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Europe at Christmas

Hello all;

Wanting to surprise my sister with a European holiday; She would mainly be interested in the Christmas markets and concerts. We grew up in Northern France (Lille area) and remember winter and the holidays fondly. I mainly want to try to recapture the joy and love of Christmas that we enjoyed so much when we were children - and return to the places of our youth and see how much it has changed! With 14 nights on the ground what kind of itinerary should I expect to build? Would it be too much to do the following: 2 nights Lille; 4 nights in Belgium with a base in Brussels; 4 nights in Netherlands with a base in Amsterdam and then 4 nights in Scotland with a base in Edinburgh. I know its a lot of traveling but would it be doable? We will be retracing this itinerary the following fall when we will be visiting family (with an added 8 days) so the focus would be mainly to spend wintertime back 'home' (not sightseeing - not really planning to do the normal tourist stuff) Will the Christmas markets in these cities be open during the first 2 weeks of December? Are there any markets/festivals/concerts that are in the areas we will be in that is a 'must see'? We will be flying open jaw from San Francisco to Paris then Edinburgh back to SFO. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

Posted by
1068 posts

I've discovered that most of the larger Christmas markets (and some smaller ones) now have websites with dates posted - which would be super helpful for planning your itinerary, since the length of time they are open, and the earliest date they begin, varies rather widely.

Other than that, I think your itinerary seems do-able. A tad mad from the perspective of some, but allowing 4 nights everywhere but Lille means you'll have enough time to settle in and explore before you have to move on.

Posted by
154 posts

This sounds like a "do-able" itinerary since you are sleeping in different places for multiple nights. That time of the year you may find doing day trips a little be harder due to weather and maybe limited transportation (not as many routes or day tour companies may be running then). All the cities will have holiday options like you mentioned and you can find a lot more at their city run websites or the tourist information offices for each country.

Posted by
20025 posts

If you have a good time this Christmas then next Christmas you might want to look at Central Europe (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic) where the Christmas Markets are really fabulous and the winter concerts are amazing,

Have fun and report back when you return.

Posted by
18 posts

Thank you all who replied! Glad some believe this itinerary is workable - and thank you for understanding that it isn't really a 'tourist' trip but rather a 'going home for Christmas and reconnecting with our past' trip. Hotels have been booked (waiting of flights and trains) and the requests have been turned in at work...just need finishing touches! And thank you James for your suggestions on Eastern Europe and their markets; gives me reason to keep planning trips!