we will be going to germany and spending 5 days in beautiful dresden. Should we arrrive in munich or frankfurt to spend a couple of days enjoying the xmas markets.

Dresden itself has a well regarded Christmas market, no need to head down to Munich just for that reason.

thanks. i have 2 extra days is meissen worth staying in

The Munich christmas market is a favorite of mine. You can't go wrong there. I haven't been to the Dresden one, looking forward to it this year. Enjoy! CJ

Meißen is worth a visit but it's close to Dresden and can be done in a day trip from there.
I guess I'd stay in Dresden for those 2 extra days and do some day trips. Meißen - Moritzburg palace - Erzgebirge - Sächsische Schweiz - or, if you really want to see another Christmas market, catch a train to Leipzig.

As far as Christmas markets are concerned, Dresden has more than enough to offer. No need for further travelling. I'd always prefer the Dresden markets over Frankfurt. Haven't seen the Munich one, though. But Dresden has got one of the biggest, oldest and most famous Christmas markets in Germany, the Striezelmarkt. Besides, they have a medieval-style Christmas market in the Stallburg, which is best in the evenings when everything is lit with candles and torches.

I have been to many a German Christmas market in my time, montrealvic, but never Dresden, and Dresden is not only the oldest Christmas market (over 500 years old) in Germany, but it is I believe, the biggest-some of the traditional German Christmas sweets-such as Dresdener Christstollen-(called "striezel" in Dresden) which is absolutely delicious, and NOTHING like our fruitcake, dusted as it is with confectioner's sugar and having some dried fruit and nuts within-obviously came from here. (you can, at certain stores in the US, buy a pretty good packaged Christmas stollen, btw).

I'm telling you-you're in for a real treat to be in Dresden at Christmas market time-I can't imagine another German city I'd want to be more than there, just to experience it.