Michelle Tchea

Summer's over, Halloween's been and gone, and the evenings are getting darker – but thankfully there's still something to celebrate before the year is out. That's right: it's time to whack on some Bublé and start dreaming of glühwein and tinsel.  From the chilly Swedish city of Gothenburg to the balmy Madeiran capital, every corner of Europe's quaint streets and squares will be adorned with lights and alive with cheer. Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, after all, and the best Christmas markets in Europe are spectacular celebrations of all things festive. Here’s our pick of the very best ones to go to this year.  RECOMMENDED:🏖️The best places in the world for winter sun🎄The best Christmas movies of all time💝The best Christmas songs of all time At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

For much of the past couple of years, one of life’s greatest pleasures was pulled out from under us. We’re talking about going to the pub: meeting friends after work and downing tall pints of beer. It’s not just a pastime: it’s a lifestyle. Some call Munich the beer capital of the world. Last year saw the city’s legendary Oktoberfest return for the first time since 2019, and many of its sessions booked out fast. But fear not: if you’re always late to the party (or, for that matter, if you’ve just got a real thing against lederhosen), there are plenty of other great beer cities and destinations that might not be on your radar yet.RECOMMENDED: The cheapest cities in the world for a pint of beer From beer deliveries in Bern and the burgeoning craft-beer neighbourhood of Gothenburg to self-guided beer tours on Greek islands, here are some seriously underrated alternatives to Munich’s Oktoberfest. Don’t tell Germany, but if you’re looking for Europe’s best beer, these are the places to go.