Christmas markets are very popular all over Europe and provide a chance to enjoy the festive spirit early. They usually feature a wide range of continental food stalls, traditional Christmas crafts for sale and sometimes a good, old-fashioned fair, complete with Merry-Go-Rounds and other rides aimed at young children.

Christmas markets have really taken off over the last 20 years and there are a surprising number all over the UK. Many UK Christmas markets are German-style, allowing you to get your fill of  German beer, bockwurst and stollen (German Christmas cake), as well as buy hand-crafted traditional wooden German Christmas decorations.

We’ve put together a list of all the main Christmas markets in the UK – it’s a bit long but is in alphabetical order, so it should be easy to navigate.

Remember, if you are planning a group trip to a Christmas market, the cheapest and most efficient way to get there is to hire a minibus – that way, there is only one parking charge, one driver and everyone can travel together. It’s much cheaper than rail! Click here for a minibus hire quote.

UK Christmas Markets 2011:

• Bath Christmas Market: 24/11/2011 – 11/12/2011
• Belfast Christmas Continental Market: 19/11/2011 – 18/12/2011
• Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market: 17/11/2011 – 23/11/2011
• Bournemouth Christmas Market: 17/11/2011 – 03/01/2012
• Bradford Christmas Market: 19/11/2011 – 10/12/2011
• Bristol Christmas Market: 10/11/2011 – 22/12/2011
• Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre: 25/11/2011 – 27/11/2011
• Canterbury Traditional Christmas Market: 18/11/2011 – 24/12/2011
• Carlisle Christmas Market: 07/12/2011 – 11/12/2011
• Caerphilly Medieval Christmas Market: 10/12/2011 – 11/12/2011
• Chester Christmas Market: 24/11/2011 – 31/12/2011
• Chichester Christmas Market: 08/12/2011 – 11/12/2011
• Cirencester Christmas Market: 25/11/2011 – 11/12/2011
• Derby Christmas Market: 01/12/2011 – 24/12/2011
• Durham Christmas Market: 02/12/2011 – 04/12/2011
• Edinburgh Christmas Market: 24/11/2011 – 24/12/2011
• Glasgow Traditional Christmas Market: 20/11/2011 – 23/12/2011
• Gloucester Quays Victorian Christmas Market: 24/11/2011 – 27/11/2011
• Jersey – La Fête dé Noué: 01/12/2011 – 11/12/2011
• Kedleston Hall (Derby) Christmas Craft & Food Fair: 26/11/2011 – 27/11/2011
• Leeds Christkindelmarkt Traditional German Christmas Market: 11/11/2011 – 18/12/2011
• Leeds Caribbean Christmas Fair: 26/11/2011 – 27/11/2011
• Lincoln Christmas Market: 01/12/2011 – 04/12/2011
• Manchester Christmas Market: 17/11/2011 – 21/12/2011
• Newcastle Continental Christmas Market: 21/11/2011 – 03/12/2011
• Nottingham Christmas Market (Smithy Row): 23/11/2011 – 24/11/2011
• Oxford Christmas Market: 02/12/2011 – 18/12/2011
• Plymouth Christmas Market (Armada Way): 17/11/2011 – 24/12/2011
• Portsmouth Victorian Festival of Christmas: 25/11/2011 – 27/11/2011
• Ripley Castle Christmas Fair: 09/12/2011 – 11/12/2011
• Ripon – Lightwater Shopping Village Dickensian Festival: 01/12/2011 – 04/12/2011
• Rochester Castle Dickens Christmas Market: 30/11/2011 – 18/11/2011
• Royal Leamington Spa Christmas Fair: 20/11/2011 – 18/12/2011
• Skipton Yuletide Festival & Christmas Market: 04/12/2011 – 11/12/2011
• Solihull Christmas Market: 25/11/2011 – 17/12/2011
• Southbank Centre / London Eye Christmas Market: 18/11/2011 – 24/12/2011
• Stamford Christmas Market: 11/12/2011
• Swindon Christmas Market: 02/12/2011 – 24/12/2011
• Tetbury Christmas Market: 05/12/2011 – 10/12/2011
• Truro Victorian Christmas Market: 13/12/2011 – 18/12/2011
• Warrington Festival Gift Fair: 30/11/2011 – 23/12/2011
• Winchester Cathedral Christmas Market & Ice Rink: 24/11/2011 – 21/12/2011
• Worcester Victorian Christmas Fayre: 01/12/2011 – 04/12/2011
• Wrexham Erddig Christmas Market: 03/12/2011 – 18/12/2011
• York – Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland: 26/11/2011 – 08/01/2012

Remember, if you are arranging a group trip to a Christmas market, minibus hire is often the most affordable way to get there and back.

