New data has revealed the cheapest Christmas markets to visit in the UK, and Manchester has made the cut.
New data has revealed that Lincoln, Belfast, Norwich are the UK’s top three most affordable Christmas markets, with London’s Winter Wonderland and Cardiff’s Christmas market sitting at the most expensive in the ranking. While Manchester did not make the top three, after crunching the numbers it came in at fifth position, following Nottingham in forth.
The data, commissioned by Pikl Insurance, analysed the affordability of the UK’s best Christmas markets based on certain cost measures. Looking at the UK's top 15 Christmas Markets and associated costs in each location, analysts say the results considered costs such as entry price, average attraction price, average local parking for more than six hours, and the cost of an overnight stay.
Read more: Manchester Christmas Markets stallholder defends price hike weeks after opening
Lincoln came out on top, with an average attraction costing £3, while nearby all-day parking came in at £3.70, making it a extremely purse-friendly option for a festive day out. By comparison, the average price of parking all day in Manchester came in at £10, while attractions averaged around £5.
In addition the average price for an Airbnb in Manchester during the festive period came in a £153, cheaper than York in eleventh place at £179 and London in fifteenth place at £263. While the data measures factors such as parking and accommodation, costs such as food and drink and travel into the city are not specifically outlined.
The results come despite the fact that this year, prices for Manchester Christmas staples such as sausages and gluhwein have increased across the board. Prices have risen by as much as £1.50 on food items with some sausages priced at £7, while drinks are up between 50p and £1 on last year with gluhwein starting at £5 and lager at £6 a pint on many stalls.
Many stallholders have said that it was "inevitable" that inflationary price increases for fuel, food and services this year was going to have an impact of stallholders across the markets. Speaking to Siro Zanolla, owner of Mamma Mia! Pizzeria on Exchange Street back in November, he said he has worked as hard as he can to keep price increases low.
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He said: "Everything has gone up for us, our suppliers are now 30 per cent higher - but things like mozzarella is now 70 per cent higher so it's tough. We are hoping people will still want to come out and support us because we love to come here."
One stall at Manchester Christmas Markets was criticised for putting prices up just weeks after opening. When the markets first opened in mid-November, visitors could buy Dutch Mini Pancakes for £4.50, or £5.50 with premium toppings, but now prices have increased to £5 and £6 respectively.
Bosses at the stall said the increase was due to the cost of stock in the UK and the increased charges to bringing items over to the UK from Holland. Bram Dreijer, whose father owns the business, said: "When we came back we noticed that everything we get from the UK, the stock, has increased, so we had no choice to raise the price unfortunately.
"I think everybody has noticed that a lot of things have increased during the last year. It’s no different for us."
As the Manchester Evening News reported last week, some visitors have left scathing reviews of the markets, with some complaints centred on prices not being displayed outside stalls and of hot drinks also increasing in price. However, Bram's prices are displayed clearly on a digital board at the back of the hut so customers are fully aware of the price before making a purchase.
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