German Christmas Markets
 

My husband and I are in the talking stages about visiting several of the Christmas Markets in Germany this year. We have only visited one European city by ourselves, but have traveled extensively in the US.

I am looking for information and help for this trip. We are talking about flying into Franfurt and leaving from Munich with the following city visits:
Franfurt - 2 nights to adjust to time change
Rothenburg - 1 night
Wurzburg - 2 nights
Nurnburg - 1 night
Munich - 1 night
Saltzburg - 2 nights
Munich to fly home

While we are there we would be taking the train to our various destinations. Does this make any sense and are we trying to do too much?

I have briefly looked into the train schedules and don't know if the 10-day 2nd class ticket would meet our needs. Is it best to purchase our train tickets before we leave or wait until we arrive in Germany?

We would like to stay fairly close to the market areas and would appreciate any recommendations on hotels in the various cities/towns.

Thanks for your help!

It does sound like you are traveling around quite a lot on a short visit. We went to the Munich Christmas markets last year - we filled up at least 3 days in Munich alone. There are many markets around, some selling handmade goods and some selling things you will see all over Germany. There is also a festival on the old Oktoberfest grounds that not many tourists know about but it's definitely worth an evening. When I did my research last year I got some good info. I will send you the thread.

Here is the link to my thread from last year. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-be-missed.cfm we ended up staying four or five nights in Munich, then Strasbourg France for 2 nights (which had FANTASTIC markets -- I think there were about 12 or 13 of them all around the town, and there were maps you could pick up that directed you to them), then 4 nights in Paris.

We have done several Christmas market trips with another planned for this year.

You are moving around too much to cities that are within an hour or so of each other.

Option 1, I would arrive into Frankfurt and immediately head to either Wurzburg (1:20 direct train from the airport) or Heidelberg (6o minutes also direct) and decompress in a smaller, more charming city. Nuremberg is another option for a base for a few nights.

From Nuremberg you can easily visit Wurzburg, Rothenburg, and more on daytrips and save the packing and unpacking and moving around that is in your original itinerary.

Salzburg is a 3 hour train ride from Nuremberg so you can head there and base for 2 nights and then finish in Munich to fly home.

But that is still not my first choice for such a short trip.

With only 7 nights, I personally would fly into Munich and head straight to Salzburg for 3 nights. Enjoy your first full day in Salzburg, with a visit to the Fortress and perhaps a 20 minute ride to Hellbrun. On day 3, visit St. Gilgen from there for a truly wonderful Christmas market experience only 45 minutes by bus. After a few hours in St. Gilgen, you can head to St. Wolfgang by ferry and spend a few hours. This makes for a very special day.

Take the 90 minute train to Munich on the 4th day and check in for 4 nights. Head to Nuremburg one day, day trip to Garmisch and Mittenwald for a day exploring two lovely villages. You can also visit Regensburg or Rothenburg from Munich.

This would be a lot more relaxed and the cities and villages I mentioned were some of the most special experiences from my visits to the markets over the years.

I was told by seasoned travelvers that Nuremberg Christmas Market is the one not to miss.

Sadly, we missed that one when we last visited Germany in 2003 :( But we were content with the ones we saw in Munich and the entire Bavarian region, which was the focus of our trip :)

If your main purpose is to visit the Christmas markets which is what you have originally STATED, then I see no reason for you to go to these cities 'for two or three days' although i can completely understand the recommendations for you to do it.

So, please CLARIFY what your most important objective IS.
There are a LOT of travelers who can move from one city to another from day to day and that entire action rolls offlike water from a duck; others get scared to death of even the thought and neither are necessarily THE BEST way.

I would wait and buy train tickets after arrival because you'll certainly spend less money on them that way.

Be aware that you are going to see a LOT of repetition in terms of the types of goods sold and you may very well see items that were NOT made in Germany unless they've moved some of those elves to China.

The markets are charming no doubt about it and worth visiting.

Just a comment that we love the markets, not for shopping, but the for the unique and festive celebrations that we have enjoyed while visiting them. We were fortunate to have some very special experiences in Salzburg, Munich and Garmisch over the last several visits and all unexpected.

There is a useful website called www.christmasmarkets.com which will give some information.

Good advice above...

Too much traveling when you could be using 2 bases with day trips from each one. Nuremberg and Munich would be good bases, as suggested, or add an overnight in Salzburg, which I love. Fly in and out of Munich.

If you're set on flying into Frankfurt, then I'd skip the 2 nights in Frankfurt and use them somewhere else.

As you plan, remember many markets are only open on the weekend and in some of the smaller towns the markets are only open one or two weekends in Advent.

We were there for 10 nights over the market season in 2008 and 2006 and only once went to a market that was not open (Helbrunn which does not qualify as a village even).

Every city and village had their markets in full swing from St. Wolfgang to Garmisch.

