Christmas markets: Berlin v Budapest

Read on to find out which of the two European cities, in my view, delivered the all-round best pre-Christmas short break, by Vanessa Munnings blogger at www.thesunlounger.co.uk.

Christmas markets in Berlin

Berlin really does now how to do a Christmas market, in fact you’ll find a whopping 60+ twinkly ‘Weihnachtsmärkte’ spread out across the German capital, oozing festive love, goodwill and amaretto-infused mulled wine (what a great invention) from late November to early January.

While each has its own charm and vibe, top of our list was the hugely popular tented magnet for all things Christmas at Gendarmenmarkt. You’ll discover tents full of artisans making and selling decorations, candles, toys and other crafts alongside fake snow-festooned kiosks roasting chestnuts and groaning under the weight of gingerbread houses.

It gets densely crowded at weekends and this most popular of markets attracts 800,000 visitors every year. Despite all of the body heat, there is a charming heated and covered restaurant area, where you can reflect on what you’ve bought after all that mulled wine and wonder how you are going to cram it into your hand luggage on the flight home.

You’ll find Christmas markets with ferris wheels, faux ski slopes and ice rinks everywhere you turn and we particularly enjoyed those at Alexanderplatz, Charlottenburg Palace and Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, among others.

You’ll find a map of all of the Christmas markets in Berlin, with how to get there at the Berlin official web page.

What else is there to do in Berlin?

One of the first things we did was hire a horse drawn carriage to take us around the city. We got ours at The Brandenburg Gate (cost: approx €100). This took us around various attractions, including the former border crossing at Checkpoint Charlie, where we got out and took photos.

We also trotted us past various sections of the Berlin Wall. It’s true to say that much of what Berlin has in terms of visitor attractions is evocative of often deeply upsetting times.

Standing at The Berlin Wall’s Eastside Gallery, it’s easy to get lost in the desire to get a good selfie in front of the ‘Fraternal Kiss’ (artwork depicting a kiss between Russian Leonid Brezhnev and East Germany’s Chairman Erich Honecker). But stand for a moment and remember that around 200 people died trying to cross from the former East Germany to the freedom of the west.

There was once 168km of wall dividing the east and west, with a wide area, later known as the ‘death strip’, that contained anti-vehicle trenches, beds of nails and other defences. 

The wall fell on 9 November 1989 and I clearly remember working at a local newspaper at the time, and doing a front page story about my then mother-in-law who was there on that historical night.

It’s important to see sites like the Holocaust Memorial and Topography of Terror, the latter being a place of remembrance on the site of the SS central command.

On a less serious note, beware of drinking and getting on one of the many scooters dotted around the city, when you are inclined to think you are invincible. You’re not! I speak from experience.

Where to eat and drink in Berlin

After the somewhat sombre time spent learning about world history, it’s important to let your hair down and Berlin encourages you to do just that.

We had one humorous (but low-key terrifying) meal in Berlin when the angry waiter came looking for me as there was still food on my plate and he thought I had left it (I was in the loo).

I’m not sure if it was a Germanic dry sense of humour that us feeble Brits didn’t get or he really was furious that I had disrespected the cuisine, but we hastily bundled our leftovers into a serviette and into my handbag, for fear of being apprehended, and quickly scarpered. The location shall remain nameless.

There are many cool brunch places in Berlin and vegans, like my daughter, are catered for well in this cosmopolitan and uber cool city, rich with cafe culture and quirky, independent shops.

We had one spectacular and unplanned evening at Wilde Matilde, which we happened on by chance (still with schnitzel in my handbag, as we fled from the semi-terrifying restaurant experience). We heard cheering and applause and wanted to be part of it.

There was a Barry White-style singer, burlesque dancing, juggling and acrobatics, as well as audience participation and wild cocktails, all happening on the wide-topped bar we were sitting at. Its madness was infectious.

Where to stay in Berlin

Our Airbnb apartment, The Metropol Park in the Mitte district, cost a little under £220 for two nights for three people, was perfect for what we needed and was great value. Whilst close to underground stations and of a high, modern standard, it cost more than I had thought it would in Uber rides, so I think it may have been further out of the centre than we had initially thought, but I’m not complaining.

Christmas markets in Budapest

One of my lasting memories of our festive trip to Budapest was of the cars we saw driving around the city, smothered in fairy lights, driven by people in Santa outfits, beeping their horns and attracting cheers and waves. I don’t know if this was a regular thing or people on their way to Christmas parties (or maybe even real Santas), but we were there for it!

