I have my airline ticket RT to Munich. Now I am deciding where to stay for my 5 nights. I want a nice, historic small city with a pleasant Christmas market, a few interesting local sites or tours, flat for walking, and perhaps good connections for a day trip or two somewhere else. At first I was thinking Salzburg. It's expensive, though, and might be too crowded and touristy for my tastes. What about Regensburg? Would it be a good choice for a 60'ish lady traveling alone? I'll be taking a shuttle or hiring a private transfer from the Munich airport.
(Airline ticket is with FF miles, so I'm willing to spend for comfort and convenience getting to wherever I decide to stay.)

Regensberg is very pleasant. It's a fine town for walking, there are several Christmas markets (one is all handcrafts), the department store off the main square is excellent--and so is the nearby bakery. I could easily have spent several days there. With luck you'll be able to take in a concert by the renowned cathedral choir.

The nearby palace of Thurn und Taxis is well worth a visit, and one of the markets takes place on the grounds.

I would second Underhill's arguments.
In addition, you also have good rail connections for day trips, e.g. to Nuremberg, Munich, or smaller cities like Landshut or Passau.
Salzburg has the advantage of being located at the front range of the Alps, so it's more in the mountains than Regensburg.

From Munich airport to Regensburg, you do not necessarily need a private transfer. It is fairly easy to reach with an airport bus to nearby Freising station, from where you can take the train to Regensburg.

Don't pass up the markets in Munich. Munich is one of my favorites at Christmas. Watching the ice skating (at the train station end of the pedestrian street) with a gluhwein to warm you up is very enjoyable. Have a great time. CJ

Reading your post, and what's written between the lines, I would agree with the others that Regensburg would seem to be a perfect match for your ideas and ideals. My wife and I do the Christmas Markets every year and our tastes seem quite similar to yours. Regensburg is indeed very historic and has a lot of old world charm. We have never encountered hordes of tourists when there. The old fashioned Christkindl Markt at the Thurn and Taxis Palace is not to be missed. You may even be fortunate enough to see the Princess and/or her children when there. http://www.thurnundtaxis.de/ Be sure that your audio is on and don't miss the introduction.

Also, find out when the performances by the Regensburger Dom Spatzen will be and try to get to one. They are the oldest boy choir in the world in continuous operation. http://www.domspatzen.de/chor/aktuel...alenDonau.html

A great hotel in Regensburg is the Insel Sorat, located literally on an island in the Danube River, right across the stone bridge. http://www.sorat-hotels.com/en/hotel/regensburg.html The rooms with a view across the Danube to the old town are spectacular, especially at night when the Cathedral and several other churches at illuminated. The best rooms are the 'corner rooms', one of which is shown on their home page. Although the Insel Sorat is contemporary it is European contemporary and quite unlike a hotel that is simply modern. From this hotel it's only a few minutes walk across the bridge to the old town. The hotel is in a totally quiet and safe location, also

I could have written pef1234's post word for word!

We have been to Regensburg twice at Christmas time. Both times we've stayed at the Insel Sorat. It's such a thrill to walk across the oldest stone bridge in Europe (right next to the hotel) and be in a lovely old town. And the hotel's breakfast is the most extensive and wonderful of any hotel that I've visited, hands down.

Barbara 5353, I'm just a few years younger than you, and from what you say your interests and mine are very similar. I chose Regensburg the first time because it has an undamaged medieval center, several wonderful churches, the bridge, the river, some Roman bits. We loved it so much we returned three years later - and stayed 3 nights.

The markets are really fun - the one at Turn & Taxis is the handicraft one and the craftspeople are there actively making things.

The Dom is stunning - we've been to the 'midnight' Mass on Christmas Eve twice (actually at 10:00 pm or so, iirc) and the Domspatzen are just ethereal to hear. We've also heard them at other services.

If you end up choosing Regensburg, I can look up a restaurant recommendation or two.

Regensburg is a real jewel and not (yet) overrun by tourists. It perfectly matches the wishes you describe.

Love the answers so far...thanks! I didn't consider the Insel Sorat at first because "on an island over the bridge" sounded far to walk. Looking at the photos, however, I can see that it is a very short distance (maybe 2 blocks?). The online booking site says hotel is full for my dates, but I've sent an email direct to check for sure. Others I'm considering are Hotel d'Orphee and Bischofshof Am Dom. Anyone familiar with these (or others?) Hard to get a feel for Bischofshof as they don't have an English link on their website.
I want a nice hotel with lift and a comfortable chair for sitting and resting after a busy day of walking and touring.

