Laurence Phillips, winner of the Travel Guidebook of the Year award

Christmas Markets

With all the doom and gloom around, there is only one thing to do. Shop for Christmas! And in markets you haven't visited before now.
Start in North Rhine-Westphalia and Cologne where you'll get into the mood fast with mulled wine and ginger bread.
Cologne alone features six Christmas markets. Here, in the market near Cologne Cathedral, the city's famous landmark, you'll find traditional art and handicrafts but also the largest Christmas tree of the Rhineland.
With its particular cosy atmosphere and great family appeal the Christmas Market in Aachen also attracts people from all over Germany and beyond. While wandering through the "Budengasse" around the town hall and cathedral, you should also sample the famous ginger bread originating from Aachen, the "Aachener Printen".
Another Christmas highlight in NRW is the market in the town of Monschau with its beautiful half-timbered houses, taking place every advent weekend in the run-up to Christmas. Highlights here include historically dressed tower brass band players and a "live nativity scene" with living animals at the town castle. Travel arrangements on www.bahn.co.uk or tel: 08716 80 80 66.

During Advent, Vienna is at its most romantic with a host of atmospheric Christmas markets. One of the main winter attractions, going back over two decades, is the Magic of Advent with its imaginative theme world in and around Vienna's City Hall. This year, the traditional Christmas market boasts 140 booths to browse and purchase Christmas gifts. Meanwhile in Rathauspark, around the Christmas market, visitors can enjoy an Advent stroll beneath the delightfully adorned trees, where the most popular rendezvous for lovers is the radiant "Heart Tree". Pavilions bearing names such as "Animals' Christmas Market" are further attractions that will appeal to old and young alike. From Nov 15- Dec 24, www.christkindlmarkt.at
Just along the Ring Boulevard between the museums of fine arts and natural history, there is another Christmas market. Some 64 booths on the magnificent Maria-Theresien-Platz will be inspiring visitors with original giftware and traditional handicrafts. Typical Austrian brass band music, gospel choirs and music groups will add to the seasonal atmosphere. From Nov 19-Dec 24, www.weihnachtsdorf.at
The main courtyard in front of Schönbrunn Palace, the former Habsburg residence, will also be putting on its Christmas finery. Traditional handicrafts, hand-made jewelry and rustic Christmas tree decorations will be on offer against this majestic backdrop. From Nov 22-Dec 26, www.weihnachtsmarkt.co.at

The Christmas market at Spittelberg, a revitalized Biedermeier quarter with narrow streets, is likewise packed with stands offering handicrafts and ceramics, as well as silver, enamel and brass jewelry. Visitors can also drink hot punch or enjoy delicious culinary specialties. Embedded in the idyllic streets from the Biedermeier era, now the city's second largest pedestrian zone, Spittelberg market has a unique atmosphere: easily accessible yet far off from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season in a busy city.
The focus of the Christmas market is in the diversity of the individual exhibitors and the quality of their arts and crafts. Nowhere else will you find such a wide, interesting, and original selection of traditional craftwork, ranging from Santa's workshop, where kids can make their own Christmas gifts, to the woodcarver of Bethlehem.
And "Kasperl" visits Spittelberg regularly, as well as the kind-hearted St. Nicholas with his strict counterpart "Krampus", and even Santa Claus  himself! Performances by the excellent children's theatre "Schmetterlinge" are part of the attractions.
There are also things to watch and tinker with. At the "Santa Claus Workshop" kids have the opportunity to make Christmas presents and Christmas tree decorations by themselves. From Nov 15-Dec 23, www.spittelberg.at