It’s that time of year where there is a festive spirit everywhere you go! Here at OnTheQT we particularly love shopping at Christmas markets! It’s such a wonderful feeling wandering around all wrapped up, listening to Christmas carols, sipping on mulled wine whilst browsing through creative stalls selling high quality, often hand-made goods! We’ve chosen some of our favourite markets in Ireland, which are most definitely worth a visit this Winter!
Belfast Christmas Markets: This market was by far one of the best Christmas markets we paid a visit to this year. With stalls from all over Europe and beyond. As you walked around you could hear all the different languages, smell all the different specialties and see all the unique crafts. There is something for everybody at this market. From bags, Soaps, scarves, wooden toys, decorations etc from all across Europe. The food stalls are more than your normal food stalls – ranging from countries all over the world and tastes from around Europe. Enjoy the fantastic range of food, beverages, crafts and decorations on offer from across Europe and beyond – browse a selection of handbags, satchels, socks, hats and gloves, wooden toys, essential oils, crystals, hand-painted pottery, Christmas decorations and much more! Our favourite stall at the market has to be the Chocolate factory stall with chocolate crafted into all sorts of things – high heels, cameras and even tools. These look so real, it’s hard to believe! Be sure to read more about this market here!
Galway Christmas Markets: There is no better way to pass a crisp Winter’s evening that to take a stroll around the Galway Christmas Market, As you walk towards Eyre Square with the extra twinkle of lights, you can feel the buzz of the additional chitter chatter of the people wandering around with a smile on their faces. The delightful smell of different foods fills the air as you ramble around, Crepes, Pretzels, Hog on a Spit, Handmade Burgers and Sausages, and the all important sweet scent of the confectionery tent, there is a delightful treat in store for all. And if it’s a thirst you are looking to quench then there is sure to be something there to help. I recommend a hot chocolate sitting under the windmill tastes great and warm up cold fingers if required. If they’re in the evening I also suggest a visit to the Paulaner Tent, if only for the epic picture with the giant glass, the beer is also very good. Over all you can’t help but feel a little bit festive after a visit to Eyre Square. Once again I have managed to add to my collection of woolly hats from one of the many enchanting stalls. There is plenty there to entertain all the family, because we all know everyone loves a spin on the carousel no matter what their age. Be sure to read more about this market here!
Edinburgh Christmas Markets: As you all know, we love Edinburgh and we spend a lot of time exploring Scotland so we decided to do a little review on the Edinburgh Christmas Markets. First thing we noticed was it was more then a market, it was a festival of Christmas, a winter wonderland. What we love about Edinburgh is once you arrive, everything is walking distance and this really helps during the festive season as all the festivities are in walking distance. Markets, Events, Santa Grotto, ice skating, rides and much much more. One of our favourite Christmas activities is of course ice-skating and we love the ice-skating this year in the Edinburgh festival. It is a circular rink and you can skate around the outside of some of the markets. (For us, it allows us to fall with style on the new stylish ice rink!! The European markets have a great mixture of food stalls but are more focused on the crafts and Christmas present side of things. Great to get the feeling of a Christmas market with such a mixture of cultures and specialties. The children’s market consists of Santa’s Grotto, a Christmas train, lots of children’s stalls and even a Christmas tree maze which is our favourite! The Scottish Market shows the best craft, food and drink that Scotland has to offer and it is great to get a feel of the culture during your visit. Be sure to read more about this market here!
OnTheQT tip: Some Christmas markets run into January, so even if you don’t make it there before Christmas, you may still have the time to do so in January! 🙂
Happy christmas shopping from the OnTheQT crew! x
