If you do go to Brussels, try to fit in a daytrip to Antwerp. There's a Christmas market and ice rink in the main square by the Cathedral.

Wonder if Obama liked the fashion Barbies in the Panorama lounge ;-)

HI Ozgirl07..did you check out Austria? I was there in March one year and really loved it. Went to Vienna, Innsbruck and Salzburg.

Salzburg was magical. And in Innsbruck they have the Swarovski museum which was interesting.

I hear their Christmas Markets are great.

Just an idea..have fun whatever it is!

Tulips - I will definitely do a couple of day trips. I have Cologne, Bruges and Antwerp on my list.
WeisserTee - Fashion barbies??
atennislover - I have been to Austria and visited Vienna, Innsbruck (Swarovski museum) and Salzburg. Loved Vienna!

If you can get to Cologne before 23 Dec - it has 7 Christmas markets. Would be a shame if you got to Germany after that date, as you would miss out. There are some cities where it goes on a bit longer - try Limburg near Frankfurt, which is cute for a visit anyway.

From Frankfurt - Mainz is a good day trip. Nice old city (Altstadt) and excellent museums such as Gutenberg Museum, Museum for Ancient Shipping (with Roman boats dredged up from the nearby Rhine), the 1000 year old Mainzer Dom (cathedral), the Chagall windows in the Stefansdom. Frankfurt has a lot to offer also, with a wonderful river bank of world-class museums (the Museumsufer), and a small town square, the Römer (Römerberg). It also has a wonderful shopping street, the Zeil.

Hopefully Mainhattengirl will chime in here because she lives in Frankfurt and can give some good suggestions for sightseeing there. You might also look up threads by texasbookworm, who spent ten days in Hoechst (which is close to Frankfurt), and she visited a lot of nearby towns.

Lavandula

Ozgirl, The Hotel has a bit of a fashion and design theme. The Panorama lounge has the most amazing collection of fashion and design coffee table books I've ever seen. Some of them were clearly limited editions and pretty valuable. They were interesting to leaf through over a drink. And as a touch of irony or kitsch, there is a small collection of designer fashion Barbies under glass domes in the lounge as well. They're not everywhere, you don't even notice them after a few minutes.

Regarding Salzburg, I was there over the week-end and was dismayed by how crowded it was. I've heard December is much the same. So how much you would enjoy Salzburg would depend on your tolerance for crowds. I was glad I stayed out in Anif at the Hotel Friesacher, where it was much quieter.

From Mainz, Baden-Baden is also an easy day trip. And even though the Christmas market will have closed, the whole town is beautifully decorated for the holidays and the town, store, hotel, restaurant decorations will still be up.

should have said, from Mainz OR Freiburg, Baden-Baden is an easy day trip....