If you thought traipsing around rainy Sliema and Valletta looking in vain for unique gifts fills you with dread, then a trip to a traditional Christmas market might be just what you need to put the cheer back into the festive season. Helen Raine looks at some of the best around Europe.

Valkenburg, Holland

Valkenburg scores highly for atmosphere by holding its Christmas market in two huge caves under the city centre.

Lit by twinkly candle lights, which reflect off the fake snow, polar bear models and tinsel, the Christmas music and friendly vibe create a magical experience as long as you can handle the crowds.

The market specialises in unique Christmas ornaments, but there are other crafts too and at the other end of the spectrum, some tacky mass-produced gifts; in other words, something for everyone, since you never know when you might need a glow-in-the-dark furry gonk keychain,or indeed a native wood salad serving bowl.

Beware the long queues to get into the caves, which are worse at weekends; fly midweek if you can for cheaper flights or visit in the evening for a quieter experience.

Details: November 18 to January 2.Valkenburg is located just outside Maastricht. Entrance to both markets is €9.

Note: market times and details are subject to change. Check with the tourist office before you book.

Krakow, Poland

The crunchy white snow usually has to be piled up in heaps to give access to the stalls in Krakow’s Christmas market. It’s held in Rynek Główny, a huge medieval square, which gives it a genuine Christmas feel.

The aroma of some really great Polish street food drifts tantalisingly through the crowds, tempting you to sample the tangy highland cheese called oscypek, bigos (a hunter stew of sausage and sauerkraut) or kaszanka (a buckwheat and pork sausage).

The unmistakable smell of cinnamon and cloves in the ubiquitous mulled wine is also heavy in the air here. To buy some, step inside one of the gigantic wooden barrels dotted about, they provide refuge should you start to suffer from wooden angel and baby-jesus-in-the-crib overload.

Once fortified with a healthy dose of alcohol, you can venture out again among rustic wooden stalls lit by fairy lights and selling local crafts; in some, the artisans demonstrate how they make the gifts, which brings a genuine touch to the market.

Details: December 1 to 26.

Germany

Germany is the power house of Christmas markets in Europe. If you are visiting during the festive season, you’d have to be a serious scrooge not to end up tootling round the stalls and buying absurd gifts for elderly aunties.

If you want the crème de la crème, head to Nuremberg, the biggest and best known, with over 180 stalls lining the Hauptmarkt.

The Christmas Angel opens the show here with some dramatic lights and action, then you’re set to shop till you drop.

There’s no plastic tat here. Must-haves include a traditionalZwetcshgenmännle man, a figurine depicting a patron saint, made of dried figs, plums and walnuts,then clothed in some surprisingly eccentric outfits.

Placed in the window of your home, they’ll keep bad luck at bay. The gingerbread is also ridiculously good, especially when coated in chocolate. If you have kids in tow, bribe them round the stalls with the promise of the Kinderweihnacht in Hans Sachs Platz.

A nativity scene trail connects the two squares and the kids market has rides, a steam train (€5 for five rides) and craft stalls where your offspring can fashion their own cookies for free and write their letters to Santa Claus. If the cold gets the better of them, there’s also a heatedPlaymobil centre.

Alternatively, you could try the Marienplatz Christmas market in Munich which boasts a “heavenly craft workshop” for kids and all the ingredients you need to make a nativity scene (November 25 to December 24), Dresden, which has the oldest market in Germany (November 24 to December 24) or one of the smaller towns, which tend to be less busy and have more traditional crafts for sale. See www.germany-christmas-market.org.uk for more information.

Details: Nuremburg Christmas Market runs from November 25 to December 24.

Salzburg, Austria

For power shoppers, Salzburg’s Christkindlmarkt is king. It’s organised into colour-coded sections so you don’t waste valuable shopping time lost in a maze of food stalls when you really need to be in the incense and candle section.

Once you’ve bagged your bargains, you can catch a glimpse of the resident ‘Christmas Angel’ who appears every Saturday at 5.30 p.m. complete a with fluffy white crown and angel wings.

The market dates back over 500 years and remains in the same stunning setting, flanked by the cathedral and the Residenz Palace. Dwarfed by these historic buildings, you can glugg ‘glogg’ and eat roast chestnuts or gingerbread hearts while being serenaded by French horns.

If one or two presents still evade you, head to the south of town and climb the snowy hill to Hellbrunn Castle. Twenty-four windows on the castle facade create a larger-than-life advent calendar and there are plenty of crafts to choose from in the market beneath.

Details: November 17 to December 26 (Christkindlmarkt), November 17 to December 24 (Hellbrunner Advent Magic).

Bruges, Belgium

Bruges is the perfect setting for a Christmas market, with the requisite medieval buildings and cobbled squares, so the town hosts two: one is in the main Market Square and the other in Simon Stevinplein.

The wares on offer seem to be principally edible and naturally there’s plenty of Flemish beer sloshing about. Some visitors complain that there aren’t all that many stalls or enough variety of gifts on offer so you perhaps wouldn’t visit for the markets alone, but Bruges has a couple of aces up its sleeve.

There are fairground rides for children and an ice rink but the real draw is the Ice Sculpture Festival in Stationsplein. Artists use literally tons of snow and ice to create their sculptures inside a giant thermal tent set at -6°C (so dress warmly; you might also resort to a swift tipple at the ice bar to put the fire back in your veins). The theme this year is Disneyland Paris, so expect plenty of frozen Mickeys and Minnies.

Details: Market November 25 to January 3, Ice Sculpture festival November 25 to January 15. The festival costs €13 per person.