Birmingham has beat off other UK cities to be the only one on a list of European places to visit this winter. Britain’s second city in the West Midlands has a glitter that “intensifies” according to a new run down from The Telegraph. 

It put Birmingham in second place on its piece highlighting ‘The 10 European cities that are best in winter’ which also features Seville and Helsinki, reports BirminghamLive. It said: “Britain’s second city (calm down Manchester; take a seat Edinburgh) has done a fine job of improving its image since the turn of the millennium, and you might easily spend a long weekend in its company, ambling along its celebrated network of canals, or picking up something which glitters in the Jewellery Quarter. 

“However, the glitter intensifies at this time of year – as what is somewhat confusingly known as the Frankfurt Christmas Market (Birmingham is twinned with the fifth biggest German city) takes over Victoria Square and New Street. 

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“Yet if the name is a minor oddity, the event has become a major triumph, growing from a cluster of some 25 stalls when it was first held (in 2001) to what is now purportedly the largest festive market outside Germany and Austria, with more than five million visitors per year.” 

One small but very popular quirk of the market has been picked out by the publication as a ‘must see’ – a moose head fixed to one of the stalls on Victoria Square which sings to passers by and tweets.

The Grand Hotel – that has rooms from £107 – is recommended as the best place to lay your head after some mulled wine at the market. Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, was thrilled at the news and shared his delight on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

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He wrote: “Brum is amongst the best cities to visit this winter. The ONLY UK city on the Telegraph’s list.” 

He added: “We’ve worked hard to bounce back as a global destination, capitalising on the Commonwealth Games. Despite the city council’s challenges, there’s still much to be proud of.” 

Other cities to make the list were Seville in Spain which came out top followed by Berlin in Germany, which was third and Thessaloniki in Greece.

Next up was Helsinki, Finland’s capital, Venice, Italy, Vienna, Austria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in Tenerife. Completing the top ten were Nice in France and Valencia, Spain.

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