My husband and I are planning a trip to Europe in December before we pick up our son in London who is studying abroad. We are torn over flying into Copenhagen vs somewhere in Germany. Which would be better for this time of year?
We need to get our airfare nailed and I keep going down rabbit holes online and am running out of time to make our decision. I would love some advice.
What does mean "better" for you in this context? What do you look for?
Germany's Hamburg and surrounding towns have nice Christmas markets. Close Lübeck has Christmas market visitors from Scandinavia and calls itself “Christmas City of the North”.
You could spend some days in Copenhagen and take the train to Hamburg for another few days.
What's "better" for you may not be better for me, so your question is impossible to answer.
You have loads of time to book your flights. Depending on where you live in the US and what other considerations you have for booking flights, you might be well served with a RT ticket to London and onward tickets booked separately. Or maybe you have a direct flight from your city to, say, Frankfurt, from where you can take the train to nearly anywhere, including Copenhagen. Or maybe you don't like to fly directly. You can set up Google alerts for your preferred flights to find the best deal.
What's "better" for you may not be better for me, so your question is impossible to answer.
We need to get our airfare nailed...
Given the uncertainty over international travel, and if past models may not currently apply, it might be worth holding off on purchasing tix, especially since demand is typically low in December. I traveled to Budapest and Vienna back in December, didn't buy tix until early October - got an excellent premium economy fare on Lufthansa.
Airfares: the current tourist numbers from Germany and Denmark to the USA are falling significantly. The average cross-Atlantic loading factor was in last December around 86% (IATA) but the reported much lower demand of this March (thread with concrete numbers also for Denmark) shall give some guarantee that the tickets are not sold out or get expensive quickly.
Thank you everyone for the advice. I guess my “better” reference was a bit ambiguous. I’ve never been to either country and I definitely want to go to a Christmas market or two. I know Germany is known for it but the more research I do every European country has quaint Christmas flair lol. Copenhagen seems absolutely charming. I also enjoy small group or private tours of historical places and I definitely want to tour a castle or two. I suppose I got nervous as a few guides/tours weren’t offering anything in December. Most guide books show pics in summer/spring so I became concerned that places would be closed at holiday time.
My husband mentioned doing a Viking River Cruise but at first blush they seem to be heavily focused on hitting Christmas markets along the Rhine or Danube. I don’t want to be limited to just shopping at markets.
I think you will be happy in Copenhagen (although I see it more as a summer / outdoor city) and in some German towns such as Lübeck (World Heritage old town) with Hamburg, Goslar, Dresden and Nuremberg.
The one thing you need to know about December in Scandinavia is that there is very little light at that time of year. If you are a Canadian you probably know about this wintry phenomenon already. At the start of every November I always say that Munich would be the ideal place to live. You would notice the changes over the seasons but the dosages would be more fruitful. But it doesn't really affect me that much. Assuming there is a nice Christmas Market there you will love Copenhagen. I somehow get the feeling that Copenhagen is right for you.
