Earlier this year, Bath was named the world’s best destination by the New York Times.
But the city may be about to lose that crown, by the looks of its Christmas market.
Open daily until Sunday 14 December, the market urges visitors to: ‘Wander through the heart of Bath’s historic city centre, transformed into a winter wonderland with twinkling chalets, unique gifts, and gourmet food and drink to tantalise the taste buds.
‘Be part of a cherished tradition that brings the spirit of Christmas to life in the heart of the city.’
However, videos and pictures have emerged on social media, showing heaving crowds taking over the Roman city, with many locals labelling it a ‘hellscape’.
Taking to TikTok, Anni Bronning (@annirady) shared a video from Bath Christmas Market, proving she was struggling to move through the crowds.
She captioned the short clip: ‘Packed like sardines and no pubs have any tables. What a hellscape!’
Meanwhile, @EleanorNotRigby revealed she struggled to make her train due to the amount of queues around Bath train station.
Earlier this year, Bath was named the world’s best destination by the New York Times . But the city may be about to lose that crown, by the looks of its Christmas market (stock from 2016)
Videos and pictures have emerged on social media, showing heaving crowds taking over the Roman city, with many locals labelling it a ‘hellscape’ (stock image from 2016)
Sharing a clip of the busy crowds, she wrote: ‘Me trying to get the train on a Saturday during the Christmas markets as a Bath local.’
She added: ‘There’s a f**king queue just to get into the train station. You f**king joking?’
It’s even been dubbed ‘the worst Christmas market ever’ by a Brit who visited the pop-up attraction.
Taking to TikTok, where he posts as @escaping2paradise, he said: ‘Bath Christmas market has to be the worst Christmas market that I’ve ever been to.
‘For starters, it doesn’t actually feel like a Christmas market. It’s just a market that happens to be at Christmas, with a few Christmas decorations scattered about.
‘There’s no Christmas music, no Christmas atmosphere. When you do buy something from the street vendor, it’s just “£7, next,” “£15, next,” “£12, next”. No “Merry Christmas,” no nothing.
‘It’s just a depressing Christmas market. It’s almost like they’re not allowed to pay Christmas music anymore or say Merry Christmas to anybody.
‘The only sound you hear is just the ambient noise of people walking around looking at the stores – and it is actually quite concerning when the biggest queue that you see is actually for the Greggs down the road!’
Many Bath locals have been left fuming, claiming the market makes it hard to get to work, due to being so busy, every year (stock from 2019)
And many locals have been left fuming in the comments, claiming the market makes it hard to get to work, due to being so busy, every year.
One said: ‘My step-mum works in Bath and decided to work from home because the trains are awful and it’s hell getting to and from work when the markets are on.’
Another added: ‘It used to be so normal. Wtf happened? I have to fight through this just to get to work.’
A third wrote: ‘As someone local to Bath, I avoid the city centre at weekends for the whole of December. It never used to be as bad as this!’
Someone else raged: ‘Yeah, I live here and we avoid it like the plague for this very reason!’
A final person added: “Without a doubt THE WORST…I live here. AWFUL. Used to be so good, but stopped going years ago. Overpriced tat, and far too busy.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Bath Christmas Market for comment.
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