Neither have the handmade wooden toys, glass ornaments or marzipan bars on which we spent a small fortune for family members back home.

FORBES: Travel

Among the larger markets, only in Germany, where green parents prefer to give their kinder wooden toys, is there less enthusiasm for video games.

ECONOMIST: Lego

It's an old-world Christmas of heartfelt caroling and wooden toys, where every gift is crafted by hand and Santa hasn't outsourced his workshop to China.

CNN: European Christmas markets rich with history

Opened in 1979 by founder Sue Jackson, it sold simple wooden toys alongside knitwear and ceramics, but went on to become an institution dedicated to mechanical automata, eventually relocating to Covent Garden in London in 1985, as its reputation and popularity grew.

BBC: Twisted toymaker Paul Spooner on his 'wooden cartoons'

"We have been frugal people, and we have tried to save as much as we can, and that is one of the reasons why I have been able to stay home with Max, " said Chris, who builds wooden toys for his son.

CNN: Battling recession with frugality, positive attitude

Villagers along the pilgrimage route to the Marian shrine of Our Lady of the Snow in Marija Bistrica in Hrvatsko Zagorje in northern Croatia developed a technique for traditional manufacturing of children's wooden toys that has now been handed down for generations.

UNESCO: Culture

It's a mix of odds and ends a high-end flea market with books piled on antique-looking tables, retro windup toys and hand-carved wooden kitchen utensils from Japan.

WSJ: In Taipei, Taiwan, Life in the Slow Lane