Christmas market 2011: where to go?

In general, initially the Christmas market in Germany and Austria was an opportunity to purchase the necessary goods for a long and cold winter. Over time, he turned into a Christmas custom and spread throughout Europe.

What is the Christmas market? Imagine a long line of shopping,offering Christmas sweets, hot snacks, punch, mulled wine, Christmas toys and decorations. Add here Christmas performances (dens), Santa Claus with helpers, attractions, noise and illuminations - this is how the Christmas fair looks like.

One of the oldest bazaars - Christmas market in Nuremberg, "Christkindlesmarkt", it has been counting for more than 400 years. It is located in the heart of Nuremberg - the Old Town. This bazaar is considered to be the largest and best in Europe.

Near the bazaar there is an amusement park "Children's Christmas Country". Here, children can not only ride on the merry-go-round, but also meet Santa Claus and even take a picture with him for memory. And numerous small pavilions offer to try their hand at various trades, from making candles to burning out wood. And every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday a Christmas angel arrives here and offers children a free ride on the carousel.

The Nuremberg Christmas Market opened on 25 November. From Monday to Thursday, it runs from 9.20 to 20 hours, on Fridays and Saturdays - from 9.30 to 22 hours, and on Sunday from 10.30 to 20 hours. The market will be closed on December 24, on Christmas Eve. It will be a short day: the bazaar will open at 9.30 and close at 2 pm, now before next year.

If you want to visit near abroad, why not go to Christmas market in Tallinn? Tallinn Christmas Market at Town HallSquare also has a long history, the first mention of the Christmas tree in the Town Hall Square dates back to 1441. For a while this tradition was forgotten, but a few years ago it was revived. The center of the bazaar is the main Christmas tree in Estonia, and from it the commercial pavilions in the form of Christmas cottages diverge from the sun.

In the bazaar you can get acquainted with creativityEstonian artisans and even buy yourself something to remember. Children will certainly be pleased with snow sculptures, and also animals (geese, lambs, goats, hares and ponies), which can be patted and even fed. On weekends and on significant dates, the fair will feature singing and dancing groups. Well, where without Santa Claus and his reindeers! The Tallinn Christmas market opened on November 26, so you can safely collect things and go to Estonia.

Very beautiful during the Christmas holidays in Prague. Several Christmas markets operate here. The most famous and popular bazaars are located on the Wenceslas and Old Town squares. And earlier than everyone in 2011, on November 22, opened Bazaar in the Peace Square near the church of St. Ludmila. Here you can buy traditional ornaments from straw, Christmas toys and other products from the famous Bohemian glass and, of course, Czech beer. By the way, especially for Christmas, Czech brewers produced two new varieties of beer.

The bazaar will run until Christmas Eve (December 24), every day from 10 to 19 hours. Not to notice it will be difficult, the identification sign - Christmas tree, decorated in purple tones. And we remind that this is not the only Christmas market in Prague, just this year it is the first. So why not try to visit them all or at least most of it?

And the biggest Christmas market in Paris located, of course, on the Champs Elysées(metro station Champs Elysées-Clémenceau) and extends to Concorde Square (Concorde metro station). It opened on November 19, and closes later than most European Christmas markets, on January 2, capturing not only Christmas, but also the New Year. If you decide to attend the Christmas market in Paris, be sure to check out Maison De L "Alsace (Champs Elysees, 39), a temporary boutique offering traditional Alsatian Christmas treats.

And this is not all Christmas markets,which can be visited in Europe. You are waiting for Berlin and Munich, Cologne and Vienna, Copenhagen and Budapest, Bruges and Brussels, Strasbourg and Reims, Gothenburg and Luxembourg, Budapest and Ljubljana. The choice is yours!