We are thinking of spending Xmas 2004 in Germany. Want to go to the Xmas markets. Would like to find a small friendly town to spend our Christmas in. Prefer some snow.Any suggestions?

Highly recommended Xmas markets are held in the following Bavarian towns:

Regensburg, Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Bamberg.

Unfortunately snow cannot be guaranteed.

Bear in mind that these markets start four weeks before Xmas Day (= the periiod known as Advent), so you can easily visit several of them.

Some of my best Christmas memoriesare from germany when I was in my early 20's. I'm not sure whwe to start. You need to pick a spot to encamp. Do it soon, many places may sell out. Perhaps in the Black Forest/ Munich area. Although, not Germany how about Kitzbuhel, AU...and then take day trips north and south and West....I just don't know where to start with the possibilities....others???

Berchtesgaden, Mittenwald, and Garmisch are my suggestions. They're all beautiful alpine villages and even better when covered in snow (no guarantees though!) We spent early December in these towns two years ago and we were blessed with about two feet of snow. We returned last year and there wasn't any snow to be found, so you just never know.

Berchtesgaden and Mittenwald have small Christmas markets and they're only held on one weekend in December.

Salzburg is very near Berchtesgaden and they have a large Christmas market. Mittenwald is near Innsbruck, and they also have a good sized market, so you can easily stay in a small village and still have access to big city markets if you're so inclined.

If you're driving, you can easily visit an assortment of villages and towns in Germany and Austria. We did this, and although we based ourselves in Germany, we were in Austria almost daily.

Garmich has a market that's open earlier and longer, and it's only about 90 minutes from Munich, which has a HUGE Christmas market that runs from the end of November through early Christmas Eve.

playing the percentages, souther Baverian towns will have the greatest likelihood of snow. This would include Mittenwald and Garmisch.

If you want to avoid the crowds, then abosolutely stay away from Salzburg and Nüremberg. I actually love to visit Salzburg, but I was very anxious to leave when we visited the Christmas market there last year.

Rothenberg o.d. Tauber is supposed to be nice, although I haven't been to that one and I suspect it would be more crowded than avg.

Munich is another option, but it's not going to be the same as a small town. There are about 4 main Christmas markets in Munich. The one sprawling through Marienplatz is the most visited, but I much prefer the one at Münchner Freiheit, which is just a few U-Bahn stops north of Marienplatz.