Midway Between London And Edinburgh Is A Thriving Christmas Market Among The World's Best

What makes a Christmas market great? Is it the atmosphere? Or is it the array of festive goods on sale? Perhaps it is the mulled wine, hot chocolate, and steaming hot pies? Whatever essence defines the best Christmas markets in the world, the English city of York has that in heaps. The cultural capital of North Yorkshire (and ancient capital of the North) has been lauded for having one of the U.K.'s 10 best Christmas seasonal markets according to The Yorkshireman. In 2022, it was even named as the fifth-best Christmas market in the world (via The York Press). 

Whether you have already checked out all of Europe's top 12 Christmas markets or are after a truly special one on your trip to the U.K., York will not disappoint. As you walk under the trees adorned with fairy lights on Parliament Street, the smell of fragrant pies wafting in the air and acoustic music playing in the background, it's easy to see why York's Christmas festival has won so many hearts worldwide.

This seasonal, German-themed market is far from the only allure of the city. With millennia of history to boast, alive and breathing in its breathtaking Roman walls, Viking foundations, and Georgian townhouses, York is a vibrant cultural city that can keep you entertained for over a week — or just on a weekend visit from London or Edinburgh, if you're strapped for time. Reaching York from either capital is super easy, as it's geographically midway between the two. Frequent, direct train connections mean you can reach it in two and a half hours from Edinburgh or two hours from London. It's much closer to Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield, from which it's an easy day trip.

Christmas is an amazing time to enjoy York, mostly thanks to its Christmas Festival and market, taking place every year between the second week of November and the third week of December. The festival is packed with events for all ages and tastes, from candlelight Christmas caroling to the unique Christmas Tree Festival filling the city's cathedral with spruce and pine. Families with little children can enjoy "panto," a British classic pantomime show especially popular around Christmastime, in one of two theaters: York Theatre Royal and the Grand Opera House York. However you plan to embrace Christmas, you are undoubtedly going to find the right event for you in York's packed seasonal events calendar, with everything from craft workshops to orchestra-backed film screenings.

The market itself, featuring dozens of stalls on the central thoroughfare of Parliament Street and St. Sampson's Square, appeals to those fond of boutique Christmas shopping and anyone looking for quirky seasonal gifts for loved ones. In fact, dozens of artisans and crafters have their stalls in York's Christmas Market selling everything from hats to gin. There's also plenty to eat, with 15 traders selling favorites like hot chocolate, mulled wine, poutine, and German sausages. As opposed to other large Christmas markets overflowing with generic imported knick-knacks, at the York Christmas Market, you can also be sure you're buying local products, as 85% of traders are local to Yorkshire, according to Make It York.

Be aware that York Christmas Market has a reputation for getting very crowded. If you want to avoid the bottleneck of people that tends to gather over the weekend and instead enjoy a more relaxing experience, take the advice of Oke Let's Travel and visit the market stalls during the week, with the quieter times being between opening at 10:30 a.m. and noon.

If you're in town for the Christmas market, you would be remiss not to enjoy some of the other wonderful attractions of York. While many travelers associate this region of England with the buzzing nightlife of metropolitan Manchester, York, on the other hand, feels less like a sprawling city and more like a small town. Despite that more homely feeling, it has a truly diverse, mouth-watering foodie scene, with lavish brunch spots, a Japanese tea house, a Michelin-starred farm-to-table restaurant, and countless more great restaurants. If you want a guided experience, embark on a local-led York on a Fork food tour that blends delicious bites with sightseeing.

Hop on the 2-mile-long limestone walls that have decorated the skyline since Roman times to see the city from above and get a sense of just how walkable it is. From the walls, you can see the imposing York Minster, a beacon of Gothic architecture home to stunning stained-glass windows. From the Minster, you can walk for about 0.7 miles to Clifford's Tower, the only surviving part of the 13th-century York Castle, strategically perched on a mound. York's most famous street, the picture-perfect Shambles, is also a popular attraction — it's one of the best preserved medieval streets in the entirety of Europe. If you are familiar with Edinburgh's "best sightseeing street" as per Rick Steves, you will recognize similar historic streets and monuments dotting York, making the centuries-old city feel like an open-air museum.