'Tis the season to ditch mall madness for some genuine holiday magic in the famed Christmas markets of Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, or...Manchester?
The annual Christmas markets in Manchester, England, are garnering praise from none other than MichaelJM, the jolly traveler recently seen dressed as Santa Claus in his profile photo. Like that other North Pole fashion icon, he’s an experienced December traveler; in fact, last year he gifted us with Christmas in Lincoln.
His city of choice for this year’s holiday is Manchester, and he scouted out and reviewed its markets in the celebratory journal It’s Christmas!—in November. He raves about the markets’ toys, clothing, jewelry, food, and, of course, traditional cold-weather “tipples.” And while he wandered, he says, “a huge Santa looked down on me from the side of the Town Hall.” Now there’s a way to make IgoUgo’s most festive writer feel right at home!
He’s not the first traveler to discover Manchester’s fairy-tale side, though; airynfaerie (appropriately enough) has stopped by, too, and reports that “thousands of luminaries, candles, holiday lights, warm pastries, hot chocolate, apple cider, craft markets, and holly are only a taste of what it is like to walk around Manchester near Christmas.” She says to head to Albert Square for a continental market and to St Ann’s Square for exclusively German stalls.
We’re thrilled to know exactly where to find that quintessential German holiday experience in England—no hopping the Channel necessary.
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