Kfusto, I would love to run our intinerary past you for Bavaria in December and get your thoughts.
We have already planned to do as you recommended, in and out of Munich. Train from MUN upon arrival to Salzburg for 3 days. Going into the lake district, St.Gilgen, etc. one day. We're now thinking of hiring a driver instead of a train to take us back to Munich via Garmisch area. Spend the day. Then 3 days in MUN. One day train to tour Regensburg area for the day. Any suggestions or changes?

I am not the best on geography but I believe Garmisch is in the opposite direction from Salzburg so you would pass Munich and then have to backtrack. Would not swear to it though!

I have found private drivers to be pricey but if price is not an issue and the geography works, then perhaps it is a good choice. We hired a car with driver for 4 of us last year and he picked us up in Munich in the morning, took us to Linderhof Castle, then we took a lovely drive to a small village not far from Fussen and stopped for lunch. We then drove to Fussen for a short stop but did not tour the castle there as my mom could not make the climb.

When we next return to Munich, we will take an early train to Mittenwald, stay a couple of hours, then stop in Garmisch on the way back. For us, a driver is worth it if we need/want to get areas hard to access without a car. Since we like to be on our own time, it would be expensive to pay a car and driver to wait while we explored small towns like Garmisch as we would feel like we needed to limit our stay so as not to run up a big bill. If money were no object, then perhaps.

Just some thoughts to consider but I think you will be happy that you decided to choose not to move around so much! And you will have a bit of time to get to know an area which we like. We had "our" before dinner wine stops in both Munich and Salzburg figured out very quickly! :)

Sounds like a lot of traveling and I'm puzzled as to why you think you'd need two nights to adjust to the time change. It really doesn't take that long if you're flying from the U.S. The suggestion to take a train to another city is good.

The only market that I've seen is Strasbourg and I loved it. I do want to get to the Nuremberg market someday and have considered one of the river cruises, like Grand Circle's Danube Christmas Markets.

kfusto,
According to Michelin, you don't pass MUN, you just branch off the route to MUN and cut across and down to Garmisch...and yes, there is a bit of backtrack. But this will give us a beautiful drive, see the Alps and on into MUN for a late dinner perhaps. We have 2 full days in Munich still. It will be the only time we have a driver and will eliminate storing luggage, etc.

We plan to train from MUN to Regensburg one morning. Are there stops along the way that you would recommend?

Are there any favorite places around St Gilgen and St.Wolfgang we must see, have a good lunch, must do? I hope we can take the ferry at that time. We are really looking forward to experiencing Bavarian Christmas!

We love Christmas Markets and have taken Christmas Market river cruises for the past four years. It is so much easier to unpack once and to cruise between the cities and villages rather than worry about train schedules, hotels, and restaurants. We have taken both Rhine and Danube cruises.

We have traveled on Grand Circle river cruises, but there are lots of providers to chose from. We wouldn't do it any other way.

atiga, sounds lovely then since the geography works. It is certainly a treat to have a private car.

I will go through my business cards and notes from last year's trip as we had a lovely lunch in St. Gilgen. We were there in early December and the ferries were running. St. Wolfgang was pretty but the boat ride itself and St. Gilgen are just wonderful! If you can time it to be in St. Gilgen after dark, they have bonfires in the square which are so much fun!

As far as Christmas market cruises, I think they work for less independent travelers. We do not find the trains in Europe to be a hassle and really enjoy seeing so many new places that way. And we pack carry on only so luggage hassle is minimal.

We enjoy eating local food and not being on anyone's schedule than our own.

That being said, we are doing a short 5 day segment this year on an Avalon cruise as part of a longer trip. It is only 5 days as I think that will be more than enough for us to see if it is something that we enjoy. We do not plan to use the provided tours as we prefer to explore on our own and we will dine locally whenever the schedule permits.

Our trip is 12 days so we have time before and after to travel as we normally do, independently and by train and bus.

kfusto, You must have really loved your previous Bavarian holiday since you are returning! That makes me all the more excited about it. I'm with you regarding independent travel and various cruises...but a short market cruise sounds wonderful without the hassles of "travel".

The Wolfgang/Gilgen segment is right down our alley. If you do come across that lunch spot in St. Gilgen, I would appreciate it. I just wish we had more time to spend as a whole...maybe next time!

I went to University of Salzburg many years ago as an exchange student and fell in love with the area. I have visited several times over the years and my husband with me for the first time last year.

As soon as we returned from our last visit, we decided to explore more of Germany and Austria (though Italy is a country I love, this part of Europe is such a great value) so we are headed back in 2009 and plan a return in 2010 as well to take friends who have never been.

I will dig around in my notes for you when we return home next week.

Hi -

Since it doesn't sound like you've booked your airline tickets yet, think about taking a Christmas Market river cruise along the Danube from Vienna to Nuremberg. I took one with Grand Circle Travel and had a ball. It's a pretty good value because it includes your airfare, cruise, and 3 meals a day. My cabin was very clean, the staff was extremely helpful, and the food was quite good. Hope that helps, and have a wonderful time!