GAPoppie

I know this is a little advanced, but trying to do as much research as possible. My friends are I are trying to plan a Christmas Market tour in Europe for 2014. We are hoping to leave some time the last week of November and plan to spend just under 2 weeks there. Obviously with us traveling from Canada (west coast) and the US (east coast), we will need a day or 2 to adjust to the time difference. We're exploring two options:

1. Christmas Market River Cruise
2. Do it Yourself Christmas Market Tour

While we like the ideal of the river cruise, there may be a child/children (my friends are hoping to adopt) traveling with us and I know the cruise company requires that a child be at least 8 years of age and pay full fare. Since we have that unknown factor, I thought the DIY option might be better suited for our travel needs.

I know that we would like to see Vienna and Nuremberg, Germany. Any thoughts on a base city where we could travel by rail to Vienna and Nuremberg? Are we being too ambitious (too much travel distance) to think we can visit both during the same trip? What other cities would you recommend we visit?

Any input/insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Lara

mokka4

Altho this site is for 2013, you can begin research here for a town that looks exciting, while others weigh in.

http://www.christmasmarkets.com/Germany.html

rrkapi

I recommend Dresden. It's a city in Sachsen. It's beuatiful. Really worth visiting. I've been there twice for a Christmas Markt. I recommend. I've also heard that Prague's Christmas Markt is worth visiting. I really recommend you to go to Dresden. I think you can get there from Berlin or any big city in Germany. Then take a train to Poland - Breslau(Wrocław), where you can take a bus (http://www.polskibus.com/)to Prague, where you can take a bus or train to Wien. Or you can take train from Wrocław to Katowice, where you can take a bus (also polskibus) to Wien. Polskibus needs to be booked before!!! If you need some help, ask me! I can help you with travelling in Germany, Poland, Czech or Austria.
Kacper

yodababe

The Weihnachtsmarkts are held during Advent, so check your dates to be sure you get here during those 4 weeks. Munich has 8 different markets including a Mittel Alter Markt (middle ages market) that is our personal favorite. Nuremberg has what is called the biggest market and they have an entire section that is devoted to children. Very nice. It is also incredibly crowded, literally shoulder-to-shoulder. That is what you get for being famous.

But nearly every town has the markets. So if you stayed, for example, in Nuremberg, you could easily travel to 2 or 3 dozen markets within an hour or two of the town. Sometimes they have theme weekends (usually a mittel alter markt weekend). And there is a very nice historic market about 20 minutes out of town where they have craft demonstrations and such.

We live in Erlangen which is near Nuremberg. Our town has 2 markets and we are only 30k people.

So if you stayed only in Bavaria and traveled on the lander ticket (29 euros per day for the entire group, unlimited travel on regional trains) you could see a ton of markets between Nuremberg and Munich. And of course Rothenburg ob der Tauber is less than 2 hours away too.

yodababe

This link might be helpful: http://www.bavaria.by/christmas-mark...aria-germany/0

sparkchaser

2014? Damn yo.

<i>Any thoughts on a base city where we could travel by rail to Vienna and Nuremberg? </i>

Munich. The bonus is that you can fly direct into there. Nürnberg is about a 2 hour train ride away and Vienna (Wien auf Deutsch) is 4-5 hours depending on the route/train.


<i>Are we being too ambitious (too much travel distance) to think we can visit both during the same trip? </i>

By all means do it.


<i>What other cities would you recommend we visit? </i>

Munich and Dresden for sure. Regensburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Salzburg, Linz, and even a few smaller random towns or villages so you can compare and contrast.


I f#$king love the Christmas Markets. The hot alcoholic beverages, the food, the smoke from the outdoor fires, the music, the crafts, etc.. Meesa loves it so much. <b>SO VERY MUCH</b>

sparkchaser

<b>SO VERY MUCH!</b>

Underhill

We, and the many children we saw there, really loved the Vienna market, especially in the evening. Lots to see and taste, and activities for kids.

Also good: Passau (especially for hand-made wooden things), Regensberg, and Nuremberg. The latter has one of the largest markets, with a fine variety of not-made-in-China products.

