Ladies and gentlemen, the most wonderful time of the year is finally upon us! Grab your thicc coats and wrap up because Manchester’s Christmas Markets are BACK. I will show you what we bought!

Now, you might be wondering exactly why you would voluntarily spend a prolonged amount of time in the bitter cold. Believe me, I enjoy the warmth of my duvet more than anybody, yet even I chose to explore the markets.

I promise you, as soon as you enter Manchester’s Christmas Markets, you will forget all about the chilly weather. You will be immersed in a colourful display of festive décor and the hum of excited chatter from starry-eyed Christmas enthusiasts buzzing from stall to stall.

We’re all in the same boat. It’s that time of year, isn’t it? Everybody’s buying presents for their family and friends and it leaves us with very little for ourselves. With this in mind, my boyfriend and I decided to spend an evening exploring the markets seeing exactly what we could do with a limited budget.

The first thing we knew we had to do was fill our tummies. There’s such a huge variety of food you can find at the market, but you can never go wrong with a good burger. Our choice was this lamb and stilton one. Impeccable.

As well as the jolly Christmas classics that the stalls were blasting out, there were buskers singing their hearts out to the busy crowds. The peaceful rendition of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” gave me all the warm and fuzzy feels. It was a lovely little break from all the hustle and bustle.

I told you there was a lot of food, didn’t I? So many stalls were selling sweet treats, but we were drawn to this beautiful white chocolate waffle with crushed biscuits sprinkled on top. 10/10 would recommend.

We bought a LOT of sausages! The man at the stall was really friendly and gave out samples of all the different sausages. My personal favourite was the Cheese Griller because… well… it’s a cheese filled sausage! He said that they sell out of them every year so be sure to nab some for yourself! We utilised their offer and bought three packs of sausages. All stocked up!

We played with some interesting animal instruments! We stumbled across this one accidentally. The markets are filled with all sorts of viable gift-options and knickknacks; this particular stall had a very enthusiastic lady showcasing her little wooden gems. She definitely made us giggle, to say the least.

We got a spiked Bailey’s hot chocolate and a couple of Christmas mugs! Name a better duo. I dare you.

We bought matching bracelets! As the sappy couple we are, we like to match. When our eyes landed on these gorgeous bracelets, we couldn’t resist.

I hope this post encourages you to brave the cold too. Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!