive weekends (7-8 and 14-15 December), the 2024 market features an all-new layout designed to enhance visitor experience and make it easier to enjoy the festive treats and handicraft offered by the ‘Elizabethan’ merchants.
From 15 November to 22 December the magnificent home of the Duke of Marlborough is transformed into a Christmas wonderland as its Great Court is filled with festive merrymakers perusing quaint wooden chalets selling craft vodka, local cheeses and hand-made crafts. A magical light trail leads revellers through the Blenheim Palace’s extraordinary gardens while inside visitors are treated to the story of Peter Pan (pictured) in the opulent palace rooms. A truly unforgettable experience.
Throughout its long history, Nottingham’s Old Market Square has been the centre of trade in the city, hosting its famous goose fair right up to 1928. So it should come as no surprise that when the wooden chalets for the annual Christmas markets appear around the middle of November they look like they are exactly where they are meant to be. And even though it is the largest public space in the UK after London’s Trafalgar Square, the sheer number of festive stalls sees it spill onto Long Row and Smithy Row and into the Christmas Village in Trinity Square.
Glasgow’s annual Christmas markets, held this year between 9 November 2024 and 7 January 2025, are more lively than those held in Edinburgh, their more staid cousin to the west. Not only do you get a choice of two markets offering all the usual festive fare – one on George Square, the other on St Enoch Square – the annual Style Mile Christmas Carnival (pictured) on 24 November brings seasonal colour, humour, music and joy to the city centre as well. Celebrate Christmas like a Glaswegian. You’ll be really glad you did.
Between 14 November 2024 to 5 January 2025 Kingston-upon-Thames is set to become Bavaria-upon-Thames when this venerable Surrey market town welcomes the return of its annual German-style Christmas market. Set in the historic market square, a popular meeting spot for the people of Kingston since 1170, the markets are the perfect place to sip on a mug of mulled wine, munch on a bratwurst and find the perfect gift for that special someone in your life. There’s a Bavarian Curling lane too, if you want to try your hand at this most enigmatic of winter sports.
This handsome Regency town in the heart of the Cotswolds boasts not just one, but two Christmas markets during the festive season. The first is a Christmas Gift Market, running from 21 to 24 November and is arguably the more traditional of the two, offering yule-themed gifts and foodie treats. An Arts & Crafts Christmas Market takes place on the Promenade from the 12 to 22 December, features local traders and creators and focuses on their fantastic home-made crafts. Double the Christmas cheer in a truly atmospheric setting, it is little wonder that Cheltenham is one of the most popular festive destinations in the country.
Bristol’s annual Christmas market brings a decidedly Alpine vibe to the city’s Broadmead shopping area, while leaning into its West Country heritage with barrel loads of local mulled cider. Once the Christmas shopping is done, the rustic Jäger Barn Bar (pictured) is a great place to relax with a glass of glühwein. Or better still, hire one of the ski gondolas, repurposed as party pods, for you and up to six friends. The festive fun runs from 1 November to 23 December 2024.
Backed by Yorkshire’s spectacular Peak District, it should come as no surprise that the buzzing student city of Sheffield leans heavily into an Alpine theme with its lively annual Christmas market. The ‘authentic’ Alpine Lodge (pictured) is extremely popular – and not just with students – and there’s a grotto for Santa where he waits patiently for the Christmas lists of Sheffield’s smallest citizens. Running from 14 November to 24 December in 2024, expect German sausage grills, mulled wine and cider and festive-themed Yorkshire pudding wraps.
Now in their 26th year, the Christmas markets in Manchester are one of the most popular in the UK, drawing millions of visitors to over 200 stalls spread across nine locations in the city centre. The Big Wheel in Exchange Square (pictured) remains a focal point, but those who wander will uncover all kinds of festive treats, as well as a Christmas lights trail, perfect for selfies, and a popular ice-skating rink. Running from 8 November to 22 December, festivities start with a bang with the city’s much loved Christmas Parade.
Nestled in the Scottish capital’s beautiful East Princess Street Gardens, the Edinburgh Christmas Market boasts arguably the most dramatic setting of all the UK Christmas markets. Watched over by Edinburgh’s brooding castle, this year’s festivities will run from 18 November 2024 to 4 January 2025 and will include traditional Christmas market stalls, funfair rides, spectacular live outdoor events and a host of delicious food and drink, including a festive haggis. The Christmas Tree Maze, one of the UK’s largest illuminated Christmas tree trails, is a family favourite too.
Now in its 20th year outside Belfast’s handsome City Hall, the Northern Irish capital’s Christmas market is celebrating with a decidedly Dickensian theme. On the opening weekend (16 and 17 November) and third weekend (30 November to 1 December) iconic characters from Charles Dickens’ books will stroll through the festive village offering storytelling and lively performances that will bring his works to life. Running from 16 November to 22 December, revellers can indulge in all the usual traditional Christmas fayre as well.
The charming cobbled lanes of York make this gorgeous North Yorkshire city the perfect setting for a Christmas market experience you’ll never forget. Wandering through the maze of 75 wooden chalets selling all kinds of festive trinkets and seasonal treats feels positively Dickensian. There’s a vintage carousel on King’s Square too, adding to the Victorian festive atmosphere. The market runs from 14 November to 22 December in 2024, opening at 10am for those who might not enjoy the evening crowds.
The Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas market offers a truly authentic German Christmas market experience in the heart of the English Midlands. Held this year between 1 November and 24 December, it is the biggest German Christmas market outside of Germany and Austria, offering sizzling bratwurst, freshly-made pretzels and warming traditional glühwein. Keep an eye out for Chris Moose, the singing Christmas moose who serenades passers-by in front of the Council House.
The Cardiff Christmas Market has lit up the city centre every year for 30 years and continues to bring festive cheer to the Welsh capital. Starting on Duke Street, up near Castle Square, the colourful markets sprawl across the main pedestrianised shopping areas of the city. The markets are part of Cardiff’s Craft*Folk initiative, designed to encourage and support local crafts folk, ensuring that no matter what festive trinket you buy, you can be sure it is unique. In 2024 the markets will run from 14 November to 23 December.
It may be tucked away on Scotland’s wild west coast, but Oban celebrates the festive season with gusto. Its annual Winter Festival was voted one of Britain’s best Christmas markets by BBC’s Countryfile in 2023 while Time Out rated it as one of the most festive Christmas towns in the UK. The festive fun centres around the fishing harbour (pictured) and as well as the usual Christmas stalls you can expect street parades, reindeer, performing arts, pipers, arts and crafts, ceilidhs and heaps of family fun. In 2024 the celebrations run from 15 to 24 November.
London’s epic Winter Wonderland has been running for 17 years now and takes the top spot because of its sheer scale alone. For six magical weeks beginning 21 November, this mother-of-all Christmas markets sprawls across iconic Hyde Park, offering the biggest outdoor ice-skating rink in the UK, a giant observation wheel boasting unobstructed views of the colourful cacophony below and countless seasonally-themed street food stalls, ice bars, fire pits, bottomless pizza parties and a chalet dedicated solely to the joys of fondue. If it’s even the slightest bit festive, you’ll find it here.
Read on to discover our ranking of the UK's prettiest small towns and villages...