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The spiced scent of mulled wine, the sound of happy shrieks and the flicker of fairy lights are adding festive joy to UK cities. Christmas markets are a Continental export that’s been warmly embraced by Britons as a respite from chilly afternoons and long winter nights.
There’s still time to plan an affordable market mini-break and pick up stocking fillers ahead of 25 December.
These properties are all within walking distance of well-attended seasonal markets. Book a midweek stay and comfortable doubles in grand historic buildings, cheery budget outposts, and apartment hotels are available from less than £150.
Whitworth Locke, Manchester
Manchester’s Christmas markets run until 22 December with several locations to indulge in a tipple and shop for gifts. Albert Square has a Ferris wheel and a “taste of Christmas” mini-market, for example.
Whitworth Locke is well located for strolls to several of the city’s markets, including Albert Square (10 minutes), Piccadilly Gardens (nine minutes) and Market Street (12 minutes). The aparthotel in a 19th-century cotton mill has studios and suites sleeping up to five, each with a kitchen and a decor of dusty pink and forest green. It’s a 10-minute walk from Manchester Piccadilly railway station.
Accessible studio sleeping two costs from £117 through booking.com
Native Manchester
The apartments of this Northern Quarter hotel are cloistered within a red-brick, Grade II-listed cotton warehouse built in 1867. Its position between the canals that fed Manchester’s industry add character to winter strolls to and from the property. It’s less than a five minutes’ walk from Piccadilly railway station.
Expect an earthy palette, from the exposed brickwork and wooden floors in its snug bedrooms and high-ceilinged, one-and-two-bedroom apartments. Period details are complemented by splashes of teal, lilac, ochre and emerald in the soft furnishings.
For a taste of Manchester’s Christmas market experience, Piccadilly Gardens is closest. It has turned into the “Winter Gardens” until 21 December, with covered seating areas and karaoke huts offering a warm retreat between stall-hopping.
Doubles from £122 through mrandmrssmith.com. Some rooms suitable for guests with wheelchairs, lift access throughout.
Malmaison Edinburgh
Located on the Water of Leith, this hotel is part of a chain that weaves architectural heritage with modern design. It has been repurposed from a 19th-century Scottish baronial style building that was originally used as housing for sailors that overlooks the Port of Leith.
Three-course festive meals (£42.50pp), including classics such as gravadlax and turkey with all the trimmings, can be booked at its restaurant until 24 December.
But Edinburgh’s seasonal celebrations may offer sufficient sustenance: its Christmas market stalls are open daily until 6 January (closed 25 December) in East Princes Street Gardens, behind Edinburgh Waverley station.
The Malmaison is a three-minute stroll from the Port of Leith tram stop for direct connections to Waverley, which take around 20 minutes.
Scottish businesses and products, such as Macraes of Edinburgh wool, cashmere and tweed, are featured among the market’s traders. After browsing, a ticket to the big wheel or “Around the World Starflyer” swing ride offers views over the Scottish capital.
Double rooms from £128 through booking.com. Partially adapted rooms that have rails and wider bathroom doors are available.
Hill House, Bath
This family-run property promises a homely retreat from wandering Bath’s busy streets. Housed on a Georgian terrace, its eclectic rooms and suites, with soft seating looking out across chimneys, offer an inviting place to rest.
It’s less than 15 minutes by foot to the city’s Christmas market, which runs daily until 14 December. Among its food stalls are Angelfish restaurant for fish and chips, Chai Walla’s Indian street food, and The Butcher’s Block, serving meat and vegan “pigs in blankets”.
Children can follow a reindeer trail of 25 stickers across the city with surprises at some of their locations. Hill House is 20 minutes’ walk or 10 minutes by bus to Bath Spa station.
Doubles from £127 through booking.com
Citizen M London Bankside
For a detour from mulled wine, churros and bratwurst, tourists might try Borough Market at Christmas. Extended opening hours, stalls strung with baubles and mistletoe and even a cheese evening welcome punters to the historic market– which has been trading since the 13th century and now focuses on sustainable, high-quality produce – until Christmas Eve.
Less than a 10-minute walk from here is Citizen M London Bankside with design-driven rooms, a restaurant-bar that’s open 24/7 and communal areas with inviting armchairs.