Please note that all details and dates are correct to the best of my knowledge – but I cannot be held responsible for errors or cancellations. Please check before you make any transport arrangements.

The view from the top of Cairn Gorm mountain in late June

Scotland’s Cairngorms National Park is a great place to get away from it all and do some walking (or skiing, in winter), but getting to them is pretty difficult if you do not have your own transport.

If you are not local, the Cairngorms are a fair way from most other places in the UK; visiting the area is likely to involve a fair drive for most people.

If you can all fit in one car, it’s not too bad, but if your group is large enough to necessitate two or more cars, it can become quite costly and inconvenient to travel around.

One way of transporting up to 17 people efficiently and cost-effectively is to hire a minibus. Minibuses come in a variety of sizes – usually, 8, 9, 12, 15 and 17 seats (including the driver). The most popular sizes are probably 9, 15 and 17 seats – with the latter being the largest size that can be driven without a bus driver’s licence.

If you are flying to Scotland to begin your walking holiday, then you will probably be landing in either Inverness or Aberdeen – both large cities with good minibus hire facilties. If you are driving from further afield, you will probably be able to find a minibus hire company near your departure point with our self-drive minibus hire search engine – just enter your location or postcode to see a list of possible companies in your area.

If live music outdoors is your thing, you may be planning a trip to one of the year’s major outdoor music events – we’ve already had Glastonbury, but the BBC’s Proms in the Park is still to come, as are a load of other outdoor music events:

• Leeds Festival & Reading Festival (26th – 28th August)
• V Festival (20th-21st Augus, near Birmingham & Chelmsford)
• Creamfields (26th August)
• Bestival (8th September)
• …plus the unmissable Wakefield Rock n Wrestle Festival!

Check out the UK Festival Calendar website for loads more info and ideas!

While I’m talking about BBC Proms in the Park, it’s worth noting that it is not just taking place in London‘s Hyde Park this year – concerts are also being put on in Dundee, Caerphilly and Bangor (just east of Belfast, not the Welsh one!).

There’s also a new ‘Last Night of the Proms’ taking place this year – at Scarborough‘s Open Air Theatre, which only opened in 2010 but has already played host to Elton John, Jose Carreras and N-DUBZ, amongst others. This year’s Last Night of the Proms will be a classical event starring opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Why not treat yourself to a weekend by the seaside?

Getting There

If you are planning to travel in a group to any of these events, then what you will probably need is to hire a minibus. (Unless you are playing at any of them, in which case you may need to hire a splitter van).

Hiring a minibus makes a lot more sense than taking two or three cars. Not only are you doing your bit to reduce traffic congestion going to the event (and thus reduce your queueing time), you will also spend less on fuel and only need to make sure that you have one driver who is sober and correct when the time comes to drive home – leaving everyone else free to carry on partying a  little longer…

If you are driving the minibus, don’t forget that it will not go under car park height barriers and it will be wider, slower through corners and need longer to brake than you may be used to. Apart from that, you shouldn’t find any major differences – modern vans and minibuses are very easy and pleasant to drive.

Assuming you do not live in or close to London, the next big decision (and expense) is in working out your transport and accommodation arrangements.

Train travel has the advantage of not requiring you to park or pay the congestion charge, but it is horrendously expensive for more than a couple of people. Carrying any amount of luggage on the train is also hard work and often inconvenient.

