Do we in Britain really celebrate Christmas, or merely survive it? By comparison with our continental neighbours, at any rate, I am tempted to think that with us it really is a case of the “bleak mid-winter”. Few British towns put on much in the way of a Christmas market or fair. Southwold in Suffolk is one place I know of that could be counted something of an exception - but even there the citizenry stage nothing like the major jollifications that fill the streets and squares in Germany, Belgium or France.

The Christmas markets and fairs of Germany are glorious to behold. There are reckoned to be more than 2,500 of them up and down the country, and they are not a mere expression of the customary rampant commercialism.

Instead their speciality is gifts that are not mass-produced but handmade by craftsmen. The scent of hot chestnuts, grilled sausages, mulled wine and baked apples fills the air and while there are all sorts of Christmas merchandise offered for sale, the emphasis is always on traditional things such as Christmas crib figurines, tree decorations, sweets, biscuits, baking moulds, toys, wood carvings, marionettes, candles and lambskin shoes.

Most Christmas markets in Germany start in the last week of November, usually after the fifth Sunday before Christmas (this year November 26), which in Germany is Remembrance Day or Totensonntag. They then run through to Christmas Eve, though some do not finish until Epiphany on January 6.

The first recorded Christmas market, Dresden’s “Striezelmarkt” dates back to 1434, but it has been emulated since in all the major cities, and in many smaller towns and villages as well. Cologne, for example, has six separate Christmas markets, the biggest clustered around its famous cathedral, with 150 stalls attracting up to three quarters of a million visitors every Saturday in the run-up to Christmas.

The one on the Alter Markt in front of the city hall is made more charming by its half-timbered stalls. The oldest is on Neumarkt, against the backdrop of the St Apostelnkirche, while there is a medieval market handily placed outside the Imhoff-Stollwerck Chocolate Museum, and a floating Christmas market aboard the motor vessel Wappen von Mainz on the Rhine.

In Germany, one senses, the approach to Christmas is not a cause of increasing anxiety and desperation as in Britain, but rather an object of eager anticipation. Advent still means something in Germany. The Advent Wreath (Adventskranz) is a popular decoration in, or on, German homes. It is made of a circular wreath of pine branches with four candles mounted on it. One candle is lit of the first Sunday of Advent, two on the second, three on the third, and all four on the fourth, the Sunday immediately prior to Christmas.

For children the highlight of Advent is St Nicholas’ Day (Nikolaustag) on December 6. Shoes, boots or stockings left outside the bedroom door or window, or by the fireplace, on December 5, are magically filled overnight with sweets, biscuits, nuts and fruit by the supposed visitation of St Nicholas, or Santa Claus as he is more familiarly known.

The German towns and cities most easily reached from Britain which have major Christmas markets to be proud of, often supplemented with programmes of classical or organ music and carols, include Aachen, Baden Baden, Bernkastel, Bremen, Berlin (where the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market is biggest among many), Bremen, Dortmund (where they build a giant Christmas tree 45 metres high out of 1,700 individual fir trees and illuminate it with13,000 lights), Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Stuttgart. Fuller details can be found from the German tourist office’s dedicated website for Christmas.

In Belgium it is Brussels that sets the standard for Christmas extravaganza. Brussels is holding its annual European Christmas market on the Place St. Catherine this year from December 2 until New Year’s Day. This market with its cheerful lights, delicious aromas and large number of varied stalls annually creates a happy holiday atmosphere, with a nearby skating rink supplementing the fun. This year for the first time they have added a separate small skating rink for toddlers. The resplendent Grand’Place in the city centre is filled with trees, decorations and festive lights for the occasion as well, making it showier than ever.

Ostend, which as well as being a ferry port is Belgium’s largest seaside resort, regularly stages a commendably colourful Christmas market, with festively decorated stalls and open-air skating rink built around the main square, while Bruges supplements the floodlit charms of its canals and medieval architecture with a smaller, but still lively, show on the Markt square. A temporary ice rink in the centre is surrounded by about 30 Christmas market stalls, selling scarfs, winter knits, Belgian waffles, Glühwein, Jenever spirit and those exquisitely crunchy Belgian pommes frites.

In France, I have to admit, it is the regular street markets for food that excite me most and they do, of course, continue through the Christmas season. The best in the Channel ports are those in Boulogne’s Place Dalton (Wednesday and Saturday mornings) and along Dieppe’s main shopping streets (Saturday mornings).

The arrival and parade of St.Nicolas through Boulogne’s town centre, followed by a firework display near the port is held on Saturday December 2, while Boulogne's Christmas Market is staged over the weekend of December 9-10 in the Old Town. Shop opening times and locations are available at www.tourisme-boulognesurmer.com

Calais’ best market is in Place Crevecoeur on Thursday and Saturday mornings, with a smaller one in Place d’Armes on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. The Place d’Armes is also the site for Calais’ Christmas skating rink, while the Christmas market (about 24 chalets) is erected around the municipal theatre at the top of boulevard Jacquard.

Other regular French Christmas markets easily accessible from Britain are in Lille (November 22 to December 27 this year), with 70 chalets offering local products and original gifts and entertainments including a big wheel and carousel; Arras, where 60 exhibitors will be concentrating on decorations, gifts and gastronomy, and where Poland and Polish products will feature as guests of honour; and Amiens, where 120 chalets will be hosting craftsmen from countries around Europe and from further afield. Participants in Amiens are promised from Russia, Indonesia and Peru. In Reims more than 120 wooden decorated houses selling Christmas gifts, decorations and festive foods will be supplemented by street entertainments including magicians, carol singers and nativity scenes.

Maybe the Grinch, or creeping commercialism and jingling till-bells, stole our Christmas, but on the continent, at least, they do still do the festivities with panache and enthusiasm, so take a trip and have fun!

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