Bavaria, Switzerland, Austria for Christmas...?
 

Hello all! My husband and I are looking into flying into Zurich for the holidays with our two kids. We are thinking of going from Zurich to Munich/Bavaria to somewhere in Austria and back. Does any one have a good itinerary to follow? We would be arriving on 12/22/16 and flying back to Seattle on 1/4/17, so just shy of 2 weeks. I'm not sure the length of time needed for each area or what there is to do besides Christmas Markets during the holidays. I'm in the beginning phase of researching and I embarrassingly don't know a lot about that area of Europe. Do we skip Germany in light of recent events in Munich? Any help would be much appreciated!

We've spent the past few Christmases in Germany and Switzerland.

Skip Munich because of recent events? I certainly wouldn't skip it.

Do be aware that because you're arriving so close to Christmas that many of the markets may be closed, or near closing. Christmas markets in Munich usually shut down around 2 pm on Christmas Eve - and the city pretty much stays closed until after Christmas, so you may want to do some research on what you'll do and where you will eat Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

I have a few Christmas trip reports here that might give you a few ideas, sadly, I have yet to finish a couple of them:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...witzerland.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...r-oberland.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...eutschland.cfm

We've done a couple of Christmas Market trips, early Dec. 2010 and 2013. Austria and Bavaria. Many markets will close for good on the 24th. Innsbruck has one that is open until early January, as does the very charming old towns of Sterzing/Vipiteno and Brixen/Bressanone, both of which are less than an hour from Innsbruck, over the border in Italy.

If flying into Zurich, try flying out of Munich. That, or I'd probably skip Switzerland all together and do a Bavaria, Austrian alps and northern Italy (Sud Tirol) trip. Just a suggestion.

Both Vienna and Salzburg have good Christmas markets, as does Nuremberg and some smaller towns along the Danube.

Salzburg has a market open until 12/26:
http://www.christkindlmarkt.co.at/english/

Nuremberg market ends on 12/24:
http://www.christkindlesmarkt.de/en/

Innsbruck's markets end on 12/23, except for the one on Maria-Theresien-Straße:
http://adventintirol.com/de/innsbruc...stkindlmaerkte

Need to check where you're going and then the market schedules.

The ones I mentioned by Innsbruck in Italy:
http://www.christmas-markets.it/en/c...uth-tyrol.aspx

http://www.christmas-markets.it/en/c...uth-tyrol.aspx


Besides the markets, which you'll miss most of, there's tobogganing, cable car rides, palaces, castles, and so on.

Within 2 hours of Munich you have:
Herrenchiemsee Palace
Salzburg
Hohensalzburg
Hohenwerfen
Berchtesgaden
Salt Mines
Jennerbahn
Konigssee

Mittenwald and Garmisch
Zugspitze trip
Karwendelbahn
Ettal Monastery
Linderhof palace
Oberammergau

Fuessen
Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castle's
Wieskirche
Tegelbergbahn

Innsbruck
Schloss Ambras
Hofkirche
Hofburg
Nordkettenbahn funicular/cable car trip

Less than an hour from Innsbruck:
(These towns all have German name/Italian name)
Brixen/Bressanone
Sterling/Vipiteno
Bozen/Bolzano
Ice Man Exhibit

etc.

Paul

As a previous poster noted, traveling around the winter holidays will mean shorter retail hours for 24 December and 31 December and all day closures for 25-26 December and 1 January. That's a lot of time to fill aimless wandering about, as well as finding meals. Add inclement weather and suddenly the holiday is no fun.

Consider splitting the two weeks with two apartment/apart-hotel stays with day trips. That way everyone has space; no one has to get dressed to eat yet another hotel breakfast; dinner can be enjoyed in the comfort of your "home;" and, if it's your holiday to celebrate, you can even decorate a tiny Christmas tree for the apartment. We did that last year for our Christmas holiday in a Krakow apartment, tasking each of our teens with collecting a half-dozen ornaments each from the markets, and we now have a dozen glass "memories" of a wonderful holiday.

Why not Strasbourg? It's the capital of Christmas. German markets are overrun with cheap toys that are made in China and bad wine.

Wow, not my experience at all with German Christmas markets.

KodakMoment obviously hasn't been to the Ergzebirge, home to hand crafted wooden Christmas ornaments, German folk art nirvana.

http://www.saxongifts.com/History-of...e_ep_38-1.html

Not our experiences either. We have a few nice local wood carved items we bought.

Hi, If you can get over to Wurtzburg and then 45 min to Rothenburg, it is a magical town, esp at Xmas. If you get there be sure to go to the Kathi Wolfhart Xmas store in the middle of this old/medieval town that was not damaged in WW II as I recall. Bavaria is a lovely part of Germany, there are Xmas markets in Wurtzburg, but you need to check on when they close down. Sue

OK one more thing, Innsbruck in Austria is an interesting town, one church is filled with medieval armor....up the mtn from Innsbruck just about 20 min by tram is a town called Igls (eagle) and it is a lovely small village (ski village) that would be peaceful and lovely in winter, I recommend it. Sue