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Christmas Travel - Where do places stay open?

Posted by (Seattle, WA, USA) on

Hi all,
My husband and I want to travel during Christmas -- probably Dec 19 or 20 through Dec 31 or Jan 1. We were originally thinking southern Germany (Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Munich, plus side-trips to smaller towns) then on to Austria (Salzburg, Vienna) -- but multiple forums and blogs note how Germany shuts down Dec 24-26 to be with family. I culturally love that, but realize it wouldn't be great for us as tourists with no family there to visit and nowhere to cook.

All to say: We're expanding our search for a good European cozy Christmas travel spot.

Do you have any suggestions of cities that have options for tourism during the days of Christmas (not Advent of Dec 1 - 24, but Christmas Season of Dec 25 - Jan 6)? Tentatively thinking about Czechia, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, but very open to suggestions! Back to UK or Iceland? Norway? Where have you found hospitality or good experiences during Christmas travels?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

Posted by
11744 posts

Rome is good. It gets a little quiet the afternoon of Dec 24 but plenty of restaurants are open for the Christmas Eve meal and on Christmas Day you can take a lovely walk, perhaps visit one of the nativity/crèche museums, go out for Christmas lunch in the ghetto. Dec 26 most sites are open completely.

If you use the search box above for “Christmas in Rome” you should get lots of detailed results.

We also spent a Christmas in the Dolomites one year. Ski slopes and hiking are open. Get a hotel/lodge with half-board and enjoy!

Posted by
551 posts

Paris!

In 2012, I spent the entire first week of the year in the City of Lights. In fact, I landed on 1 Jan. All the great museums are open, but half the crowds are there. It was in the 50s -- a tolerable temperature in January -- most of the time I was there. And what an honor it was to celebrate Mass at Notre Dame.

Get thyself to Paris! Cheers.

Posted by
563 posts

For something a little different - I spent a week over Christmas in Istanbul and it was wonderful. Not very “Christmasy” but lively, friendly, beautiful and fun! Although mostly Muslim, there are many Christian churches. Some in our group went to English Xmas services - I think at the church located at the Dutch embassy.

Posted by
3050 posts

If you want to stay Germany-adjacent, Strasbourg is a good bet . I've been there over Christmas and it doesn't shut down nearly to the degree that Germany does, and unlike German christmas markets, many of the ones in Alsace stay open through the new year.

Posted by
6 posts

This is so helpful, thank you all! I think you all are building my holiday travel list for a few years to come :)

Posted by
12313 posts

Christmas isn't celebrated until Jan. 6th in Spain, also called Three Kings Day and/or The Epiphany. The period before that is the 12 days of Christmas you've heard of. I haven't been there during Christmas but you might work it into your plans.

Posted by
23604 posts

Christmas is celebrated in Spain. The tradition of gift giving and opening isn't done till the 6th.

Posted by
1008 posts

In 2016 we arrived 12/17 in Munich for a couple days, then Salzburg on 12/19 on the way through to Vienna (the salzburg market was open until 12/26). We stayed in Vienna until 12/24 (I believe some of their markets were open a day or two later) - we were in Prague 12/24-26 or 27... and most of their stuff was open and awesome! Then we hit Berlin and saw almost all of their markets (plus tons of amazing other stuff!) until 12/31 when we trained to Frankfurt to fly out. It was an awesome trip!!

Here is a link to my travel blog...
https://onatangentweb.wordpress.com/category/christmas-markets-2016/

I had to migrate it over from travelpod so all of the writing is there but I still need to add lots of the pictures... but it at least has the details in writing!

Kim

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