The hotel is also within easy reach of London Bridge’s riverside market (a 10-minute walk) and Southbank Centre Winter Market (20 minutes by bus), both running until 4 January.
Doubles from £118 through hotels.com. Accessible rooms available
Zedwell Capsule Hotel Piccadilly Circus
The world’s largest capsule hotel is in the Christmas epicenter of London’s West End. It launched in September and includes 1,000 pods. Guests control the lighting and temperature from within their capsule. The bathrooms are communal, rather than en-suite, but with private showers. There are also female-only floors.
It’s one of the closest affordable hotels to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland. Expect fairground rides, an ice-skating rink, Alpine-style bars, street food, live music and, of course, stalls selling decorations and gifts. Winter Wonderland is celebrating its 18th year in which it’s expected to attract around 2.5 million visitors. It typically charges for admission, unlike most Christmas markets. Entry is free during off-peak hours, £5 for adults and children aged three and over at “standard” times and £7.50 at peak times.
Capsule cocoon for one from £32 through booking.com
Moxy York
The minimalist, playful style typical of the Moxy chain contrasts with centuries of heritage in its York hotel, which draws the gaze with its glass-and-brick, pitched-roof building. Brightly coloured tributes to the city’s landmarks, including the castle’s Clifford’s Tower and the cathedral’s stained-glass windows, are scattered around the bar, lobby and restaurant.
An Advent evening might start with a cocktail at the Moxy before a seven-minute stroll to the Christmas stalls on Parliament Street. More than 80 per cent of its traders are from Yorkshire, with festive treats and local crafts on offer.
Doubles from £134 through marriott.com. Accessible rooms available
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Spa, Liverpool
Set in a refurbished Grade II listed Victorian building that includes details such as Corinthian columns and stained-glass windows, this hotel is well situated for visiting the city’s visitor attractions.
A 10-minute stroll from Liverpool Lime Street station, it’s also a short walk to the Cavern Club (where The Beatles played nearly 300 times), the Historic Docks and, of course, the Christmas market on St George’s Plateau and William Brown Street. Its 40-plus stalls are open until Christmas Eve.
Well-loved market stops include the Windmill Bar with its moving, rooftop mill decoration and Hash Brown Town for fried potato treats. The market is part of the Liverpool Winter Festival running until 4 January – an ice-skating rink and grotto experiences with Santa, elves and a grinch add to its family appeal.
Doubles from £76 through hilton.com. Accessible rooms available
The Queens Hotel, Leeds
Established in 1937, with Art Deco details and a grand Portland stone facade, The Queens Hotel underwent a £16m refurbishment in 2021. As part of the work, the existing 216 bedrooms were renovated, 16 new bedrooms were added, and the ground floor was transformed with a sumptuous feel. As an example, the lobby’s long leather sofa is framed by a tall bookshelf, a delicate chandelier and polished wood fixtures.
The Cinnamon Kitchen opened at the hotel this year, its interior inspired by the opulent Raffles Singapore hotel and its menu ranging from a Bottomless Bhangra Brunch to “high chai” and elevated pan-Indian dishes.
Despite the recent upgrades, the hotel retains the heritage that attracted Nelson Mandela and Cary Grant to stay the night. It’s also right next to the railway station to which it has its own private entrance.
A cinnamon Bellini at the restaurant bar might appeal after an afternoon of browsing the Christmas market stalls around 10 minutes’ walk away on Millennium Square and Victoria Gardens. Those seeking one-off gifts might also pop by the makers’ market at Bond Court, which is running Thursdays to Sundays until 21 December.
Doubles from £124 through hotels.com. Accessible rooms available
Crowne Plaza Birmingham City Centre
Birmingham says its Frankfurt Christmas Market is the largest authentic Christmas market outside Germany or Austria. Its stalls decorate Victoria Square and New Street and tempt shoppers with traditional gifts and snacks alongside live music.
The festivities are a 10-minute walk from the city centre Crowne Plaza, a property that guests praise for its attentive staff, spotless rooms and location. It includes a restaurant, gym and on-site parking. Birmingham New Street station is less than 10 minutes’ walk from the hotel.
Doubles from £108 through ihg.com. Accessible rooms available
