Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Christmas Markets in the Rhine Main Region

I spent the entire month of December and part of November going to various Christmas markets, some of them short and in smaller towns and some of them that were held the whole 4 weeks of Advent. For some of you who might be traveling in this area next year, thought this report would be helpful. Hope it isn't too long.

* Büdingen - this is a walled, medieval town, that is well worth going to any time of year.The walls and all the Fachwerk houses are original, as this town has never been burned down or bombed. It has a very unusual 13 sided schloss that is still the residence of the former noble family. They have turned part of it into a hotel and there is a very nice restaurant along part of it. This is the kind of place I would like to come for New Years Eve or a birthday or anniversary. The Christmas market wandered through the town, down by the palace and then along an inner wall. This was the Medieval part of the market, using lanterns, candles and all hand-made items. Many of the stands at this market were being run by local organizations. Especially the food and gluehwein stands. Many cosy cafes. Büdingen is about 1 hour from Frankfurt, near Giessen.

* Idstein - This was one of my favorite markets. The walk from the bahnhof is past fairly non-descript modern buildings and then wham! one is in the middle of the Alt Stadt and boy is it amazing. Some of the prettiest and most elaborate Fachwerk houses I have ever seen. The middle of the town is marked by the Hexen Turm and the fortress. Everything here is original and the Christmas market wends its way up one charming street after another. The variety of stands was pretty good, offering lots of hand-made articles as well as the usual Christmas market stuff. Nice mix of food, drink and other stands. The nativity had some live animals, which was a great touch. Lots of different groups were putting on a show in the center, everything from brass bands, to kids in reindeer outfits singing Rudolph in German, to choirs. One of the high points in this town and a good reason to visit it during other times of the year, (well, besides the gorgeous houses) is the Union Church. The entire ceiling of this church is made of about 30 oil paintings that have been attached together to form a curved ceiling. Painted in the late 1600's in the Ruben style, they are a real surprise when you open the door. I could also see spending a couple of days here. The town sits in the Taunus mountains so there is good hiking and good scenery. Idstein is about a 45 min. train ride from Frankfurt.

* Seligenstadt - I really liked this market a lot too, mainly because of the indoor market they were also holding inside of the Abbey, though the market in the Alt Stadt square was nice too. The Abbey was begun in the 800's, and is one of the largest and best preserved in Hessen. The quality of gift items here was the highest, beautiful, unusual hand-work. All of the stands were staffed by the artisans themselves. They present their work again at the Easter show here, so will plan on coming back here for that, though I do want to tour the Abbey before that. Seligenstadt is about 30 min. from Frankfurt and is located along the Main river. Lots of Fachwerk houses, cosy little cafes and hotels. I would love to stay here for a day or 2.

* Bad Homburg - This is close to Frankfurt, just 20 min. on the S-bahn. A portion of the market is held inside the courtyard of the Schloss, summer residence of Kaiser Wilhelm. The rest of the market winds down through the grounds a bit and then out to the streets. Huge variety of items of all kinds, many hand made and excellent quality. This was a popular market for families as there was a mini-steam train going around the medieval tower that sits in the middle of the courtyard. We also toured the Schloss, which was well worth seeing. The Schloss church next door is amazing. The entire ceiling is gold mosaic and the church is very Byzantine in style. Fit for a Kaiser you might say. Bad Homburg is a great place to stay for travel around the area if you don't want to stay in Frankfurt.

* Wiesbaden - Lovely city, lovely market. It was snowing like crazy while we were here, making it hard to see stuff, but they had a large variety of items, nothing outstanding, but I would still recommend coming here as it is so pretty with the decorations. About a 45 min. ride from Frankfurt.

* Rüdesheim - Beautiful location along the Rhine and most lovingly decorated. Many cafes for indoor dining along the streets with excellent prices. I have to say the stands, other than a random few, were more of the cheap, tacky stuff, similar to many of the souvenir stores that fill Rüdesheim. This was disappointing to me. I came here 3 times so had a pretty good chance to see them all. The Scandanavian and Mongolian stands were the best. If you ever wanted some reindeer hides, this was the place to get them! Riding the chairlift up to Germania was fun, especially after our big snows. Hour + ride from Frankfurt, but they have just begun new trains and better service on 13 Dec. which made going there much more pleasant.

* Aschaffenburg - this was the smallest of all the markets and a little dissapointing to me, as a round-trip ticket from Frankfurt was 20 euro and it took an hour to get here. I thought it would be bigger. Nothing really exceptional here. I liked the Basicala here though and I think I would enjoy this town more in the summer, when I could go through the Schloss and see the Pompieaum (sp.?)

* Frankfurt - (you didn't think I would leave this one out did you?) The biggest market of all, and one of the oldest in Germany, dating back to 1393. It is spread out through the Römer, up to the Kaiserdom, down to the Main, and then up to the Liebfrauenberg. This was the liveliest Christmas market with a huge party atmosphere, as it seemed like as soon as everyone was done working for the day, they were down here, gathering around their favorite Gluehwein stand. Good choice of handmade items in the Paulskirche area. Lots of pottery / ceramic creations, wood nativity figures, and excellent doll house items. Having the brass band play on the gallery of the Alte Nikolai church twice a week is a plus, as it being able to go on a tour that takes you up there too (if it isn't snowing), same thing with climbing the Kaiserdom steeple.