Far cheaper, if you are in a group, is to hire a people carrier or minibus that can carry your whole party together. This will almost certainly work out much cheaper than train travel if you are travelling any distance and will make it easier to carry a mixture of luggage, adults and children than when travelling on the train.

vanrental.co.uk’s minibus hire search engine makes it incredibly easy to find a minibus rental company near you, wherever you are in the UK – so why not click here to get started and get a quote today?

It is not too early to book for 2012 and availability will almost certainly be poor nearer to the event, as groups of visitors from all over the UK and abroad compete for hire cars and minibuses.

All of this is a roundabout way of way of emphasising the benefits of travelling to weddings and other major parties/family events in groups. If 8 people are travelling from the same area, why take 2,3 or even 4 cars (for four couples)? This means you will need four drivers, four parking spaces and use four lots of fuel.

A good alternative can be to hire a minibus. Larger minibuses can seat up to 17 people (including the driver) and many people have the necessary entitlement (D1) to drive such vehicles on their car licence, as long as they are not doing it for commercial purposes. Using a minibus means that fewer people need to stay sober to drive – or alternatively, on long journeys, it means that the driving can be shared.

Our minibus hire search engine will help you find a minibus rental company in your area – to get started, click here.

Not only was the long holiday looming, but regular work was not usually required as a schedule of day trips and even whole weeks away was organised, along with the usual sporting activities, end of term concerts and other such diversions.

Many schools manage to own one, or even two, minibuses, but these can prove badly inadequate when half the school is on the move at the same time. The sensible solution, when this happens, is to hire additional minibuses from local companies.

When doing this, it is important to remember the various rules and regulations that might apply to potential drivers – at the very least:

• Driver training requirements
• School regulations
• Insurance requirements
• Local authority rules
• Hire company rules – most hire companies require minibus drivers to have D1 entitlement on their driving licence and be over a certain age

Younger teachers may find they do not have D1 entitlement on their driving licences and some may find they are below the minimum age for hiring a minibus, which is often 25 (although this does vary).

Unfortunately, we cannot help you get older, add new categories to your driving licence or cut red tape. We also cannot help you with the inevitable child who sits at the back and gets travel sick…

However, we can help you find a minibus to hire – click here to get started!

If you are travelling in a group, a hired minibus might be the most effective way to get you all there. You only need one designated driver and can all travel together – ideal for patriotic sing-songs…

To find a minibus hire company near you and book minibus hire, click here for our minibus hire search engine.

If you need to hire a minibus for the royal wedding, I would suggest that you book it as soon as possible. Availability of hire minibuses is limited and there will be a peak in demand for this period, especially as it is also a bank holiday weekend.

Visit our minibus hire page now to find minibus hire companies in your area and get a quote – you don’t want to be disappointed on the day.

Click here to get a minibus hire quote

If you passed your car driving test before the 1st January, 1997, then you should have D1 on your licence and can drive minibuses with up to 17 seats.

If you passed your car test after that date, you probably won’t have D1 entitlement, unless you have taken an additional minibus driving test since then.

Despite this, the law does allow people without D1 entitlement to drive minibuses up to 17 seats under certain circumstances.

The problem is that most minibus hire companies require drivers to have D1 entitlement – even if they might be legally allowed to drive the minibus without it. The only possible solution to this problem is to ring around local, independent hire companies who might be more flexible.

The other choice, if you want to drive minibuses regularly – for a sports or social club, perhaps – is to take your minibus driving test and have category D1 added to your licence.

Whatever kind of day out you are having, you’ll need to consider transport arrangements.

Public transport often doesn’t work out very well and although using several cars is often an option, it’s not very cost efficient and means several people have to drive and you can’t travel together – not ideal.

One option that often works out better is minibus hire, which comes in two flavours:

• Self-drive minibus hire
• Minibus with driver hire

Both of these options have pros and cons – the right choice depends partly on whether you have someone in your group who is licenced and happy to do all of the driving (many hire companies require drivers of minibuses with more than 9 seats to have category D1 on their driving licence).

If you are not sure about driving or simply would like to have someone else do the hard work, then a minibus with driver hire is probably the best option. This is basically like hiring a minibus taxi for the day – to take you there and then bring you back again. It will cost a little more, but give you a much more relaxing and simple day.