stormbird

We were talking with friends over the Christmas break how lovely it could be to share a white Christmas together somewhere.

But where?

If you've ventured off overseas at Christmas time where did you go? I'd be most interested I think, in Europe or Canada.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I'd like to wish all my Fodor friends a very Happy New Year
Cheers
Stormbird

Susan7

Hi Stormbird! A very happy new year to you and your family and to all the other Australian fodorites!!!

Back to the topic, we had a white Christmas in Germany in 2010, my partner was working there at the time. The Christmas markets and all the mulled red wine make it a great place to celebrate.

lavandula

Hi Stormbird, Susan.
I've been in Germany several times for a northern hemisphere Christmas, as I have professional interests that take me there and we also lived there for a couple of years. Sometimes there is good snow, sometimes not - depends where you go. We didn't always get much snow in Wiesbaden, except for one year which was a bumper year. But agree with Susan7, the markets make it an excellent place to visit from late November to Christmas, and that's pretty much everywhere in Germany. There are a lot of threads in the Europe forum about the markets and the best ones to visit so I won't reproduce that here.
I've also spent two Christmases in England and the weather was mostly just cold and/or disagreeable, not snowy. But the Christmas lights in London do add to the atmosphere, so that was nice, and there is generally a good atmosphere in the shops. I don't think you could regret a Christmas there even if there's no white Christmas.

Happy New Year to all,

Lavandula

Clifton

Home (the original one)

But, I think if I were to pick another Christmas destination, I'd be torn between Germany, with the postcard looks and the markets, or New York City. I do love NY at Christmastime.

Melnq8

Germany, Switzerland and Colorado, but not lately.

shandy

Another one for a white Christmas in Germany a few years ago. It was absolutely magical and our three kids (teenagers) loved it.

We stayed in a small village and were basically the only non-German guests at the hotel but they still included us in everything. All the other children in the hotel were under the age of 8 and it was a great sight when St Nicholas gave out the presents. After a number of littlies had been up, they called out my son's name (getting on for six feet tall). He was so embarrassed but had to front up. Everyone burst into laughter. It would have been so easy for the hotel not to have included them, given their age. Had a great Christmas Eve dinner and lunch on Christmas Day was to join all the locals in the little village square eating bratwurst sausages and drinking gluhwein followed by sleigh rides.

Am planning on Zakopane (mountain top village in Poland) for the next time.

shandy

Had meant to add, that we have also spent Christmas in London and Paris but they couldn't compete with the German one.

stormbird

Thanks for the replies - so how did you all select the particular destination in Germany? Could you let me know the names of the places in Germany where you spent Christmas?

Melnq8

Stormbird - for us, it was all about the mountains and snow, Christmas markets, gluhwein and grilled wurst, which are prolific in Germany (and Austria).

Our numerious Christmas trips to Germany have included Munich, Rothenburg, Garmisch (also home to Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitz), Nuremberg, Berchtesgaden, Mittenwald and Augsburg. We've also visited Oberstdorf and Oberammergau.

In Austria, we've visited Innsbruck and Salzburg at Christmas.

There's nothing quite like a German/Austrian Christmas. Our best trip was the one which included Mittenwald and Berchtesgaden (and Salzburg as a side trip). We both fondly remember that trip as one of our all time favorites. It was just idyllic. Piles of fresh fallen snow, hot gluhwein, warm apfelstrudel mit vanille sauce, aimlessly wandering through the alps in our rental car, loved every minute.

Here's some info that might get you started if you're researching a trip for next year:

http://www.germany-christmas-market.org.uk/

lavandula

Two Christmas markets that people talk about a lot are Dresden and Nuremberg (Nürnberg). Dresden gets a lot of discussion because it's the original Christmas market, and lots of the things you find at most markets come from that area (for instance, stollen (a kind of Christmas cake), and the carved wooden decorations are from the Erzgebirge region). But every market has its regional specialties. Nuremberg gets a lot of discussion because not only is Nuremberg alone worth seeing (although it's been rebuilt after the war), but the markets are quite large. But there are plenty of cities with markets that can rival Nuremberg in my opinion. Plenty of the larger cities have several markets running at once (Cologne (Köln) for example has seven!). One market that I particularly enjoyed, but which gets hardly a mention in most places (certainly not on this forum) is the market in Paderborn (north Germany). It's definitely off the beaten track - not usually thought of as a tourist destination, but the market is huge and had a lot of things I'd never seen anywhere else.
http://www.paderborn.de/microsite/we...0000079703.php
But you're less likely to get snow here - usually it snows more in the south.

Lavandula

aussiedreamer

So glad I found this topic. We too are planning to 'get out of' Brisbane for Xmas this year. We will be 6 adults, Dh & I plus our two 20 something daughters and their partners.

