Merode Castle — Attraction in Langerwehe

Christmas market was absolutely worth the trip. It was really cool to see the craftsmen actually working on their pieces while selling them. Prices fair. Not too crazy. Ambience A++ it opened at 1900 and was a line to get in but then thinned out. We bought tickets online but served no purpose because it charges a service fee and you can just buy at the gate. It was disgusting traffic by 1845, I'd arrive at 1815ish for good parking and make Dad or the black sheep of the family hold the spot in line while everyone else stays warm in car 🤣

I didn't understand the website because it said it opened at 1500 and people were coming out with items and food but they still had us line up and wait until 1900. I don't understand what that was about. I'd think it'd be better to show at 1500/1600, shop until it gets dark so you can see the lights, then leave before the crowds at 1900. I don't know if there's anything preventing this, but I'd do this timeline again if I visited. Crowds weren't terrible tho on a "good weather" (not raining) 3rd Advent weekend night.

Would absolutely return! Parking was free and had good attendants helping find closest spots. They were great.

ATM was near the bathrooms.

Lots of food and craft stalls, we spent 2 hours..but because it was super cold and we had little kids, we had to cut it short. would have loved to stay longer if kids...

Having read many rave reviews, I expected this to be a memorable experience, but it wasn’t. Paying €12 to enter at a minimum should mean that I don’t have to pay €.80 for the bathroom. I really don’t get how places that charge admission also get away with charging for the toilet too. The concert in the chapel (the only musical entertainment that day) wasn’t good. The main singer was out of tune. People came and went the whole time and took distracting videos, mostly of their children, that made it impossible to enjoy even a few minutes of the concert such as it was. Disappointing shopping options. I could find neither a good tree topper (or any!) nor any interesting glass ornaments. No fresh wreaths. Very little of interest shopping-wise. Also limited food options and the ‘bread on a stick’ was basically raw and I had to throw it out after eating a little bit of the outside. Had this been free, ok, but for €24 for two people before you even walk through the door, not a repeater. It was already very crowded and when we were leaving, I saw a huge crowd waiting to enter with the cheaper ‘as of 7 pm’ tickets. I can’t imagine being able to even turn around with this additional mass of people in, so avoid the later evening...

The Christmas Market here is one of the best I’ve been to so far. Their were so many stalls that I’ve never seen before in other Christmas markets around Europe. There is ample amount of space, seats, and etc to accommodate everyone. The best part was there were little fire pits scattered around the Christmas Market to warm everyone up.

Honestly this place was great and I would love to bring more family and friends to the market. There wasn’t enormous lines to queue for the food stalls either. I’ve been traveling to numerous Christmas markets around Europe the past month and that was my number one complaint was their over-crowdedness and the enormous lines.

None of...