Christmas in Austria and Germany
 

The wife and I are considering going to Germany and Austria for Christmas. The tentative plan would be to fly into Frankfurt on Dec 18 -- immediately take the train to Nuremburg, spent 3 or 4 nights there, fly to Vienna for 5 or 6 nights, fly back on Dec 26 to Frankfurt for a flight back to the States on the next day.

General comments or suggestions are most welcome. Is there anything to do of note in Nuremburg beside Xmas markets? Should we skip N'burg and just go to Munich instead? Any other city I should consider?

I would fly into Munich and include Salzburg and Vienna and use trains between. Why Frankfurt?

IMHO I think I would do a day in Nuremburg then go to Munich for a couple of days. You might consider renting a car and driving from Nuremburg to Rothenburg for a night then to Munich for a couple of nights. You could fly from there to Vienna.

I am assuming you are going for the Christmas markets. Nuremburg is one of the older ones, Rothemburg is a charming village with a small Christmas market and Munich has several Christmas markets, the big one at Marienplatz and the creche market a block away. The Munich pedestrian zone which is most of the Altstadt also has lots of shops that have great Christmas displays.

If you based in Munich you can take the Bayern ticket on the train for $27 euros (for up to 5 people) to daytrip to Nuremburg. You can also daytrip to Salzburg on a similar ticket.

I'd skip Vienna. Take the train from FRA airport to Nuernberg, spend two or three nights there. Then take the train to Munich. Make it your "headquarters" and take day trips to Salzburg, Garmisch- Partenkirchen, the castles near Fuessen, etc.. Decide on a day-by day basis, depending on the weather. If the weather is good, do day trips, if not, there's lots to see and do in Munich.

For all of the above day trips, you can use the Bayernkarte, a discounted day ticket for the 2 of you for EUR 28.Although you are limited to Regio (slower) trains with this ticket, on the short stretches to the places mentioned above it makes little difference in time. If you want to save money, you can even do the Nuernberg - Munich trip on the Bayernkarte, but then you may be an hour longer "on the rails" than if you go by ICE train. Check the schedules on www.bahn.de. There's an English version.

If you have your heart set on Vienna, you could stay a few days in Munich, then go by train to Vienna and return to Frankfurt either by train or plane.

I'm not sure that you would have good plane connections between Nuernberg and Vienna, as is your current plan.

Thanks for the adivce - We are leaning towards flying into Frankfurt because it is VERY cheap on USAir (640 rt from DFW) which is 200 less than flying into Munich. We're planning on using airberlin to fly around @ 60 euro each way - it seemed cheaper to do that than get a rail pass.

Treplow - I'd love to hear your thoughts regarding skipping Vienna. Not as "Christmassy" as Germany? Too much hassle? Spare no details. I've been to Vienna before (1993) but my wife has not. She loved Salzburg FWIW.

Hi Keeper,

Between Munich and Vienna for Christmas I would choose Munich. Don't skip Nuremburg. There is lots to see besides the markets. If you have access to the Smithsonian magazine, there is a nice article about Munich in this month's edition.

Vienna is plenty Christmassy, but it would take a day out of your trip to get there and back.

I would also recommend a side trip to Regensburg and/or Bamberg.

Consider Salzburg itself for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I still have vivid memories of the city itself, the
mountains, and the Midnight Mass there
from 1967. A wonderful experience!

Pat

Nürnberg:

- the castle,
- several churches,
- Germanisches Nationalmuseum (with lots of Albrecht Dürers),
- the toy museum,
- the Albrecht Dürer Haus.

In any case, visit Würzburg and the Palace. It is gorgeous.

You should also see some Romantic Road towns, at least Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Dinkelsbühl is also beautiful.

Another daytrip would lead you to Bamberg which is a beautiful quaint town.

The Franken area (Nürnberg, Würzburg, Rothenburg) is somewhat more romantic than München which is a metropolis.

Where to base yourself? Nürnberg is convenient because of its central location in Franken, which also applies to Würzburg. If you want to stay in a smaller town, Rothenburg would be my first choice. If you want to rent a car, I would even consider Feuchtwangen (it is centrally located and there is a beautiful affordable 3-star historic hotel with indoor pool, sauna and good restaurant, www.hotel-greifen.de)

If you have a car and you want a more upscale historic hotel in a charming small town with excellent cuisine, consider staying in Iphofen, a romantic wine village. www.zehntkeller.de

From München, it is an easy daytrip to Salzburg.

Wien is somewhat farther away. The City Hall is nice at Christmas but I am not sure if it is worth the way.

We were in Salzburg one Christmas/New Year and took a side trip to Vienna. Hope this report is helpful.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34731978

We have also just recently returned from a trip that included Vienna, Nuremberg, and Rothenburg. Here are the reports of the sightseeing and the food. Hope they're helpful also.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35162190
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35162871

To answer your question: If you had more time, I would not try to dissuade you from including Vienna. But since your time is limited, I think you should heed the advise from the others you received so far: Nuernberg, Wuerzburg (I'm partial to it; it's where I was born, besides it is very compact), possibly Rothenburg, definitely Salzburg. It is also compact for walking and tends to be more "small town christmassy". The midnight mass mentioned by one of the correspondents is usually a wonderful musical experience, even if you are not Catholic; The same is true of the midnight mass in the Munich cathedral.

If the weather is clear and there's been some snow in the Alps, a day trip to Garmisch and going by cog railway to the top the Zugspitze (Germany's highest mountain) is also a great experience.

Have fun and enjoy the trip.