Well the kids are back at school, the great British summer seems to have passed us by and the nights are drawing in, so this can mean only one thing – Christmas is on its way. Although it might seem a little early to be mentioning the C word, a lot of people are getting excited at the prospect of visiting their favourite German-Style Christmas Markets.

With a vast choice of Christmas Markets to choose from the biggest problem is deciding which one to visit. Most major cities in the UK have at least one of the authentic German Markets which tend to feature between 20 – 250 different stalls offering a wide range of unusual and often hand-crafted gifts. As well as the gifts, many of the markets feature attractions such as a Nativity Scene and also hot Mulled Wine and “Fire Punch” stalls, which help to keep you warm on the cold winter days. There are also lots of stalls selling a variety of hot carved meats and also many sweet treats.

Although the German Markets date back to the 1400′s they have only been visiting the UK since 1984 with the first being held in Lincoln. To this day the Lincoln Christmas Market remains one of the biggest and most extensive markets in the UK with around 300 stalls and attracting a whopping 100,000 visitors over four days. Some of the other major Christmas Markets include, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Nottingham, Edinburgh and Birmingham, with the Birmingham Market attracting more than 2 million visitors over a four week period. » Read more: Coach Hire – Christmas Markets 2011