Let the Christmas magic begin! Last week, it was my son’s birthday and we decided to treat Mr K to a posh steak house restaurant in Birmingham before heading to the largest authentic German Christmas market outside of Germany and Austria – Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market! If you are planning to visit the market or shop around Bullring and you are looking for places to stay, why not check out Birmingham airport hotel.
It was a lazy Sunday but we were all geared up in our winter clothing before heading off to the steak house to eat lunch with our family and extended members. We were the first ones to arrive after they opened up but it took them a long time for them to serve our food. Nevertheless, we quickly wolfed it down and headed off to Centenary Square where we were greeted with this enormous City Flyer, Big Wheel and Ice Rink outside of the Library of Birmingham!
It was raining without a hint of it abating but it didn’t put anyone off from riding those two rides. The skating was jam-packed too! This is the first year that they have the City Flyer in Centenary Square, which is shaped like a pencil and points 55m into the air while spinning riders round in horizontal circles! If you are brave enough to take on the ride, it will only cost you £5 per ride. No advance booking is required. All you need is to turn up and purchase the ticket! You will get a chance to look down on the Library of Birmingham, Symphony Hall, the ICC and the new developments including Arena Central, Paradise and the new Midland Metro route.
We weren’t that brave and decided to ride on the Big Wheel which also costs the same price as the City Flyer. Unfortunately, the rain did impair our view but we had a great time just riding on the wheel. Watch our Instagram video here.
Next, we went next door to their ice skating. It was slightly bigger than I remember when we first went in 2014! Ticket prices for adults are £10.50 each, children (12 & under, under sevens must be accompanied by an adult) £8.50, students (with ID) £9.50 and family tickets (2+2 or 1+3) £36. Skate hire is included in the ticket price. If you need a skating aid, it will cost you £3. Lockers are available to hire for £1 in the skate hire hall to keep your personal belongings safe whilst you skate. We didn’t stay for long as we were quite tired while trying to keep ourselves upright. These three activities will stay open until 12th January 2020.
Later, we walked towards the Christmas Craft Market to check out some of the amazing handcrafted wooden decorations, delicate glass baubles, hand-crafted leatherwork, toys, jewellery and much more! There were quite a few small craft and food shops dotted around the Victoria Square areas. Also, not forgetting the children’s carousel!
We then entered the Frankfurt Christmas Market that offers a large range of traditional gifts and a selection of tempting food and drink. There were pretzels, schnitzels, bratwursts, and roasted nuts which can be washed down with gluhwein, weissbier, or hot drinks. We did notice that this year, they even have a few Churros stalls. I don’t think they are usual stalls in German markets as their origin is from Spain and Portugal, but nevertheless, both my children were happy. They love churros. We were all munching delicious nuts, waffles and drinking our favourite bubble milk tea whilst enjoying the Christmas lighting and atmosphere! The market will stay open until 23rd December 2019, so don’t wait too long before you visit!
Before we headed home, we popped by the pop-up festive tea parlour, party bar and event space called Once Upon A Time In Birmingham. The place features 88,000 fairy lights, enough to reach the top of Everest, as well as a host of mirrors in a grand sparkling interior. It is free to get in there even if you only want to see the lighting. There is a drink menu and they also serve puddings. This pop-up event place will open until 23rd December 2019. Do check out our Instagram video to see the lightings.
We all had a great time, especially for Mr K. It only happens once a year and he has received plenty of gifts. We would like to say thanks to Hotels.com who gifted us some spending money to write this post.
Disclosure: This is a featured post. The spending money was gifted by Hotels.com for the purposes of writing this post, however, all thoughts and opinions remain our own.
[…] was fairly near our doorstep. We also went there last week – you can read what we think about the Big Wheel and Ice Skating. This is one of the largest authentic German Christmas markets outside of Germany and Austria! […]