Blogmas Day 23 - Christmas Market in Berlin

When December rolls around any town with self-respect whips up a Christmas Market. There is something cozy about the stalls selling snacks, hot drinks and Christmassy decorations, and it is even cozier if you go away from home to enjoy it. 

This year I went to Berlin to experience the Christmas Market there and do a little Christmas shopping. Berlin is a big city and it has a lot of Christmas Markets. I was only there for one night, so I stayed pretty close to my hotel. Luckily I had chosen to stay near Alexanderplatz, which is a lovely area, with many shops and its own Christmas market. 





The market has numerous stalls that sell everything from glazed apples, hot dogs, mulled wine and fried mushrooms to Christmas stars, woolen socks and glass baubles. Prizes are a bit expensive, but may of the items are worth it. I was there from Saturday to Sunday and during Saturday afternoon and evening it got VERY busy. Being so busy I would not consider it child-friendly as it is hard to navigate a trolley in all those people and you can hardly walk side by side, so even slightly bigger children will have a hard time keeping up. On Sunday morning it was not quite so busy, but then you don’t have the added charm of all the lights. So I think it is definitely worth braving the masses in the evening, just to see the lights. Then you can come back in the morning, when it is not too busy and actually do your shopping. 





Close by the actual market there was a carnival-type set-up with rides and rollercoasters for the brave. I chose not to go on any rides, but if you need a break from just perusing the stalls, you have the option to get an adrenaline kick here. 



If the weather is bad or you just need a break from the constantly tempting smell of roasting chestnuts and warm pancakes you can enter the Alexa shopping mall located right off Alexanderplatz. Here there are shops like H&M, Zara, Mango and Tommy Hilfiger and a huge Christmas tree. The shops were also quite busy on Saturday, so bear that in mind. They were open until quite late in the evening and on Sunday they opened at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. 

The Alexa shopping mall




I stayed at the Mercure Hotel close by Alexanderplatz. The room was really lovely and the service was nice, although the staff were not the greatest English speakers. Their restaurant looked really nice, but we wanted to save our money for shopping, so we sneakily brought our own and ate it in the room before venturing out into the market. Checkout time was noon, which was really nice, as we then had a full long morning to sleep in and lounge about before heading out again. As I said the hotel was really close to Alexanderplatz where all the action took place, and we headed back there a couple of times during the day to dump our shopping bags and have a break from all the people. 


The view from our hotel





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