Despite some freezing temperatures, the family fun radiating from the tents and stalls of Europe's Christmas Markets is enough to keep all visitors feeling welcomed and toasty warm. Here's our pick of the very best places in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium and Great Britain to celebrate the season with kids at great Europe Christmas Markets.

Don't let gray days dissuade you from a spending your winter holidays on the continent.  In towns large and small, picturesque city squares are filled with musicians on balconies and choirs on church steps. Each evening from early November until early January, families can dine and shop outdoors the way locals do. At booths decorated in evergreen bowers and twinkling lights, parents can enjoy a mulled wine while kids comb the stalls searching for the perfect gift: a nutcracker, or a hand-painted crèche, or a cake baked with loving care.

Starting from the largest and most glorious of destination Christmas Markets that you could center your whole trip around (Gothenburg,Sweden), to weekend affairs that make a great complement to other sightseeing (London Markets) here's a look at what's happening in Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Denmark and Britain over the winter holidays. 

Sweden Christmas Markets

Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden's second largest city, home of Volvo and Hasselblad, is also the No. 1 city when it comes to Christmas celebrations. According to their tourism office, an estimated 1.5 million visitors arrive each year during the late November to mid-December period when the city is decked out in all its glory.  After almost 90 years of operation, they've figured out how to do things in a really big way; plan to be overwhelmed by the 700 evergreens, nearly 4 miles of fir garlands, and 5 million sparkling lights extending from the harbor, through town and into the park. This, the largest Christmas market in Scandinavia, occurs in Gothenburg's Liseberg Park.

Typically, vendors in 80 stalls and cabins sell arts and crafts such as wooden toys, hand made candles, traditional straw work, traditional foods served by indigenous people from Lapland, pink pigs made of marzipan, lots of mulled wine, and decorated spruce trees. Around the park are reindeer sleigh rides, ice skating shows, light shows, and hundreds of young couples sipping trendy drinks at the Ice Gallery & Bar.  From mid-November to just before Christmas -- even when climate change is messing with the weather -- your family will see "guaranteed snow every day" effects. For more information about the Gothenburg / West Sweden region, visit Goteborg tourism. For more information about Sweden and other travel options, search through the Visit Sweden tourism site.

Finland Santaland & Christmas Markets

Finland has gone way beyond the European tradition of town square Christmas markets to promote itself as the home of Santa's hideaway in the North Pole. Over the weekends leading up to Christmas, charter planes with loads of British and other European families fly into Finnish Lapland for just one day, to get a glimpse of Santa, and share their children's Wish List with him.

For Finns though, the Christmas season is especially welcome because events are planned to offset the short daylight hours and cold, cold climate. Families will find special concerts and festive menus everywhere.

Helsinki's Christmas Market typically begins the first week of December and ends a few days before Christmas. It is set up on the Esplanade, and delights Yuletide shoppers with beautiful and traditional craft items including fur hats, silver ornaments and wreaths made of woven oat stalks. Delicious edible treats include marzipan animals, gingerbread cookies, Christmas fruitcake and the flakiest prune-filled Christmas tarts imaginable. The museum village of traditional homes, Seurasaari, is illuminated by candles and has displays about the Finns' ancient traditions. And, your family may spend hours indoors happily exploring beautifully decorated stores such as Stockmann's, Marimekko and Iittala. For more information, visit Go Finland.

Belgium Christmas Markets

Throughout Belgium, a country where chocolate and French Fries are the joys of everyday life, the Christmas season begins at the end of November, with the celebration of St. Nicholas. Enjoy marzipan, klaasjes (flat hard cakes) and speculoos (St. Nicholas-shaped gingerbread) at several traditional Christmas markets.

In Brussels, the city center hosts a skating rink in addition to shops and wine bars. Bruges in December is the destination for concerts of Christmas and carillon (bell-ringing) music, shops boasting exquisite lacework and more, and the Procession of the Eastern Star parades across the city's canals.

In Antwerp and other major towns, the markets run through the first week of January (Three Kings Day), with entertainment provided by jugglers, musicians, painters, poets and musical groups. Many Belgian products, as well as gourmet goodies and crafts from other European countries, are widely available. Don't forget that chocolate makes a great holiday gift; the gift shop at Brussels' Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate is the place to buy Neuhaus, Godiva and Leonidas confections.

Throughout December, you can visit a magical Christmas Village composed of 155 decorated cottages in Liege, and even the tiniest villages (many just a day trip from Brussels) will feature Nativity scenes and holiday concerts. For more information, review the listings on Visit Belgium.

Denmark Christmas Markets

In Denmark, the Christmas season opens early, typically in mid-November, and runs about five weeks till the 21st of December. At Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen's beloved pleasure park, pixies are preparing for Christmas, and there are dozens of stalls, hand-made decorations and Christmas gifts. Families will enjoy the new Toboggan Run and warming up with mulled red wine and other winter beverages. Tonder, a market town that's reigned near the German border in Jutland for more than 750 years, hosts a marvelous Christmas market as does Horsens in southeast Jutland. At Den Gamle By, the living history site comprising 75 historic houses in Aarhus, costumed re-enactors create the spirit of Christmas' past. While holiday music can be heard at churches and cathedrals all over Denmark in December, Copenhagen shines bright this season, too. For more information, look at the Visit Denmark.

Great Britain Christmas Markets

In much of Great Britain, the Christmas Markets are weekend affairs. The largest and most popular York Christmas Market takes place annually at the City Square in St. Nicholas Fayre from the last week in November. Nestled amongst castles, cobblestone streets and medieval buildings, the unique ambiance creates a picture-perfect setting for shoppers to browse a variety of antiques, crafts, gifts and local produce.

The Lincoln Christmas Market runs the first weekend of December. The market has 300 stalls with a variety of gifts and produce and is situated near the must-see 12th century Gothic cathedral. Travelers can browse the marketplace, enjoy bell choirs or observe a street theater as traders roam about in Victorian costume, complementing the holiday spirit.

Nestled near the Bath Abbey and the famous Roman Baths, the world-renowned Bath Christmas Market takes place annually the first 10 days of December in the famous Georgian city. Shoppers will find over 100 wooden chalet stalls offering a variety of unique gifts, while carolers and entertainers gleefully meander their way through the markets. Visitors can also experience a Victorian carousel and tease their palettes with first-rate wines and seasonal flavors as they revel in the Christmas celebrations.

Also, Scotland visitors can enjoy the Edinburgh Christmas Capital at Princes Street Gardens, nestled near the historic castle in Edinburgh, where a Christmas market, ice-skating rink, big wheel and carousel add festive excitement from late November to the end of December. Traditional festivities held each year include The Light Night, the Traditional German Christmas Market, Santa's Reindeer Garden, The Edinburgh Wheel, The Great Scottish Santa Run and Winter Wonderland, creating a Christmas experience that the whole family can enjoy. For more information and current event schedules, see the Visit Britain resources.