Want European Christmas-y Cities more than Christmas Markets

From what other Christmas travelers have posted, London does a great job. People rave about Kew Gardens and Selfridges Dept store and about concerts and shows, etc.

Having been to several European cities in late November to mid December, in my opinion London does it the best. From the big sights that are famous such as Kew Gardens and the lights on the main shopping streets, to the concerts and the way small shops and restaurants celebrate and decorate. I would spend a minimum of 10-12 days in London and then explore beyond there.

Thanks for the London suggestion but confirms that it is right to be on my list. I want to hit about 10-12 cities in the 30-35 days. In my 70+ years of travel have been to most european cities so not going to tour the sights but visit the cities for how the city is decorated if that clarifies things a bit. Thinking of Gothenberg, Sweden, Basel, Switzerland, Dresden, Germany as these have appeared on multiple lists.

Hands down, London.

We were in London last year just before Christmas and it was absolutely amazing with all the lights, decorations, and festive atmosphere. They do have a few Christmas markets as well (plus the always interesting Borough Market). But the lights were the big draw - they were so plentiful and festive. It was crowded, especially on the weekends, but we loved it. In fact we are planning to go back again next December, which is how much we enjoyed it all.

London.

I went to 3 Christmas Markets in Paris and to me it was a seen one seen them all.

Indeed - Christmas markets in Paris are crap, so visiting any single one is not a rewarding exercise, much less visiting three.

The Strasbourg lights took my breath away, and nearby Colmar was also beautiful.
Esslingen, outside of Stuttgart, has folks in period dress, parades, street performers, and live stage entertainment. Plus, I thought the gluhwein was the best.
In Stuttgart, the vendors all outdo each other in the elaborate decorations on top of each hut, which are best viewed during the day.
Have a magical trip!

My son is in Cologne Germany and went to the Christmas market and was amazed at all.that was on display. He did enjoy it but it was wall to wall people so he going out first thing in the morning so hopefully beat some of the crowd.

London does a rather good job.

On the mainland, Gengenbach in the Black Forest area of B-W makes the town hall into the world's biggest Advent calendar. They decorate well too, but it is a relatively small and beautiful town, not a city....

Like you, I love seeing the decorations more than the markets. Although I agree London and Paris are lovely, if you're looking for a lot of "wow factor" in a smaller space, you may want to consider Lisbon. Not only were the decorations awesome, but the lights bouncing off the calcada streets made everything sparkle. Also, the crowds were much more manageable than either London or Paris and the weather is more mild.

I hope you get lots of suggestions so I can follow along. I'm already thinking about where I want to go next December.

You will likely enjoy Christmas lights on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin, Germany.
Picture series: https://www.berlin.de/en/pictures/3696411-5655000.gallery.en.html

Festively enlighted Christmas events you will find also in Berlin's Botanic Garden and Tierpark, also at various other places.

German town Lübeck describes itself as "Christmas Capital of Northern Germany"; it is since decades a demanded destination for visitors form Northern Europe.
https://www.visit-luebeck.com/culture/christmas-city-of-the-north

Also the Christmas markets in castles and palaces of German state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) are real beauties:
https://www.nrw-tourism.com/christmas-markets/castles

Medieval town of Goslar is worth a Christmas journey with its awarded Weihnachtswald.

And these are just a few examples of Christmas culture in Germany, much more to explore.

Be advised that light around winter solstice plays a different and more cultural role in Northern Europe than in other regions, e. g. traditional Lucia (Saint Lucy's Day) in Sweden:
https://sweden.se/culture/celebrations/lucia-in-sweden

I’d highly recommend Vienna (the city itself), Munich (the center and side streets), Brussels (the Grand Place and side streets) and Strasbourg. Also, Copenhagen and Edinburgh have gorgeous festive decorations in addition to the markets.

The challenge is that many cities that go all out with decor also have markets, which draw crowds. We just returned from a market trip to Vienna, Budapest, Innsbruck, Salzburg and Munich.

Innsbruck was my favorite for a cozy, old world vibe with stunning scenery and great markets. And smaller crowds. We did a day trip to Bolzano, Italy and that was gorgeous also.

Vienna is beautiful, grand, elegant and extravagantly decorated. The markets are great.

Having seen Paris’s markets (and Christmas decor), along with 40+ markets in Germany & Austria, Paris’s markets fall short. The city is beautiful and the markets are fun, but Germany & Austria have better markets.

Thoughts on York?