Are UK Christmas markets as good as German ones? Here’s what we found

Wooden huts glow with golden fairy lights as groups of friends gather wearing woolen hats, warming their hands over mugs of mulled wine.

Signs written in German are dotted about – Glühwein (mulled wine), Bratwurst (grilled sausage), Kinderpunsch (non-alcohol punch).

This isn’t Germany – it’s Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market. Organizers say it is the “largest authentic German Christmas market” outside the country and Austria.

Christmas markets are believed to have originated in Germany in the 14th century, and have been admired ever since. But how close are those in Britain to that supposedly traditional, real thing?

BBC News visited some to find out – and perhaps provide some inspiration for your next festive trip.

On a cool Thursday afternoon in Birmingham, we met Nina Adler and Till Rampe, 27-year-old German students studying for a PhD in the UK’s “second city”.

As we wander through the Christmas Market, which winds through the streets near Birmingham New Street Railway Station, they feel homesick.

They point to wooden huts, food and drink, and handicrafts as positive signs that are close to the traditional ideal. Chocolate-coated marshmallows at a stall impress Till, who is from a town near Frankfurt. “I could have sworn they were from my hometown,” he says.

But other aspects of Birmingham’s market have taken a German approach – like beer. “People associate Germany with beer,” says Nina from Berlin. “In Germany you usually drink mulled wine. It’s very typical.”

And as for the pop tunes playing from the speakers in Birmingham – like The Power of Love – you probably won’t hear it in markets in Germany – instead it will be Christmas music and carols, she says.

We are also visiting the market with Katharina Karcher, an academic from the University of Birmingham. His decision? It is “Super Authentic”.

Founded in 1997 and running annually since 2001, the Birmingham market is organized by Kurt Strauscher, who is also the director of Frankfurt’s Christmas markets.

He “uses only wooden stalls and atmospheric white lighting that doesn’t glare”, with stalls made in Germany and food and drinks imported from there.

It’s mostly praise for Birmingham’s Christmas market when it comes to authenticity – but how does it compare in Germany?

While many Christmas markets in the UK have been running for a couple of weeks, in Germany they open, by tradition, only on 24 November.

Most German towns and cities have a Christmas market, with the most famous being those in Dresden, Nuremberg and Cologne.

Dr. Karcher, who hails from near Frankfurt, says these markets have “huge symbolic meaning” for Germans. With a religious tone, “they are the ones who bring people out of dark times”, she explains.

About 800 miles from Birmingham, the city of Berlin is home to more than 70 different, small Christmas markets. At Charlottenburg Palace, west of the German capital, the market is bustling and full of people of all ages when we visit on a Tuesday night.

The smells of roasted almonds, caramelized apples, chocolate-coated fruits, mulled wine and grilled sausages fill the air, as Christmas carols are performed live on a stage and children enjoy a small, glittering Ferris wheel.

The 17th-century Baroque Charlottenburg Palace is illuminated in different colors, with snowflakes falling on its facade and wooden stalls in front.

So what exactly makes up a traditional German Christmas market?

Typically, they may have (as in Berlin):

• Large tents with full restaurants or bars
• Stalls selling a range of handmade gifts including woolly hats, gloves, scarves, jewellery, handmade candles, wooden nutcrackers and other arts and crafts
• Traditional German foods such as Lebkuchen, the German version of gingerbread that is often seen in cookie form, bratwurst, several types of sausages including cheese, hearty dishes such as langoustines (a deep-fried Hungarian flatbread with varying salty or sweet toppings) or goulash, and spätzle.
• For those who drink alcohol, mulled wine, not so much beer
• A location in a square in the Altstadt, the old part of the city. And in cities – lots of different markets in different areas

For Magritta, 66, who is enjoying mulled wine with her husband Dietmar, 69, the highlight of German Christmas markets is their unique atmosphere: “The colorful lights and Christmas decorations make it so special.”