There are Christmas markets scattered around town, the primary ones being in Vörösmarty Square in the heart of the city and St Stephen’s Basilica, just a few minutes away. There is another in Deák Ferenc, or ‘Fashion Street’, but this is more of a commercial shopping street with Christmas lights than a market.

Ranked by Time Out as one the five most beautiful Christmas markets in Europe, the Vörösmarty Square market is at the end of the Váci pedestrian street and opposite the historic Gerbeaud café. There are wooden lodges of people selling their fares (a few too many selling non-Christmassy items, such as sunglasses, for my liking) and numerous food stands which provide a taste of Hungarian cuisine. 

Less than 10 minutes away on foot is St Stephen’s Basilica Christmas Market which has a projection of different animated films on the basilica, taking place every 30 minutes after dark.

You’ll find dates and opening times on sites like Budapest Travel Tips.

What else is there to do in Budapest?

We had one boat ride trip on the Danube in which the commentary was only in Hungarian, so we didn’t understand a word and the wine tasted like vinegar. That said, this contributed to the hilarity and we had such a fun time. I’d do it again. If you book, maybe check to see if the guide will also be given in English.

Szechenyi Baths is one of the Instagrammable venue in the whole of Budapest, with its orangey walls and green and blue domes, looking like a big cake with coloured icing. Book in advance (you have to buy towels, not hire them), then spend the day in the hot international ‘people soup’, spread out over 18 pools.

We also went on one of the tourist buses around Budapest but the commentary was poor and at one point, we waited on the bus while the tour guide got off and went and picked up her Chinese takeaway.

A reminder of grim history is the Shoes on the Danube Bank (my daughters said it was disrespectful to take photos). This memorial honours the Jewish people who were massacred during WWII. They were ordered to take off their shoes and were shot at the edge of the water, so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It’s deeply moving.

Where to eat and drink in Budapest

You’ll find ruin bars situated inside neglected pre-war buildings of the old Jewish Quarter, making them achingly cool shells of buildings, heavy with graffiti. There are often massive queues outside the best ones, like the iconic Szimpla Kert. You’ll find the top 10 listed here.

Don’t book for brunch at the simply scrummy Cirkusz; just queue up and wait, making friends while you do so. Every second you wait is worth it. I had the pulled pork Benedict (4200 HUF) which was divine. My vegan daughter had avocado toast with beetroot hummus (also 4200 HUF). Vegans and vegetarians are also well catered for in Budapest.

The city has a great food scene and another highly recommended venue is Leo Bistro & Leo Rooftop Sky Bar on the eighth floor of the Hotel Clark where we had a flight of cocktails and the view on the way to the loo was stunning (although lights went out on all of the illuminated attractions at about 10pm).

Another massive surprise to me was Mazel Tov, a cooler than cool restaurant which serves fusion, Middle Eastern cuisine in what looked like a derelict building from the outside, situated in the Jewish Quarter. Hummus, shawarma and shakshuka are on the menu, as you would expect, as is slow-roasted lamb with creamy polenta, pomegranate and pickled onions with sumac (8290 HUF). We loved this place.

Where to stay in Budapest

Our bright and modern, very central Walnut Tree Apartment was perfectly positioned and cost £396.33 for three people for four nights. We could walk to many attractions from here and it was perfect, although, on the first night we struggled to get in and almost attempted to get into the wrong apartment by mistake, which was our error, not the host’s.

And the winner is….

In terms of Christmas markets, I wish I had gone to Budapest before Berlin, as there is no competition, in my view. It’s like people saying they wish they’d visited Scotland before they’d been to Canada. Both have hills, mountains and valleys, but Canada has more and they’re bigger (I am guessing that’s right, as I have never been to Canada).

I like to buy a new bauble wherever I go in December, to evoke happy memories when I unpack decorations every year and we decorate the tree together at home. While I was spoiled for choice in Berlin, particularly at Gendarmenmarkt, there was little to choose from at the stalls in Budapest.

The Germans are just masters of Christmas markets. The whole city wraps itself in tinsel and embraces Christmas, wholeheartedly and beautifully.

While I read somewhere that Vienna had the first recorded Christmas market, I’ve also read that the Dresdner Striezelmarkt is considered the first genuine Christmas market in the world, dating all the way back to 1434. Whether they invented them or not, they are ruddy good at them.

That said, I was blown away by the restaurants and general food scene in Budapest. That isn’t to say that the food in Berlin wasn’t good, by any means; it’s just there were so many places I loved in Budapest and it was so darn cool.

My 20-something daughters say Budapest is their favourite European city for the all-round experience, but I would opt for the traditional festiveness of Berlin markets any day.

You can read more from Vanessa at www.thesunlounger.co.uk. You can also follow her travels on Facebook and Instagram.