Christmas is no longer a single day in the calendar for us to celebrate, but a full season of events and traditions, from Christmas Light switch-on and office Christmas parties to festive themed restaurant menus, television programmes and even fashion trends (got your Christmas jumper ready this year?).
But if you’re feeling more like Ebeneezer Scrooge than Elf, nothing will get you in the festive spirit quite like a trip to the Christmas Markets. Come November, the joyful Bavarian markets start to pop up across the UK, bringing with them toys, trinkets and treasures to make the perfect gifts for just about everyone, as well as plenty of delicious food and tempting tipples. Christmas Markets in some cities have even taken the festivities a step further, with unique attractions to make them extra special.
In celebration of the UK Christmas markets, many Brits flock to in the winter time McCarthy & Stone, leading retirement housebuilder, have surveyed their customers and followers to find which of the most most-Googled Christmas markets came out as the all-time favourite.
The overall vote breakdown of top destinations is as follows:
Edinburgh – 23.04 percent
Bath – 15.71 percent
Birmingham – 15.18 percent
York – 10.47 percent
Bristol – 8.90 percent
Nottingham – 7.85 percent
Liverpool – 6.28 percent
Cardiff – 4.71 percent
Leeds – 4.19 percent
Exeter – 3. 66 percent
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Edinburgh came out the top, and it’s not surprising considering the location offers two markets on George Street and East Princess Street. George Street Markets offer the traditional Christmas Market shopping experience, with a huge array of festive gifts, decorations, and tasty treats to get you into the festive spirit. East Princess Street features the Bavarian Christmas markets, complete with chalets serving German sausages, Gluhwein and more gift ideas than you can shake a candy stick at.
Bath came second with 16 percent of the vote and this year, the city went all out. Their Christmas Market has 200 wooden chalets selling all the gifts, food and decorations you can carry. More than 80% of Bath’s chalets will be run by businesses from the South West this year, so it’s a great chance to support local business while Christmas shopping.
Third place was given to Birmingham (15 percent of the vote); perhaps for its huge range of festive decorations, toys, baubles, jewellery, accessories, hats and sweet treats at the many stalls.