Wherever you approach the Christmas markets from you will quickly be impressed with the sights, sounds and smells all around you. The markets are so much more that the individual stalls or items; it’s the atmosphere of what is best described as seasonal joy that make them a true pleasure to walk around. Once you enter the area, you forget about the gloomy weather, finding that perfect present or the usual crush and stress of shopping. Here you are guaranteed to find something for (nearly) everyone. The vast array of fairy lights, decorations, and warm barbeques keep out the cold day. Plus, there's always a friendly spot at one of the many apple wine stalls where you can revive yourself with a hot mug of this local specialty. It’s an acquired taste, being a lot sourer than cider and certainly not a sipping wine, yet it’s strangely reviving.
The majority of stalls are based around the Romer, a magnificent looking building covered in wood carvings, it was mostly burnt down during allied bombing raids, like most of the city, but was reconstructed later on. It had one of the biggest and best lit Christmas trees I've ever seen outside of it and is a stunning sight with the banking districts high-rises as a contrast behind in the night sky.
From here, stalls stretch down to the river and up to and along the Zeil, the 1500m long 40m wide shopping street. The stalls are attractions in themselves, most of them are of wood construction and very well decorated. A lot of the items for sale are handcrafts: wood carvings, beautiful decorations, jewellery, and, of course, candles. If you’re traveling on a budget, this is the place to look for reasonable and unusual gifts; it’s also a cheap area to eat, with many stalls offering hotdogs, snitzels and fish. You can easily spend a day and night here -- there are not a lot of seating areas if you do get tired, so cafe stops are also necessary occasionally!