We've spent xmas in NYC, cold, wet and a bit of an anticlimax. No snow and its all a bit 'closed up'. Dd spent Xmas 2010 in London only arriving home for this xmas just past. Her vote is to go back as she is missing London but concedes that the likelihood of snow is low.

Brother in-law is currently in Europe and is raving about xmas markets and mulled wine in Germany.

So for us, we will have to be certain of snow and it looks like Germany maybe the place. Thanks so much for starting this thread, I will follow closely.

shandy

In our case, the village we stayed in was Oberammagau. I chose this principally because you are almost guaranteed of having snow. From there we had access to the Zugspite, Neuschwanstien, Innsbruck amongst other things. It is an area of the world I have been to a number of times so I had a very clear idea of where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do whilst there.

We also spent the first couple of nights at Rothenburg for the Christmas markets (and the fabulous Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas shop) which we absolutely loved, but no snow, so was glad that we were heading further down for Christmas itself and plenty of snow.

I was interested in aussiedreamer's comment that they found Christmas in New York an anticlimax. I was only mentioning to my husband the other night that if we get round to going to New York (never been before) that I would like to go in December because Christmas seems to be so over the top there. Perhaps I need to reconsider this.

Susan7

We stayed in Frankfurt as my partner was teaching there. I quite like Frankfurt but probably wouldn't have chosen it otherwise. It started to snow in late November.

We also made trips to Berlin, Dusseldorf, Koln, Warsaw and Lodz. Berlin is fantastic, I'd love to spend more time there.

ozgirl

Good morning stormbird and others - we also started this discussion a couple of days before Christmas 2011 (as we have for the past 3 years!) and decided to bite the bullet and go this year.
Salzburg seemed to be a popular suggestion for Aussies and others wanting a 'White Christmas' on the Europe board so I started there. We will be a family of 5-6 adults and I was looking for apartment accommodation. This proved to be a bit of a challenge and I have now booked the accommodation that we have previously stayed at in Berchtesgaden (in summer)which was exceptional.

I was initially hesitant about driving in snow (hence looking at Salzburg) but have been reassured by our landlady and others.
We will be only half an hour from Salzburg by car or a little longer by train anyway.

I am now in the final stages of deciding on where to spend NYE before flying home and Edinburgh and Hogmanay is top of the list at the moment!

Good luck and 'just do it!'

Melnq8

Sounds lovely ozgirl. Berchtesgaden covered in snow is idyllic. Good choice.

We landed just after a huge snowstorm and drove from Munich to Berchtesgaden, about 2.5 hours in bad conditions, but we were surprised at how quickly they got the roads plowed.

Berchtesgaden has their own small Christmas market held on a weekend as I recall - we really enjoyed it.

Did you visit the Salzbergwerk previously?

We're hoping for a white Christmas in 2012 too. Oh how I miss the snow!

ozgirl

Thanks Melnq8 for that further confirmation we are on the right track.
Yes, we did do the salt mines last time but will have a couple of Berchtesgaden 'newbies' this time so will probably do it again, great fun!
Would really like to do a decent sleigh ride whilst there as well.

I have found your previous reports very helpful, thanks.

stormbird

Hi Everyone,
Great info here - it will take a little bit of researching to check out all the suggestions but seems like Germany/Austria are the clear preferences. (Sounds good to me)

I have been working full time this last year and I have to say it really cramps my style and I don't get near enough time chatting to my mates here on the forums but I appreciate all your input.
Thanks guys
Stormbird

aussiedreamer

This is great, thanks so much.

raincitygirl

shandy, I was just in NYC for 5 days right before Christmas and it was really fun. If you are set on having a white Christmas then you may or may not be disappointed, but in terms of the incredible store windows, the decorations all over the city, the festive atmosphere etc. it was fantastic!! We saw the big tree at Rockefeller Centre, went to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular which totally lived up to it's hype, did lots of walking, people watching and shopping. The shopping of course is fantastic, got in on a few sales, always a bonus.
I'm Canadian but I was with a friend from Sydney and she loved it.

The dining there is great as well, had terrific meals, great service.

There was a lot of fun on the streets particularly around 50th and 5th Ave near Rockefeller Centre with lots of happy people and the most fun Salvation Army bell-ringer/kettle collectors you have ever seen in your life! They were singing and grooving, and everyone on the sidewalk was joining in.

dottyp

Makes me so envious, all this talk of Christmas in the snow in Germany. We won't be able to do that for two years as we have promised to be in Wellington for Christmas this year, then everyone is coming to us in Havelock North 2013. However, there is absolutely nothing to stop me dreaming, and perhaps looking at places we can go to in 2014. Better still, I can start to put aside money to buy some fabulous items, etc at the Christmas markets, especially for our grandchildren!