Family day out: Winchester Cathedral Christmas market
I love Winchester – I was there earlier this year visiting Winchester Cathedral with one of my best friends, while Minnie saw her first Christmas market there on a day trip to the city three years ago.
I love the history, I love the old buildings and twisty streets, I love the big statue of King Alfred raising his sword over a roundabout. And I especially love the Winchester Christmas market in the shadow of the cathedral, its little stalls dotted around an ice rink with festive music and spices in the air.
After reading about Christmas markets galore around the UK and Europe over the past few weeks, I was determined to visit one last weekend. So Winchester Cathedral Christmas market was the obvious choice.
For once it was a family outing – which also meant I got to have some gluhwein as I didn’t have to drive back – and I had big plans to introduce Minnie to ice skating, complete with one of those helpful penguins for balance, as well as enjoying a leisurely browse.
I’d forgotten that I’m not the only person who loves Winchester Christmas market though… after negotiating the traffic, tracking down a parking space (as all the car parks were full) and navigating the crowds around the stalls, we discovered the skating slots were booked up until later that evening. The perils of being spontaneous.
But it was still huge fun: the queues were never too big, the mulled wine kept me snug and warm, there were food stalls to keep three very different appetites happy and a constant soundtrack of Christmassy music.
Unlike some other UK Christmas markets, I always seem to spy something a little bit different here too – some gorgeous gloves and scarves, garlands of dried fruits and other tempting stocking fillers.
Wandering back through the park behind the historic Guildhall, we even had chance for Minnie to check out the playground while I listened to the water of the river flowing past nearby.
And while we didn’t have much time to explore Winchester itself, it’s a city I always love to wander – on our first visit, I added the family-friendly City Museum and the Westgate Museum in the city’s medieval gates to my list.
Both alas closed when we visited in midwinter so they’re still on my wishlist, as is the Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium.
You can also explore the Great Hall, the only remaining section of Winchester Castle, including the round table, which dates back to at least the 14th century.
The cathedral itself is unmissable too – wandering under those soaring arches, discovering what happened to the ancient royalty buried there and some of the quirkier aspects to discover within the ancient walls.
But whether I explore the historic streets or not, when it comes to my favourite UK Christmas markets, Winchester is one which easily makes the list.
For more ideas of visiting Christmas markets with kids, check out my pick of the London Christmas markets, as well as a day out at Marwell Zoo or Winchester Science Centre nearby and a treasure trail at Salisbury cathedral if you’re looking for days out in Hampshire with kids
PIN FOR LATER: WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL CHRISTMAS MARKET
Images and video copyright MummyTravels
LIKED THIS? SIGN UP FOR MY EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Winchester’s market looks so cute!! I’m loving that dried fruit decor! #CityTripping
It’s a lovely one, even if it’s not quite on the scale of Germany’s
it was really sunny:) lovely Christmas market:)
Absolutely – thanks!
That’s a cracking photo of the dried fruit. And what a gorgeous day for it. Shame about the parking and the crowds – I love that phrase ‘the perils of being spontaneous”.
#citytripping
Thanks! Looked – and smelled – amazing. It’s such a lovely day out, it’s one I don’t mind sharing too. And thank you, I shall use it more often 🙂
I’d love to visit Winchester at anytime of year but Christmas looks very special #citytripping
The cathedral is wonderful, definitely worth a visit, and there’s lots of history to discover elsewhere in Winchester too – but it’s definitely extra special at Christmas with the market.
Ah yes, it’s always sooo busy at these places! It was a similar story at S Albans Christmas market. Still, it’s all part of the fun! Gorgeous pics. #citytripping
Absolutely – I’m not sure why it didn’t occur to me before, but was still lovely to wander around.
Winchester is one of our nicest cities I think and looks great at this time of year. My nephew had his graduation ceremony in the cathedral last month but wasn’t allowed to throw his mortar board hat! #citytripping
It is a lovely place to wander around – and what a spot for a graduation, that must have been a wonderful experience.
Love the garlands and wreaths with the dried citrus – never seen that before – beautiful! And I have to ask – what was the lunch treat? Sorry you didn’t get to skate! Cheers from Copenhagen!
They were fabulous – smelled *amazing* as well, I was so tempted to buy one (several). And lunch was a salt beef bagel – for my husband at least, my daughter discovered the cheese crepes very happily.
