Past the market: All of the extra dramatic when you can catch it underneath snow, Memento Park (mementopark.hu; £4.25) preserves some 40 statues – Lenin, Bela Kun et al – from the nation’s communist period, as half throwback, half warning towards tyranny.
The way to do it: A 3-night keep on the five-star Corinthia Budapest, flying from Manchester on December 9, begins at £385pp, with Final Minute (0871 277 1070; lastminute.com)
Paris
You would possibly assume that the French capital is way too stylish for Christmas markets. Who wants hand-carved fripperies and gingerbread when you’ve got Saint-Germain jewellers and Marais patisseries? However Paris loves a touch of festive schmaltz as a lot as any metropolis, and indulges it each within the Jardins des Tuileries and within the lap of the re-emerging Notre Dame. One of the best instance, although, would be the pocket of stalls that takes over Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, underneath the beautiful gaze of the city corridor, with an ice rink in addition as a part of the festive enjoyable. From November 19-January 2.
Past the market: A brief stroll away, the Louvre is at the moment saluting the two hundredth anniversary of the Greek Revolution in “Paris-Athens”, an exhibition that charts the beginning of the fashionable Greek state through artworks by Delacroix and Nikolaos Gyzis (louvre.fr; £14.50)
The way to do it: A 3-night keep on the palatial lodge Le Bristol prices from £2,300pp, with flights, transfers and breakfast, by Scott Dunn (020 8682 5080; scottdunn.com)
Birmingham
You don’t have to cross the Atlantic (and even the Channel) for a dose of whimsical retail remedy. You’ll be able to merely go to Birmingham, and its Frankfurt Christmas Market (thebfcm.co.uk). Regardless of the semi-confusing identify (as rationalization, Birmingham is twinned with Frankfurt, and the occasion is affiliated with its namesake within the Hesse metropolis), this festive bonanza has grown to grow to be the largest in Europe outdoors Germany and Austria – sprawling throughout Centenary, Chamberlain and Victoria Squares, and New Road. From November 4-December 23.
Past the market: In case your hunt for presents is more likely to contain one thing pricier than biscuits, the Jewelry Quarter can be eager to oblige (birmingham-jewellery-quarter.net)
The way to do it: The Lodge du Vin (0121 794 3005; hotelduvin.com/locations/birmingham) – arrange in a former Victorian eye hospital within the Jewelry Quarter – does double rooms from £99
New York
The information that the US is to reopen its borders to totally vaccinated travellers from November 8 brings with it the tantalising prospect of a hop to a metropolis that treats Christmas buying as a quasi-religion. However whereas the storefronts of Fifth Avenue will gleam as all the time, New York (nycgo.com/events/holiday-markets) has additionally adopted the European-style festive market. The largest – on Union Sq. – has some 160 stalls. The prettiest is at Columbus Circus – a twinkling appendix to Central Park in its winter glory. From November 18-December 24.
