christmas in munich
 

Any suggestions as to where to go for Christmas eve and Christmas day.

We are a family of 4, myself, my husband and two adult children, 18 and 20. We are in Munich from 21st - 26th December this year.

We would like to have either a Christmas eve dinner or Christmas day lunch. Can anyone recommend a great restaurant, or hotel with a great restaurant.

I would love to have Christmas lunch in a castle along the Rhine, is that possible?

We are staying in Schwabing.

Thanks in advance

You really need to look at a map so you can see how far from Munich the Rhine is.

That's one of those questions that tourists with experience can answer better than locals.
Noone I know here would go out to dine on Christmas Eve. Maybe again Dec 25th for lunch. But both days most people stay at home and celebrate with family.
Thus said, it is also not as if the restaurants would shut down from Dec 24-26. Some are closed, indeed, but still many open.
If I had to make a blind recommendation, I'd suggest to check the Charles' restaurant Davvero or the Mark's at the Mandarin Oriental. Both always have special menus for Christmas and for 4-5 courses you should budget 120-140 per person (incl. beverages).

We spent Christmas weekend in Munich four years ago. We had an apartment and opted in for dinner on Christmas eve. We had a nice lunch on Christmas eve. The Christmas markets began breaking down around 1,,2 pm and were surprised at how many were gone by 5pm. The restaurants and markets were also shutting down by later PM. We caught a cheese shop and a grocery just as they were closing for the day. By 6pm it was dark and saw only one restaurant open on our way back to the apartment.

On Christmas day we ventured out around noon and saw absolutely nothing open except the beer halls. They were packed with German families. Spent the afternoon and early evening in a beer hall with typical beer hall food, lots of beer, lots of kids, loud band, grandparents and locals. All in all fairly present and an interesting Christmas day. Again we nothing open on Christmas day. I am sure that there are a few restaurants open catering to tourists but we didn't see them. I think you would need to plan on nothing being open.

All in all a fairly pleasant ..... Christmas day. Of course shared a long table with a big German family from very little to old. Our 18 month old grandchild was a big hit.

In Germany, stores will close at 14:00 on the 24th, and the 25th and 26th are official holidays with all stores closed, and many museums. You will need to check.

Most cities close their Xmas markets by the 22nd or 23rd. Very, very few have them open on the 24th at all, but there are a few who will have markets that continue on the 25th, etc. Check the town website.

Restaurants all close on the 24th, though you may find some random place open. It certainly is not something I would count on. Hotels will be the only place to reserve a meal on Christmas Eve.

On 25 & 26 many places do a booming business, so you might need a reservation. It is not uncommon for a small restaurant to close down completely over the holidays between 24 Dec. & 2 Jan. Saves having to pay all of that extra pay for employees that work on those holidays.

thanks for all this advice.

Does anyone know of a good hotel restaurant within a hotel that has a Christmas menu.

Where are you staying? This would be a good time to think big American Hotel chain.

I am staying at the suite novotel parkstadt schwabing. Apparently it has no restaurant.