We took £20 to Edinburgh Christmas Market to see how far it would stretch

Despite over a month remaining until the big day itself, Christmas has well and truly arrived in Edinburgh and nowhere more so than at the Princes Street Christmas Market, which opened last Friday 15 November.

Honoring an Edinburgh Live tradition, and to try to get myself into the Christmas spirit, I headed down to the market to see what I could get my hands on with just £20.

In spite of the rising cost of living and a year of high inflation, much to my surprise my money stretched much further than I had anticipated.

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Having come to the market at 11am on a Monday morning, the market was relatively quiet, leaving me room to peruse the stalls at my leisure.

As always, the market was full of stalls showcasing the best of Edinburgh’s craft and food scenes with homemade baubles, knitted jumpers and local cheeses all catching my eye.

With not only Christmas hitting Edinburgh early but an icy winter chill too, suffering from cold hands and ears, I went to look at the selection of hats and gloves on offer.

Retailing for £25 however, the knitted bobble hats were out of my price range, so I searched for another method of keeping warm.

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11am seemed too early for mulled wine even by Christmas standards so I opted instead for a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows.

It seemed that hot chocolate prices across the market varied, so I wandered for a while seeking out the cheapest and settled on the £5 version at the Christmas Market bar.

To my dismay however, not two minutes after purchasing my hot chocolate, I found an even cheaper alternative- the hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows available for £4.50 at the stall ‘Coffee and Donuts’.

Determined not to be disheartened at wasting 50p, I continued my wander, now a little peckish.

The food options available did not disappoint, with everything from burgers, pizza, mac and cheese, and even a Yorkshire pudding wrap.

I was particularly intrigued by the grilled salmon sandwich that I could see cooking on an open fire right in front of me.

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Available for £11.50 however, I was driven by my budget towards one of the cheaper options and found myself in the German Sausages queue.

Whilst most of their Bratwurst offerings would have set me back over £8, I settled on their cheapest American style hotdog for just £6.

Though initially served as a slightly sad skinny sausage in a cold bun, I took full advantage of the free ketchup, mustard and pickles to liven it up.

My budget now stood at £9 and opting not to risk my hotdog from resurfacing, I chose to bypass the Helter Skelter, despite it only costing £4. Instead I returned to my peruse of the craft stalls.

Wanting to take home a memento of my time at the market, I bought myself a hand painted Christmas tree decoration from East End Press, made here in Edinburgh for just £6.

Now with just £3 remaining, my options became limited. I searched in hope of finding another little trinket or snack with almost no success.

My only option seemed to be the £3 shot of gin, rum or amaretto available at the bar.

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Close to giving up hope, I returned once again to Coffee and Donut, home to the cheapest hot chocolate I had missed out on earlier, and purchased myself a £3 cappuccino.

All in all, £20 at the market had got me a pleasantly surprising stash of two hot drinks, a handcrafted Christmas tree decoration and a hotdog.

My advice to anyone looking to do the market on a budget however, is look for different prices of the same item at different stalls.