European Christmas Markets
It is getting that time of the year for the festive season. Christmas Markets are unique and fascinating to see during the holiday season. Here you will be able to find hand crafted toys, fresh-baked bread, wood carvings, marionettes, candles and lambskin shoes. The sky is lite up at night with Christmas lights displaying “Weihnachtsmarkt”, meaning Christmas market. Most of the Christmas markets start around the end of November. Here are a few popular Christmas markets within an hour drive from Geilenkirchen.
Brussels, Belgium in the Grand Palace. - including an ice skating rink. Opening periods:
- from Friday 27 November 2009 to Sunday 3 January 2010
- monday-thursday : 12:00-21:00
- friday-sunday : 11:00-22:00
The Christmas Market in Brussels is very disappointing with only a few tents, but the light show is definitely worth seeing in the Grand Place.
Aachener Christmas Market – from Friday 20 November 2009 to Wednesday 23 December 2009
11am-9pm daily
Sunday 22.11.: 6pm-9pm
Cologne Christmas Market – Offers a total of 7 Christmas Markets. Most Christmas Markets in Cologne will start on the November 23. The Floating Christmas Market and the Christmas Market am Stadtgarten starts on the November 26, whilst the Cologne Medieval Christmas Market will open a day later on the November 27.
Dusseldorf Christmas Market- from Thursday 19 November 2009 to Wednesday 23 December 2009
Sun-Thu 11am-8pm
Fri-Sat 11am-9pm
Closed on Sun 22 Nov
Monchau Christmas Market – from Friday 27 November 2009 to Sunday 20 December 2009
Fri-Sun 11am-8pm
More German Christmas Markets.
From my experience, I found that German Markets have a wider range of unique and handmade items. Although, the Valkenburg Christmas Market in Holland is unique in itself. The Christmas Market is held under the town in old caves that have existed since the Romans quarried the local yellow stone.
Maastricht, Netherlands – The Winterland Maastricht will start on the 1st of December 2007 and takes 5 weeks until the 6th of January 2008. The Vrijthof in Maastricht will change in a winter square with a Christmas Market, an ice-rink, a big wheel, christmas-train and a grand carousel. Of course there is glühwein (warm red wine) and a lot of other drinks and food.The market is open daily (including Sundays) from 11.00h until 22.00h located in Vrijthof.
I found that the Winterland Maastricht Christmas Market is a wonderful place for kids because of the various roller coasters.
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- Grand Place Light Show
I wasn’t impressed with the merchandise. In my opinion, the Aachener and Dusseldorf Christmas markets are the best places to go for unique and hand-crafted items. Although they did have most of their merchandise indoors, which is great when you want to get away from the cold. The Winterland Maastricht also had a better selection of food except for chocolates. They even had escargot.
