I am sure the children have already started the countdown to Christmas. They and their parents are excitedly waiting for the number one holiday. Some would have already planned their Christmas Gift while most of them would still be wondering what to buy and where to buy their Christmas gift, decoration items, cakes, and chocolates. Oh, I forgot about the champagnes!
I know several friends of mine who keep buying exclusively for Christmas throughout the year. I think it is not a smart idea. You can accumulate gifts for Christmas as and when there is a ‘sale’ announced either offline or online. I buy always online and I have the patience of a vulture to wait for a ‘discount sale’.
For whom people buy Christmas Gift?
Christmas gift shopping depends on who is the gift receiver, his/her age/ relationship, profession, etc. It may be for:
- Spouse
- Own children
- Son/daughter
- Parents/grandparents
- Close relatives
- Friends
- Colleagues
- Neighbors
- Teachers
- Servant maids
- Gardeners
I might have left out a few. You can add if any, to your list. When you buy gifts for Christmas, you also consider the receivers’ personal likes and needs.
Yesterday, one of my relatives living in New York called me if I can suggest a few Christmas Gift ideas. He values my creative suggestions. I asked him if he did make an attempt to go around the stalls stocked with myriad items that include handicrafts, the usual coffee mugs, car jewels or car perfumes or a gourmet gift box. He said he is bored to do the window shopping. They fail to impress him.
I assured him that I will send a list and also suggest where he can buy them. However, for some of the gift ideas, he may have to search on his own to buy. Some of the products may be only available in certain countries. Even I too get Christmas Gift ideas from Christmas markets such as Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Hyde Park, London, Strasbourg’s cathedral and few other places in Amsterdam.
He agreed.
So, here are my Christmas gift ideas and choicest Christmas markets in the world to buy unique gifts that include edibles, consumables, toys, showcase items and house decoration goodies.
Unique Christmas Gift Ideas
Door Harp
This is my first choice as I consider it as unique because the majority of the people would not have thought about it. It makes an excellent Christmas Gift to anyone, whether they are living in their own house or rented. As long as there is a front door, this gift would suit them. Every country makes them. In India, the street markets in New Delhi sell several varieties of them. The image above shows a Swedish product sold on eBay. It is just a suggestion; you can buy it from so many places.
Kabab Making baskets
Don’t you think it would make a thoughtful Christmas gift to your spouse or cook? In addition, it will be a useful addition to your kitchen and you can demand your spouse to make use of it at least twice in a month! The Rosewood handle makes the handling of steel wired grilling gadget very safe.
Stylish Decanter
Shaped like the face of Stormtrooper, you can store your favorite and expensive drink that you reserve for your friends, up to 750 ml. It is available in most of the online stores including Amazon.com
Now, it’s time to know about the world’s best Christmas Markets in different countries.
While New York and London are coming to your mind when it comes to Christmas gift markets, there are other international cities that attract overseas buyers in large numbers because of unique and unusual gifts plus the traditional ones. In addition, the following Christmas shops sell a large number of handmade goods that the majority of us patronize nowadays.
Christkindlesmarkt, Nuremberg, Germany
Nuremberg is an old city in Bavaria, Germany on the banks of River Prgnitz. In this quaint town, there is a Christmas market called ‘Christkindlesmarkt’ and is a well-known Christmas market in the world. Christmas shoppers made it famous since the 17th century. Wise Germans!
What are the specialties in Christmas Gift Shops in Christkindlesmarkt, Nuremberg?
Nuremberg Bratwurst is a sausage made with either pork or veal. Do you know since when it became famous in Nuremberg? It is as early as the 14th century that they have been cooking and selling the Bratwurst. Other edible products are the gingerbread and the prune dolls. In addition, the most bought Christmas decoration item called the “Rauschgoldengel” is made and sold in Nuremberg’s Christmas market only. It is considered as the traditional ambassador of Christmas.
Other curios in Christkindlesmarkt, Nuremberg.
- Franconian food specialties
- Handicrafts
Strasbourg, France
Strasbourg is a lovely town in France, bordering Germany. The Strasbourg situated along the Rhine River. This beautiful sleepy town wakes up fully during the Christmas period. It is a very popular marketplace to buy your Christmas needs and the sale was started on November 27th and ends on 24th December. It’s a chain of shops numbering to 300 that have been put up in 12 different locations in Strasbourg, Paris. People throng the gift stalls because of cheap prices.
What can you buy in Strasbourg, France?
You can buy the following items as gifts for Christmas, in Strasbourg.
- Extraordinary varieties of chocolates and candies,
- Foie gras (a food item made of duck lever) (certainly unique product-eh?)
- Belgian beers,
- Bredle cakes,
- Alsatian brioches,
- Unusual souvenirs,
- The assortment of colorful candies and aromatic cookies,
- The world-famous French wines.
Christmas Market, in Vienna, Austria
This Christmas gift market called Christkindlmarkt.
What can you buy from 150 odd Christmas Gift stalls set up in the City Hall Square in Vienna?
Obviously, quite a lot that includes textiles, cakes, and pastries, the East European ever-present specialty gingerbread, glass curios, handmade jewelry, and a wide variety of aromatic candles.
Christkindlmarket, Chicago, USA
Inspired by the other two Christkindlmarkets in Europe, the Germans living in Chicago have opened up their Christmas shopping place and have been so since 1996. From this gift market, Americans buy traditional German goods such as nutcrackers and wooden handicrafts. Other special gifts that are sold here are the mulled wine, schnitzels, and crepes.
