Flying_Mom

Hello,
My family with 2 kids (11 and 13) is planning a trip to Munich arriving on either Dec 23 or Dec 24. We would like to shop at a Christmas Market on our 1st day (assuming we arrive on the 23rd),enjoy a Christmas Eve dinner with hopefully a Church service afterwards.

We need suggestions for Christmas Day. Any suggestions of things to do?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Flying_Mom

Any suggestions for a day trip or activitity for a family on Christmas Day from Munich?

Thanks!

Underhill

The Christmas market in Munich will close at 2:00 p.m. on the 24th; so arriving on the 23rd would be much the best.

Ask your hotel about reservations for dinner on Christmas Eve--not all restaurants will be open.

quokka

If the weather is fine, I'd suggest a trip into the mountains. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, for example, or any other of the mountain resorts. Disadvantage: that's what all Münchners will do, so expect roads, trains and destinations to be crowded.

A great bad weather activity for families would be Deutsches Museum. More here: http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/information/. The museum is closed on Dec 24 and 25, though, but if you're still there on Dec 26, keep it in mind.

Flying_Mom

Thanks for the suggestions... We will look into some mountain resorts for Christmas Day. Do you really think that many Munich residents will travel on Christmas Day?

If anyone has any other suggestions or the perfect mountain village for Christmas Day as a day trip... please respond... thanks

di2315

Hello Flying_Mom

My suggestion would be a day trip to Herrenchiemsee - although I would first want to verify that it will be open Christmas Day.
If you do a search here or on Google, you will find out all the info you need.

You take a ferry trip across to the island on Cheimsee, then can easily spend a full day exploring the castle (described very accurately as a mini-Versailles), other buildings and the grounds. There is plenty to interest kids as well as adults.

We did the trip very easily in one day from Strasbourg - about equal distance as that from Munich.

Happy travels, Di

Grcxx3

sorry I can't give any advice on what to do Christmas Day. We were in Germany 2 years ago and chose to use Xmas day as a travel day. There are probably some tours/activities available, but you will have to do some digging. Perhaps your hotel can help out.

I agree with the suggestion to see the Deutsches Museum. My boys (ages 12 and 14 at the time) LOVED it - as did we. Of course, we spent about an hour in the oil & gas exploration/drilling part (DH and I are both geologists), but the rest of the museum was great too. We allotted 3 hours and wish we could have stayed the whole day.

Flying_Mom

Thank you all for your advise, I will check to see if Herrenchiemsee will be open on Christmas day... the castle sounds enchanting. We will plan a trip to the Deutsches Museum on a day after the 26th... Thanks for the suggestions... Keep them coming if any other ideas pop into your heads...

Happy Holidays to everyone!

UGodwin

For a day trip on Christmas Day I would suggest Oberammergau, a lovely Bavarian village in the Alps not far from Schloß Linderhof and the Wieskirche.

For an English Church Service I suggest the Peace Church in Munich, http://www.peacechurch.de/,a methodist church with members from all over the world. Their African choir is fantastic!

Have a great time in Bavaria!

robertino

Hi Flying -

We were in Bavaria for Christmas a few years ago.

Have your hotel make Chrismas Eve dinner reservations for you.

Midnight Mass at the cathedral in Munich was truly moving and unforgettable.

On Christmas Day we drove south along Starnbergsee, Kochelsee, and Walchensee to Garmisch. Very beautiful drive, and no traffic. The Autobahn may be different.

AisleSeat

As you probably know Christmas day and the day after are pretty quiet times in Southern Germany since most of the people there spend it as family time. You will want to be sure to check to see which things are open. If you plan to pick up a car be sure to check to see that the lot you are using is open when you want to do the pick-up.

Flying_Mom

Hello,
I did not think about renting a car for Christmas day and the day after... that might be a good idea. We were planning on taking a short train trip to a neighboring town but a car may be our best bet in case things are closed for the holiday. We will be sure to check that the rental car lot is open if we decide to rent a car. Thanks for the reminder.

Thank you also for the Christmas Eve Church service. We definantly want to spend Christmas Eve at Church.

AisleSeat

Not Munich but we have loved the Christmas Eve service at the cathedral in Salzburg. They have a formal choir for the Mozart but they finish the service in candlelight (to a packed standing-room-only crowd) with a quartet singing Silent Night with a guitar.

As the notes fade the HUGE bell overhead starts to toll. As you leave the cathedral the bells from all the other churches in Salzburg answer the cathedral bells. It makes for a very memorable walk back to your hotel in the snow.

Flying_Mom

Aisle Seat,
That sounds lovely... I can hear the bells sounding right now. Our hotel reservations are only in Munich.. I wish that we could experience the Salzburg Church Bells this Christmas Eve...maybe another year for us.

Any Church Service recommendations for Munich? We are staying at the Novotel City which is near the center of town.

We still don't have any firm plans so keep those recomendations coming.

Thank you for all of your help!

AisleSeat

I don't know anything about the services but the three big churches that I can think of in the center Munich are the Frauenkirche, Alte Peter, and I think it is St Michaels. Maybe they have websites that talk about their services.

If you go to Alte Peter check out the pictures on the pillars at the back of the church that show what it looked like after the bombing of WWII. It is amazingly rebuilt from a bombed out shell.

Lovejoy

FM,
I was in Munich on Christmas day last year and ended up driving down to Salzburg for the day.

We arrived in time to attend the Christmas day service at the Salzburg Cathedral.

Although I am a Agnostic,I found the service to be quite moving due to the music associated with the Mass.I think it was Mozart.At the end of the service the bells at the Cathdral seemed to ring for about ten minutes,creating a wonderful sound as you departed the service.

Afterwards we just wandered about Salzburg,although all the shops were closed.
However the Hohensalzburg Fortress above the town was open,so walked up to it and enjoyed the views.

We spent a total of about five hours walking about the town,and then drove back to Munich.

AisleSeat

Copy this and paste it in your browser http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...28226459893835

It is the bells in Salzburg.

If you go to google and put in 'Salzburg Bells' then go to 'video' you will find several of these.

Flying_Mom

Aisle Seat,
That was beautiful... I can just imagine being there! Thank you for sharing! Thank you also for the Munich Church recomendations. I will check out their websites to find service times.

We are now thinking about renting a car on the 24th. A drive to Salzburg may be a great idea for the 24th or 25th. I assume most everything will be closed so it may be nice to drive around the countryside and visit some of the towns.

Thank you all for your ideas! We are open to any suggestions for things to do for a family of 4 over the Christmas Holiday in or around Munich.

AisleSeat

Mom,
If you are also looking at the Bertschesgaden salt mine tour it is about 15 miles from Salzburg. Herren Chiemsee (Ludwig's copy of Versialle) is on the way from Munich to Salzburg.