Aramis

Munich would be the obvious choice to position yourself to visit both the Nurnberg and Vienna markets. As a bonus, you get the Munich markets and you can visit Salzburg's on the way to Vienna, as well.

Poconolady

If you decide upon Dresden as your base, then by all means work in a side trip to Seiffen, an amazing "Christmas town". It takes a little effort to get there, but it well worth the trouble. The entire town is a Christmas market. It is most people's mental image of a small German village decked out for the holidays, blanketed in snow, with wonderful handmade holiday products.

Mainhattengirl

My favorite Christmas market in a big city is Stuttgart, and I have been to a lot of Christmas markets the past 26 years in Germany. I know Stuttgart falls under the radar for many tourists, but truly worth a visit. The best part is that it is so nicely spread out, you never get the claustrophic feel like you get in other large cities in their markets.

Near by is the city of Esslingen, which has a wonderful, medieval market. This was a very unique experience and I think if kids are present, they will love this. Torches, lanterns, candles and great shows.

Gary_Mc

"Any thoughts on a base city where we could travel by rail to Vienna and Nuremberg? Are we being too ambitious (too much travel distance) to think we can visit both during the same trip?"

I am not sure what you mean. I would not visit Vienna as a daytrip from Munich as a "base city" (~4hrs each way).

We visited Vienna and Munich last year. Both were extremely nice. I would probably choose Munich if you also wanted to visit Nürnberg. Regensburg between the two was even more enjoyable for us.

For a large city market we agree with Jo, Stuttgart. We are returning to Stuttgart this year. There are many wonderful choices. It is hard to go wrong.

bigtyke

I would do an 'open jaw' trip, flying into Munich or Frankfurt and leaving from Vienna. I would certainly not attempt to visit Vienna and Nuremberg as day trips from any one spot.

Choose places that you would want to visit even if there were no Christmas market. You won't be spending all day at the market.

Check out some of the trip reports at www.bensbauernhof.com that deal with Christmas markets.

I would certainly do the trip myself rather than the tour. Savings can be significant. It is not hard to plan a trip by yourself and with the internet, you can book places with no difficulty.

yodababe

You can easily visit Nuremberg from Munich, it is less than 2 hours by train. Flying into Frankfurt makes no sense if the OP wants to visit Vienna or Munich, Frankfurt is 4 hours from Munich and even farther from Vienna.

sparkchaser

<i> I would certainly not attempt to visit Vienna and Nuremberg as day trips from any one spot.</i>

You do realize that Nürnberg is a mere 2 hour train ride from München. Entirely doable as day trips.

Vienna would have to be an overnighter if München is a homebase.

bigtyke

You may want to spend 4 hours a day on a train to make a day trip, I don't.

I suggested Frankfurt because it has many flights a day and may be cheaper than Munich.

If I am spending 2 weeks in Germany/Austria, I would stay in more than 2 cities. There are lots of places to visit between Frankfurt or Munich and Vienna.

sparkchaser

<i>You may want to spend 4 hours a day on a train to make a day trip, I don't. </i>

Considering that the markets don'T open until 10 or 11 and close at 10 or 11, I think spending 2 hours up and 2 hours back is completely reasonable. Heck, I have driven longer for a day trip that that.


<i>I suggested Frankfurt because it has many flights a day and may be cheaper than Munich. </i>

So does Munich. In fact, flights from major American cities to Munich are within +/- $10 of flights to Munich.

And I suggested Munich because it puts OP close to two cites that they wanted to see: Vienna and Nuremberg.


<i>If I am spending 2 weeks in Germany/Austria, I would stay in more than 2 cities. There are lots of places to visit between Frankfurt or Munich and Vienna.</i>

I think it does makes sense to base in Munich (2-3 days in Munich checking out the numerous markets there, 1 day in Nuremberg, and a choice of Ulm, Ausburg, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Salzburg, or wherever) and then Vienna and the surrounds. From Vienna, you can get to Bratislava in less than an hour and Linz in 90 min.