Dittmar explains how “Christmas markets are not the same as other markets labeled as ‘Winter Market’ or ‘Winter Wonderland’, because the fairy tale-like feeling you only get at an authentic Christmas market”.

He added, “I visited a Christmas market in Milan a few years ago, and it wasn’t the same, it was just a collection of different shops.”

At another table, Anna and Carolina, both 19, are eating some chocolate-covered strawberries. “Apart from mulled wine and food, the colorful lights and the festive and cozy atmosphere make Christmas markets unique,” ​​says Anna.

But in Karolina’s view, “the star… is definitely the food and drink. (It) really makes the Christmas market authentic”.

In the UK, while Birmingham can boast about the authenticity of its markets, what about other places in the UK?

Christmas markets have become a staple of many UK cities – among them Manchester, Leeds, Bath, Edinburgh and Newcastle. Small markets, usually in historical settings, are also proving popular on TikTok, sometimes incredibly so. From 2023, the Lincoln Christmas Market has been closed due to overcrowding concerns.

When the BBC visited the market in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, earlier this week, we saw an open mic night, which included a performance of Neil Young’s Heart of Gold, and stalls selling pasta, Greek gyros and Yorkshire pudding wraps. There were also German foods and signs, although much less than in Birmingham.

The visitors didn’t seem to mind, however.

“I quite like it,” says Jamie Aycliffe, who was visiting the market with his wife and child. “We’re making our own British version of bratwurst.”

But after visiting Christmas markets across Europe, she felt the UK markets were “not as good” and “a bit more commercial”.

Others were visiting the Kingston Christmas Market for the beauty.

“It’s fun,” says drama student Amelia Shannon, 22. “I don’t need to go to Germany for this.”

Overall, however, it was not as true to a traditional cheese as the Birmingham one, and was also much smaller in size. Some people told us they would prefer it if UK-based Christmas markets like Kingston sold more small gifts from independent businesses, like German markets.

Academic Anne-Teresa Markovic, originally from Nuremberg, says that when visiting Christmas markets in Manchester and Leeds she was surprised to find the food and drink offerings there “more prominent” than in Germany. She recalls seeing “Festive Patatas Brava” on the menu, which, needless to say, is not particularly German.

However, Christmas markets in Germany are changing. There is often more international food now – and Dr. Karcher says depictions of the patron Saint Nicholas are becoming more about Santa Claus.

The warmth of Germany’s Christmas markets was dampened by deadly car attacks at a market in Berlin in 2016 and in the city of Magdeburg last year.

Since then, security has been increased in the markets. Some markets have been canceled because the cost of security is too high for organizers.

The Berlin Christmas market we visit is surrounded by a fence, along which large, concrete blocks have been placed, while a police car patrols one of the entrances.

Despite strict security measures, the atmosphere seems calm.

Anna and Carolina say they have never been to a UK Christmas market before, but both would welcome more Christmas markets outside Germany.

“Christmas markets are not defined by their location, but by the festive atmosphere and the time of year they take place,” Anna explains.

Eight other 2025 Christmas markets in the UK you might like:

• Wells, Somerset: A day-long event in the cathedral city, Saturday 6 December, with over 100 stalls
• Canterbury, Kent: Running until Christmas Eve, with 120 stalls including in the grounds of the 11th century cathedral
• Haddon Hall, Derbyshire: Pre-booked tickets with parking at the Country House are sold out, but non-parking tickets are available for £9.50.
• Chester, Cheshire: Stalls are lined up along Tudor and Mock-Tudor Streets, which will run until Monday 22 December, including a stall run by Chester Zoo
• Hillsborough, County Down, Northern Ireland: Taking place in front of 17th century Hillsborough Castle on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th December
• Aberdeen Christmas Village, Scotland: With an ice rink and lots of stalls, it will run till December 31
• Portmeirion, North Wales: A beautiful venue in Gwynedd, running from Friday 5th December to Sunday 7th December with a £10 entry fee
• Winchester, Hampshire: The Christmas market around the cathedral is open until Monday 22 December