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World's best Christmas markets
No longer purely a German phenomenon, you can find mulled wine and shiny trinkets at December markets all over the world
Since Germany gave the world the first Christmas market in 1545, the tradition has spread throughout Europe and crossed oceans to reach Asia, Australia and the United States.
Here are 10 of the best, some in distinctly unexpected locations.
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1. Weimar, Germany
The first, and original.
Germany gave the world the first Christmas market, and Weimar the first public Christmas tree, put up by a bookseller who wanted to bring joy to poor children.
Now a tree is put up every year just before the market opens and there’s much more to this one than wooden stalls selling Christmas goodies and mulled wine.
There’s a skating rink, and the town hall is transformed into a giant advent calendar, with a different child opening a door with the help of Santa every day.
November 24-December 22, www.weimar.de
2. Strasbourg, France
Worth a visit just for the street of chandeliers.
Scene of one of the most lavish of all Christmas markets -- crystal manufacturers Baccarat even provide a street of chandeliers to light the festivities.
There are several different markets, but the lights -- spectacular in the old city -- are better than the workaday stuff on sale. For more authentic, local handmade goods head out to picturesque wine villages like Riquewihr, within an hour’s drive, on December weekends.
November 26-December 31, noel.tourisme-alsace.com
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3. Edinburgh, Scotland
A castle and a Ferris wheel make for a very Scottish Christmas.
Edinburgh’s Christmas markets draw thousands every year. Central to the celebrations are the 33-meter Ferris wheel, a ginormous outdoor ice-rink and atmospheric markets set beneath the backdrop of the castle.
There’s a choice between a traditional German market -- provided by stallholders from Frankfurt, who bring hearty sausages and glühwein with them -- and a traditional Highland village market selling venison burgers and quirky clothes, gifts and jewelry.
November 24-January 4, www.edinburghschristmas.com
4. Chicago, United States
Contemplate Picasso with some mulled wine.
Bold Chicago is never one to be outdone, and its German population and trade delegates decided to get in on the Christmas market act back in 1996.
The event is now an annual fixture on Daley Plaza, presided over not by Santa but a giant Picasso sculpture. Very American -- but also very German; language students are brought here to practice their conversation with stallholders who speak the lingo of the old country.
November 23-December 24, www.christkindlmarket.com
5. Karuizawa, Japan
The quaint side of Christmas in Japan.
Christmas is huge in Japan as a secular Snow Festival celebration and the Christmas market tradition arrived here after Sapporo twinned with Munich.
But there’s also a pretty country market in the resort town of Karuizawa, where the traditional European wooden market stalls perch atop Harunire Terrace and churches and other buildings are lit up.
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