Stayed at the Insel Sorat last Sept and loved it. Had an executive room on the first floor with a little balcony (only big enough to stand on) and looking directly at the bridge and the Cathedral-so beautiful at night. The balcony was over the water. However, since you are traveling alone I don't think I would want to walk across the bridge and down to the hotel alone. There was a large group of young people congregated by the bridge asking for money and they had lots of dogs with them. I don't know what to call their dress, but lots of black, tatoos, earrings, chains, etc. Harmless I would imagine, but just a little uncomfortable going by them. They were never rude to us when we didn't give them money.

violetduck, that's interesting about the kids hanging out. Was that in the winter? We didn't see them, but our last visit was Christmas 2005.

noe847--It was in September and maybe they would not be there in December. They all congregated down under and in the little park area beside the bridge, seemed to be having quite a party everyday we were there. They would bring up some of the dogs and stand on the bridge in the afternoon and early evening and ask for money. We were surprised that they were allowed to be there.

I would seriously doubt that they will hang out there in winter. It's probably been a group of leftover punks or wannabee goths. Despite their obvious interest in change, there is little to fear. Loitering and outdoor partying is rarely considered to require police action since it is not illegal unless it gets out of hands.

bookmarking

Barbara5353

I still believe that the Insel Sorat would be an ideal choice and would urge you not to give up trying to book there. Very often the more desireable property's web site will show 'sold out' when in fact there are plenty of rooms available. Hotel booking sites will reserve blocs of rooms for their own customers. This often results in the home page for the desired hotel showing 'sold out'. You can in fact often find rooms at your desired property at a rate lower than the hotel's own advertised rate. This happens when the broker has not sold all of the rooms they 'bought' and the time is getting close to the booking date and they need to sell the rooms promptly. In your case however, you should probably not wait for a special bargain. Go to this web site http://regensberg.de/ You may have to enter 'Regensberg Hotels' in the search box. Start checking with the various hotel booking sites that come up and I would be surprised if you are not able to find rooms available at the Insel Sorat on one or more of them.

The walk across the stone bridge is only a couple of minutes as the Danube is fairly narrow at that point. I was surprised at the comments posted by violetduck regarding some possibly undesireable kids hanging out in the park near the bridge. I feel certain that was an abberation or the police would have dispersed them post haste. The area is much too nice to tolerate that sort of conduct or hanging out. In the several times we've stayed at the Insel Sorat we've never experienced anything negative in the area of the park at the bridge, mostly families picnicing, etc.

We like to use the hotel reservation service, the largest in Germany.

http://www.hrs.com/

You might try your dates there.

We have stayed at the Park Hotel Maximilian and it was very nice. The prices appear much more than we paid. It is two blocks out the front door of the train station at the beginning of the pedestrian zone. It is also very near the Thurn and Taxis residence previously mention, perhaps raising its price this holiday season.

Regensburg is very nice. I liked the Gothic Dom and river front best. My wife enjoyed a tour of the Thurn and Taxis residence. There is also a decent city museum.

Regards, Gary

Pef:
I am a little chagrined that Insel Sorat hasn't answered the email I send to them on Saturday.
Both the Goliath (new) and d'Orphee got back to me right away. If I don't hear back in a couple days I'll call them. The location looks sublime. Do all of the rooms have that comfy looking chair (rocker?).
That would be a big plus for me.
I tend to stay in the room after a busy day of sightseeing. Also, do you recall if they had an Internet terminal for guest use? I would prefer not to pack my laptop. I guess I can always find an Internet cafe.

pef1234 It may have been an out of the ordinary type aberration, but if you were referring to mental state I can assure you they were there. We were at the hotel four days and they were there every day.
They were drinking, not water, and that is why it was difficult to understand why they would be allowed to be there. I mentioned them because I think many solo female travelers would be uncomfortable going by them.

When we were there in December 2005 the Insel Sorat had a laptop behind the desk that they just handed to us for use in the lobby. Not sure what their policy is now. Also at that time there were not many internet cafes, but I'm sure there are some.

We used taxis on a few occasions, so that might be an option after a busy day on your feet.

If you stay at the hotel D,Orphee and visit the school of Music opposite be careful not to look through the window of Orpheus in the tower. Interesting legend/story.

Barbara5353:

<< Also, do you recall if they had an Internet terminal for guest use?>>
I had a similar experience as another poster . . . the desk clerk gave me a laptop and showed me to a small area and connected to the net for me. That was in December 2007. I would expect that by now they would have a dedicated area with a computer for guest use.

<< Do all of the rooms have that comfy looking chair (rocker >>

I can't honestly recall! I went through images we took there in the past but can't say for sure that all rooms have the "comfy chair". Ask and you should receive!

I would agree that it is disappointing that you have not heard back promptly from the Insel Sorat. I suppose that it's possible that reservation requests go through their home location offices. Sorat is a chain of about 14 properties scattered around Germany with a headquarters in Berlin. You would think however, that with modern technology they could respond to requests more timely.

I would continue to try to find availability at the Insel Sorat by checking the various hotel booking sites. The web site http://www.hrs.com/ showed availability there just a few minutes ago. If you contact the hotel directly they may indeed tell you they are fully booked.

VIOLETDUCK: Sorry for the poor choice of words. I should have said that perhaps the crowd of questionable youths you encountered under the bridge at Regensberg was an abnormality for the area rather than an abberation.