I hate when you decide to be spontaneous and then you wish you had planned in advance! At least your family enjoyed the day trip to the Winchester Christmas Market anyway! 🙂
We did have a lovely day – and thankfully we’re not short of ice skating rinks near home either. It’s a tricky one as I love just hopping in the car and heading off, and not feeling constrained by plans but you do sometimes miss out to the more organised souls…
I love that the market is so close to the cathedral. That’s something that you don’t get at the Christmas market in Chicago. Bummer that the ice rink was full. #citytripping
I must admit I absolutely love Christmas markets, although the parking would have been really frustrating I’m sure the mulled wine was a great comfort! #citytripping
I’m glad I was there with my husband – I tend to get a bit stressed driving in cities I don’t know, especially hunting for car parks, but he has a knack for discovering spaces!
Oh I do like the look of this market – Winchester is such a pretty town too.
It is such a lovely setting for it – really hard to beat.
The photos are gorgeous though I’m missing one of the wine! The dried fruit looks like candy!! Is it just decoration? #citytripping
Ah you have to watch the video for the wine (and me looking very serious as I sip it! Mmmm). The dried fruit was just decoration but they smelled absolutely amazing. Am regretting not buying a wreath after all.
I love the vlog, great to get a feel of the market and did I spy Mr MummyTravels there? Fab. As you can tell from my latest post, I really want to go to Winchester but not sure will squeeze it in but we’ll see! There’s always next year #citytripping
I visited Winchester in October for the first time – very impressed! I need to get to a Christmas market and this one looks lovely! #citytripping
Lovely vlog day 5! Ice skating is overrated…
Winchester is beautiful at any time of year but I’m tempted to flit down the M3 for a visit before Christmas now
#CityTripping
My mummy used to work in Winchester and we live just down the road. It’s one of our favourite Christmas Markets and we loved the ice skating rink (when it was open air) against the backdrop of the Cathedral x #CityTripping x
I’ve been thinking I really should visit a Christmas market, it’s a toss up between Winchester and Bath. Although I’ve only just realised the Bath one ends this weekend – I’m so behind this year!
Loving the stunning dried citrus fruit garlands! I’ve never seen that before and would love some for my home.
I’ve heard that Winchester is a very pretty town to visit. I must add it to my list of UK places to visit! #citytripping
alright that’s it! I must spend Christmas in REAL Winter next time! hahah Not in our man-made Flower Dome at Gardens By The Bay! Oh loving that video clip of yours because I saw a little bear toddling away! Adorable! #citytripping
Food stalls & mulled wine.. sounds like a perfect christmas market! Visiting from #citytripping
Looks like a lot of fun! The setting for this market is incredible. I will go just for that. Not so cool when other people decide to visit the same place you want to visit (I start to ask why they cannot stay home, my husband thinks I am crazy). Glad you had a great time even under those circumstances. #citytripping
So buzzing, so much fun! The crowd looked ‘bearabl… hmm. ;p Love seeing what Christmas is like at the other side of the globe;).
I just love reading about all the Christmas markets over your way. New York does Christmas right too, but we don’t have the same fabulous markets. Hope Minnie gets a skate in soon – impossible to skate at some of our fave Xmas places too! #citytripping
This was a very different affair from the day I visited Winchester – there wasn’t a soul about! It’s such a beautiful old town though isn’t it, you can see why it’s so popular with the market. I bet it looked all sparkly! #citytripping
I have never read so many Christmas markets themed posts until now, thanks to travel link-ups! This inspires me to save more money to experience Christmas markets in Europe some day. Thanks! #citytripping
Oh Winchester is so cute! I spent a summer in college there to learn English! 🙂
I love a good Christmas market (and not just for the mulled wine, haha). That cathedral looks gorgeous! *puts pin on Winchester on Google Maps*
This is one of the most Christmassy locations, I think. And good mulled wine is always a bonus!
I do love a Christmas Market, we took the boys last year and they loved it but wanted to move quicker than we did, we are much happier stopping for mulled wine and people watching but the boys like to keep moving, and this penguins are so fab x
Same here – I don’t really get a leisurely browse, but even a quick wander round is fun.
I have kind of fallen out of love with Christmas markets… #citytripping
That’s a shame – always makes me feel festive.
We visited Winchester and stayed over a year or so ago. Really lovely to walk around, the Cathedral of course is fantastic along with the gardens, plus they have an amazing planetarium. The Christmas market is really too — as your video shows. Definitely a great place to go for the day or weekend (never mind the traffic!). x
It’s such a lovely city – I’ve never made it to the planetarium though, that would fascinate me although I’m still trying to instill a love of space in my daughter. Such a great place for a day out, definitely worth braving any crowds.