With 26,348 votes, Budapest finished as the second best out of the 20 “must-see” Christmas Markets. Tallinn was elected as the winner with 31,436 votes and bears the title of” the European Best Christmas Market 2019″. The voting page was shared more than 505,000 times on several social networks, the competition gathered 208,424 voters from 106 countries, 66% from Europe.

Since 2009, European Best Destinations has promoted culture and tourism in Europe to millions of travellers but also to tourism professionals and the media.  For the seventh year in a row, this site is the most visited website dedicated to travel in Europe. The competition for the European Best Christmas Market 2019 was fierce with only 10 days of online votes from 30th November to 10th December to determine the ranking. The winner is promoted throughout the year to millions of travellers and will be able to display the title “Best European Christmas Markets”.  

(The 20 “must-see” Christmas Markets in competition to win the prestigious title of Best Christmas Market in Europe were: Aachen, Amiens, Basel, Brussels, Budapest, Chester, Cluj-Napoca, Cologne, Dresden, Erfurt, Leipzig, Metz, Montbeliard, Nuremberg, Poznan, Prague, Seville, Strasbourg, Tallinn, Vienna.)

Let’s get back to Budapest! The 7th annual Advent Feast at the Basilica is an open-air festive-season market welcoming everyone with delightful gift items, delicious Hungarian and international food such as the all-time favorite ‘flódni,’ the Hungaricum chimney cake, mouth-watering burgers and a range of fish dishes. Free attractions are also available for all ages – including ice-skating for children (offering skate rental, and weekend skating lessons for kids under 14) in a central rink that surrounds a towering Christmas tree.

From November 27 through January 2, you can visit this enchanted downtown Christmas celebration rich with Central European holiday traditions, which also features modern elements such as flash mobs, a wide range of the best Hungarian contemporary hand-craft products, and the monumental light show that with 3D glasses will give a new dimension to the façade of St. Stephen’s Basilica, which will serve as the screen several times every evening. The Advent Feast at the Basilica is held with a community spirit in mind: guests can enjoy charity-boosting concerts, and to preserve the environment, food vendors will use eco-friendly cups, plates, and cutlery, while waste will be recycled.

Photo: Calin-Andrei Stan/123rf.com, text via European Best Destinations