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Lille and Bruges Christmas Markets

  • Christmas Market on Markt and Simon Stevin Square ©Visit Bruges, Toerisme Brugge, Jan Darthet

    Bruges - Belgium - flanders - brugge
  • Christmas Market in Lille ©Fèdèration Lilloise du Commerce, de l'Artisanat et des Services

    Lille Christmas Market, France
  • Christmas Market on Markt and Simon Stevin Square ©Visit Bruges, Toerisme Brugge, Jan Darthet

    Christmas Markets
  • Bruges, Belgium

    Belgium and Luxembourg Group Travel
  • Grand Place in Lille ©Lille Tourisme, Laurent Ghesquiere

    Lille
4 day tour
From £279 per person - minimum 25 passengers

Get into the festive spirit with a trip to the Christmas Markets in Lille and Bruges. Beautiful cities at any time of year but during advent, the Christmas atmosphere makes them irresistibly enchanting. Lille hosts Northern France’s largest markets, and at Bruges Christmas Markets in Grote Markt square there’s a large open-air ice rink.

From late November to mid-December, step into continental winter wonderlands. There, local crafts, handmade artisan objects and perfect Christmas gifts are aplenty. Mulled wines and hot chocolates steam warming your fingers and tickling your nostrils with their tempting aromas. Indulge in traditional Christmas Market foods such as Bratwurst, waffles and pancakes.

Perhaps take a stroll through the maze of cobbled lanes in Lille’s old town or wander along the charming canals in Bruges. See the towering Belfry dominate Bruges’ old market square, and then watch the swans swim serenely on the Lake of Love. Art lovers should take the opportunity to visit the Notre Dame church which houses Michelangelo’s Madonna.


Dates

Late November - Mid December 2025 (dates to be confirmed)


Suggested itinerary by coach

Day 1

Travel to Lille

Travel to Dover and board the ferry to Calais.  Continue across northern France to Lille for the next 3 nights.  Dinner will be at the hotel this evening.

Day 2

Lille’s Christmas Markets (Village de Noël)

Before starting to explore the Christmas Markets, meet up with a local guide for a walking tour along the cobbled streets of the old town ‘Le Vieux Ville’  with its charming patchwork of pretty squares and the ornate 17th Century Vielle Bourse, Lille’s finest building.  After the tour the markets should be ready to open at around 11.00 hours (daily).

For over 30 years, the Lille Christmas Market (known locally as the Village de Noël) has been a signature festive event in Northern France, attracting thousands of visitors from France and beyond.  They are traditionally held on the centrally located Place Rihour offering around 90 different stalls selling all manner of festive surprises and culinary delights. Enjoy a spectacular view over the city by taking a ride on the Big Wheel. Below the Winter Wonderland will sparkle – the Christmas village is covered in artificial snow and an 18 metre tall Christmas tree evokes festive cheer. Be sure to sample some local delights and purchase some traditional Christmas presents to take home.

The markets are usually open daily Mon-Thurs & Sun (11.00-20.30 hrs) and Fri/Sat (11.00-22.00 hrs) – subject to confirmation for 2025

Day 3

Bruges’ Christmas Markets and Ice Rink

Depart after breakfast and make the short drive across the border into Belgium and to the medieval city of Bruges.  On arrival, meet up with a local guide for a walking tour highlighting the most important sites such as the Grote Markt, the Belfry and the Benguinage, amongst others.  Bruges must go down as one of the most romantic settings for a Christmas Market, with its cobbled streets, historic medieval buildings and maze of canals beautifully illuminated to create a majestic atmosphere as horse and carts trudge by.

The city offers two Christmas markets, one on the Grote Markt selling everything you can expect of a traditional market and the other, on Simon Stevinplein, with the emphasis on local crafts. The romantic Minnewater (Lake of love) is the location of a floating artificial ice rink surrounded by countless twinkling lights.

The markets are usually open Sun-Thurs (10.00-22.00 hrs) and Fri/Sat (10.30-23.00 hrs). Closed Mondays.  Subject to confirmation for 2025

Day 4

Return to the UK

Depart after breakfast and drive to Calais for the ferry across to the UK.


Alternatively, why not stay in Bruges – Greatdays have a good selection of hotels to offer.


Departure Date 3 nights / 4 days Single Supplement
November – December 2025 From £279.00 per person From £105.00 per person
All prices are per person based on sharing a double or twin room and with one free place in a single room, based on a minimum 25 full fare paying passengers. Prices do not include UK coach hire or travel insurance. Dates are subject to availability. Smaller groups can be quoted for on request. Greatdays Holidays Limited is a member of ABTA (Y0380) which means you have the benefit of ABTA's assistance and Code of Conduct. Please ask us to confirm what protection may apply to your booking. Greatdays Holidays Limited has an ATOL licence (4279) and all of our air package tours are protected under this licence. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the Civil Aviation Authority will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any monies you have paid to us for an advance booking. All the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on this tour are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. When you pay you will be supplied with an ATOL Certificate. Please ask for it and check to ensure that everything you booked (flights, hotels and other services) is listed on it. Please see our booking conditions for further information or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.atol.org.uk/ATOLCertificate. Our website policy is to use only copyright free images or images which have been authorised to us for free use by the owner. If you consider an image to be unauthorised or to be your property, please contact us immediately and if invalid we will have the image removed. If your image requires crediting or is missing a copyright statement then we will be pleased to add this to the webpage, contact us at info@greatdays.co.uk

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