Visit Lincoln : Christmas Market photos and tourist guide

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Visit Lincoln and its annual Christmas Market


Sections:	Introduction
	Lincoln Cathedral
	Lincoln Castle
	Christmas Market
	Funfair
	Morris dancing
	Museum of Lincolnshire Life
	Further information
	Links

INTRODUCTION

Newport Arch (built by the Romans) - the oldest
arch in Britain which still has traffic passing under it

Medieval
guildhall

The City of Lincoln (population: 84,000) has been an important settlement for over 2,000 years. It is a strategic location, built on a hill which overlooks the surrounding plains. Its most popular tourist attractions are Lincoln Cathedral and the Christmas Market in December.

Lincoln
(guide book for tourists)
Author: John McIlwain
Publisher: Pitkin Unichrome
Date: March 2007

The Collected Poems
Author: Alfred Lord Tennyson
Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd
Date: July 1994

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL

Soon after William the Conqueror invaded England, the Normans built a castle and cathedral here. Lincoln Cathedral (also known as Lincoln Minster) is one of the largest in Britain. It was started in 1072. The central tower (81m high) is the third tallest in England, but used to be twice as tall until it was damaged by a storm. It contains a large bell called Great Tom, weighing 270kg. The interior of the cathedral is featured in the film version of Dan Brown's book "The Da Vinci Code" (filming inside Westminster Abbey was not allowed, so Lincoln Cathedral was used instead; see: Britain/Films/DaVinciCode).

The cathedral has three towers

Busy streets during the Christmas Market

View from the main west entrance

Concerts are often performed inside

LINCOLN CASTLE

Lincoln Castle is an 11th century castle built on the site of a former Roman fort. One of the original copies of the Magna Carta (sealed by King John) is kept here.

Entrance to the castle

The flag on top of the castle is visible from far away

The highest point of the castle

CHRISTMAS MARKET

Lincoln Christmas Market is one of the biggest Christmas Markets in Europe, with over 300 stalls. The first event was held in 1982, inspired by a visit by officials to Lincoln's twin town in Germany (called Neustadt). It is held each year on Castle Hill, close to the cathedral.

A day-trip from London to the Lincoln Christmas Market is organised by the tour company Anderson Tours. To book a place, click here.

Lincoln Christmas Market 2009
Thursday 3rd December 2009 – 4pm – 9.30pm
Friday 4th December 2009 - 10am – 9.30pm
Saturday 5th December 2009 – 10am – 9.30pm
Sunday 6th December 2009 - 10am – 7pm

There is a dedicated site to the market here: http://christmasmarket.lincoln.gov.uk
To download a visitor's guide to the 2009 Christmas market as a PDF document, click here.

FUNFAIR

A funfair is set up in Lincoln at the time of the Christmas Market.

MORRIS DANCING

On special occasions (for example, for the Christmas market), Morris dancers sometimes gather in Lincoln to perform traditional dances.

MUSEUM OF LINCOLNSHIRE LIFE

The Museum of Lincolnshire Life (in Burton Road) covers all aspects of local social history. It also includes a collection belonging to the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. Temporary exhibitions are often put on, such as the "Victorian Christmas" shown below.

FURTHER INFORMATION

* Visitor information
Lincoln tourist information: http://www.lincoln.gov.uk
Inside Out Guide to Lincoln: http://www.insideoutguidetolincoln.co.uk
Lincoln Cathedral: http://www.lincolncathedral.com
Lincoln Castle: http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/lincolncastle
Museum of Lincolnshire Life: http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/museumoflincolnshirelife
Lincolnshire tourist information: http://www.visitlincolnshire.com

* Transportation
The nearest train station is Lincoln Central, from which it takes about 15 minutes to walk to the medieval centre. For train timetables and to buy a ticket online, see: Shop/Company/TheTrainline.
It takes about 4 hours 30 minutes to travel by coach from Victoria Coach Station in London to Lincoln. For timetables and to buy a ticket online, see: Shop/Company/NationalExpress.

* Weather forecast for Lincoln
See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=2562

* More photos
360 degree panoramic pictures: http://www.bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire/360/index.shtml

Lonely Planet verdict: Lincoln "Lincoln is tougher to get to than York, so many visitors give Lincoln a miss and rush to marvel at its great rival's wonderful cathedral instead. Unfortunately, they are losing out on Lincoln's own 900-year-old mother church, the third largest in Britain and one of the finest examples of Early English architecture in the country. Hidden inside the bland outskirts is a compact medieval centre with some wonderful Tudor architecture and one of the steepest urban climbs this side of San Francisco. The people, largely spared the tourist hordes, are particularly friendly, while the presence of a university means that there are plenty of young people around" (extracts from "Lonely Planet Great Britain - 2003 edition", used with permission)
	Lonely Planet Great Britain Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications Date: May 2009	Lonely Planet England Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications Date: March 2009
Other Lonely Planet publications

LINKS

Places in this region:
Hull: Travel/Tours/England/Hull
York: Travel/Tours/England/York
Peak District: Travel/Tours/England/PeakDistrict

Cathedral cities:
Canterbury: Travel/Tours/England/Canterbury
Durham: Travel/Tours/England/Durham
Winchester: Travel/Tours/England/Winchester
York: Travel/Tours/England/York

Other topics related to this page:
Anderson Tours: Travel/Tours/Company/AndersonTours
Christmas traditions: Ideas/Album/Christmas
Christmas lights: Ideas/Album/ChristmasLights
Victorian history: Britain/History/Victorian
Morris dancing: Ideas/Album/MorrisDancing

Home page: Home

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