Divine street markets
Submerging in the magical atmosphere of the European cities that are famous for their Christmas proposals is once again becoming feasible (and highly desirable) for the last few weeks of the year.
From the second fortnight in November and throughout December, the traditional stalls selling Christmas ornaments, gifts and delicacies, the ice rinks, the Christmas lights and the most spectacular fir trees take over the main squares of the towns in central and northern areas of the Old Continent.
There is a very wide range of advent street markets around Europe; therefore we propose a selection of some of the most attractive ones.
A central european tradition
When we think about the most traditional markets, we obviously consider the ones in Germany and Austria first. In fact, the Striezelmarkt (in the German city of Dresden) is considered to be the oldest in Europe, dating back to the first half of the fifteenth century. Currently, it is very well known due to the Christmas pyramid – a very typical decoration in Germany, which is almost 15 metres high, set up in the centre of the Almarkt square and miniature copies of which are sold on many of its 240 stalls. And Santa Claus himself receives children in a wooden castle located at the other side of the square.
However, the epitome of idyllic images of Christmas markets can be found in the Tyrolean city of Innsbruck, where it is worth discovering not only the central Markplatz (the children’s favourite with its merry-go-round and puppet theatre), but also the street of Santa Teresa (famous for its avant-garde designed lighting), along with the markets in the districts of St. Nikolaus and Wilten (just as charming, but less busy) or the ones perched around the Hungerburg and Bergisel viewing points, with spectacular views over the city. At all of them you can shop in their beautiful wooden huts, accompanied by the sound of Christmas carols and the aroma of hot wine and ‘kiachlin’, a bagel that is combined with sauerkraut.
There is another well-known Tyrolean street market that is not located in Austria, but rather in neighbouring Italy: this is the Bolzano street market, set in a small medieval city, surrounded by the Dolomite Mountains. The stalls are spread out in two differentiated areas, although they are very close together. One, located in the Station Square Park, is known as the Christmas Town and includes an enormous star lighting up the ground and an ice rink for skating and shows. A little further on is the Walther square, where most of the huts selling Christmas articles and food are concentrated. The specialities that must be tried are the knödel or canederli (dough balls), the hot flour soup, pork in beer and apple strudel.
In Budapest, its Winter Festival is gaining followers. This is set up in the Vörösmarty square and it includes stalls selling handcrafted products and local delicacies (amongst them the ginger biscuits, ‘bejgli’ – a cake made with walnuts and poppyseeds, or the ‘lángos’, bread fried with cream or cheese), in addition to musical performances and puppet shows.
However, in order to discover the Christmas destination that has been trending in recent years, we must go further south: Zagreb, thanks to its lively street markets, particularly the one located in the great square of King Tomislav, have taken the lead as the city with the best European market of this type. Its exquisite decoration, its significant offer of concerts, its live Nativity scene next to the cathedral and its ice rink have all contributed to it reaching this achievement. The sweets that must be tried here are the ‘vanilin kiflice’ (vanilla bagels) and the ‘paprenjaci’, a type of spicy biscuit.
The most charming nordic street markets
Moving further north, one of the best settings to enjoy the warmth of a Christmas street market in a freezing country, is in the Tivoli amusement park in Copenhagen. Its frozen lake is turned into an ice rink and over fifty beautifully decorated and lit-up huts are set up around it.
Another city that is a popular reference for Christmas spirit in northern Europe is Tallin (Estonia); Raekoja Plats is one of the most beautiful and oldest markets on the continent, presided over by a majestic Christmas tree in the middle of the Town Hall Square, a tradition that has been repeated since 1441. Around the tree, stalls selling handcrafted glass are set up, along with a food offer in which the stars are soups, sausages with sauerkraut and ginger biscuits with hot wine.
