Looking for tips on how to set up your first Christmas village?
1) Start small. You can have a charming little village with 3-4 pieces for under EUR 100 altogether.
2) Consider adding snow, moss, and rocks for a realistic effect - but also to fill up space if you're starting small.
3) Animated articles cost more than still articles, but what can breathe life into your Christmas village on a tight budget are figurines - people and animals.
4) Check out 'Where to buy' to find the sites with the most competitive prices of Lemax and Luville pieces in Europe.
5) Lemax pieces are pretty expensive in Europe, so sign up for the shop's newsletter to get notified of discounts and wait for special days like Black Friday or after Christmas for biggest discounts (see where you can get the biggest discount in 'Where to buy').
6) Join Lemax and other Christmas village enthusiasts in Facebook groups (such as Lemax Addicts) and follow them on Instagram to get inspired.
7) Before you purchase an expensive animated article, make sure you check out the official Lemax site and see the video of the article to find out all that it does and how it's lighted. It's also a good idea to check out the videos of Christmas villages (see tip 6) to see how an article fits and functions in different set ups.
8) Although most houses and buildings and animated articles are lit, and you can also buy street lamps, your village will always appear poorly lit; one solution is to buy tiny spotlights (which is what I did), or have a spotlight above your village (but not too bright) - it would be a shame not to see all the wonderful details!
9) Invest in adapters because there aren't enough batteries in the world to see you through the whole winter :-)
10) To make your village look truly great, consider going upwards, that is, adding levels (hills, mountains).
Wondering which train to use?
For tips on choosing the right train for your village, go here or here.
If you decide to go with the suggested 0n30 (On30) scale, note that I was able to identify only Bachmann as the company that makes such trains and they're pretty hard to find in Europe. I was able to get my train set from https://moba24.de/ but it's also possible to find some at https://lgbstore.com/. For the train I got, if you're in Europe, you will need a converter so that your American 110V adapter can work with the European 220V.