European Christmas markets are increasingly attracting British tourists in the run up to the festive period and so, Airport Parking and Hotels has compared 15 of the most popular Christmas markets across Europe including the typical cost involved in taking a festive trip to visit them.
The research compares the major Christmas markets in European cities, including the cost of a return flight and a seven nights’ stay in a four-star hotel, as well as the highlights of each market and the currency used.
Germany was found to host four of the top 15 Christmas markets in Europe including Berlin, Cologne, Munich and Nuremberg, whereas Belgium and Austria both have two cities each including Bruges, Brussels, Vienna and Salzburg.
With regard to the cost of return flights from Heathrow Airport, prices were found to range from £102 to £176 per person. The cheapest destinations to fly to are Brussels and Munich both at a cost of £102, whereas Budapest and Prague are the most expensive at £176 and £160 respectively.
When booking hotel accommodation, travellers should be careful when choosing a four-star hotel as prices vary greatly. Seven nights’ accommodation for two adults was found to be the cheapest in Prague at a cost of £195 for a double room, whereas the French town of Strasbourg is the most expensive place to stay, at a cost of £695 for two people. A flight and hotel package for two adults travelling from 1 to 8 December 2012 is cheapest in Barcelona, costing £474 and the most expensive destination is Strasbourg, costing £1,031 for two adults.
Stockholm in Sweden and Munich in Germany host the shortest Christmas markets, which run for three weeks and do not continue after Christmas Day. Denmark’s Christmas market held in Copenhagen runs for seven weeks and starts the earliest on 11 November 2012 until the end of December. Prague and Tallinn Christmas markets both run the latest until 8 January 2013 with the majority of the Christmas markets running for up to five weeks.
European markets have many traditional gifts to purchase from Belgian chocolates, Rauchermannchen (wooden dolls complete with smoking pipes), Glogg (Danish mulled wine) and Czech ceramic mugs. The caganer (the defecator), a traditional Catalan character, is the strangest gift to look out for and can be found in nativity scenes squatting with his trousers down at Barcelona’s Christmas market.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
