Maastricht Christmas Market
| | Late November - late December annually
Winterland open 28 Nov 2009 - 3 Jan 2010
|
Maastricht Christmas Market |
|
Around Christmas, the centre of Maastricht turns into a large Christmas Market shopping and entertainment occasion. At the centre lies the 'Winterland' attraction at Vrijthof, with a skating rink, the Palace of Mirrors, a giant Ferris wheel and the unique Venetian Grand Carousel. The town will also host a large fairground, bands and concerts, music and dance performances, and of course the traditional Christmas market stalls with all the trimmings. If you get hungry from all that shopping, try the Dutch oliebollen (doughnuts), poffertjes (small sweet pancakes), mosselen (mussels) or braadworsten (fried sausage).
|
Deventer Christmas Market
From mid to late December Holland's historical riverside city of Deventer hosts the popular annual Dickens Festival each year. Characters straight from the famous novels of Charles Dickens such as rich ladies, poor tramps dressed in rags and young street urchins will be seen around Deventer's streets. Towering Christmas trees and some 200 stalls amongst beautifully restored gabled houses form an attractive local decor. Don't forget to sample the famous Dutch 'Deventer Koek' gingerbread. A large number of Dutch musicians and choirs will perform on the Sunday in the streets and in the various local churches.
|
Valkenburg Christmas Market
| | 21 November - 21 December
Monday - Friday 2 pm - 9 pm,
Sat & Sun 11 am - 9 pm
(Longer opening hours after 4 December)
Held in the Gemeentegrot and the Fluweelengrot |
Valkenburg is an enchanting little hill town built around a romantic ruined castle, located just east of Maastricht. Valkenburg's Christmas market is held each year in beautifully lit old quarry tunnels and caves, which run underneath the town. Each year the market offers a different theme, for example in 2005 the theme is 'Gnomes and Fairy Tales'. The stalls sell all kinds of Christmas ornaments, crafts and delicious goodies of the edible sort. The Fluweelengrot market has recently been added in another section of the caves, due to the popularity of the annual Gemeentegrot market. This venue gets very busy at weekends, so if you can go on a weekday this will be advisable.
Back to Europe Destination Guides
|