December Trip Itinerary Recommendations?

Are you aware of the option to fly ‘open jaw’ or ‘multi-city, i.e., fly into one city and out of another? If you did that, you could consolidate all of your Barcelona time either at the beginning or end of your trip. When booking your flight, you can go to ‘advanced options’ in order to do that.

Always best to fly MULTI CITY to Europe - into one city and out of another so you don't waste precious time circling back. Also, know many Xmas markets close on 12/22 or 12/23 - so be sure and check on the Xmas market Calendars. We go over every Dec for the markets and in Europe, less is more. You will spend LOTS of time traveling between cities and NOT enJOYing the towns and markets. It takes LOTS of time to check in and out of hotels, and transfer to another place. The Bruges markets aren't so great compared to the German ones. It's very commercial and food oriented. I'd focus on Germany for the markets -

Nuremberg has a wonderful market and you don't have much time there. I highly recommend Hotel Victoria there - it is within the old town wall and very walkable to the markets, cathedrals and you can walk underground across the street and be at the train station. Vienna is wonderful -- so is Salzburg and that's not on your list. Regensburg and Passau also have amazing markets. Cologne is good, but not as great as the ones I mentioned above. Strasbourg is also great. Maybe save Morocco for another trip and focus on the German and Austrian Markets - you have LOTS planned and not many days. Have you booked your train tickets yet. We booked ours in JUNE and got 1st class very cheap. It'll be a great trip whatever you decide, but these towns are meant to be savored and explored and the markets were closed the past 2 years and are expected to me mobbed this year, so plan for large crowds and spend more time there. Just my thoughts.

You will be in Bruges after most of the German markets close, so if you want to see it, after Xmas is the time to go. I'd still book Multi City flights so you don't waste time going back to Spain. I'd say more time in Nuremberg, add Salzburg. Why are you flying to Milan and not spending time there. This seems SO rushed and like there is no plan there. I'd say cut some places and stay longer in others. Esp the ones with amazing German markets. Prague is also gorgeous.

I agree that flying into Barcelona and out of Paris would be a better use of time and money.

On Dec 5, why would you fly to Milan just to take the train to Lucern? Why not fly to Zurich, then take the train? I would actually take the train to the Berner Oberland area instead of Lucern, and eliminate Basel. Spend all that time in the alps. Then travel to Colmar.

Don’t bother changing hotels from Colmar to Strasbourg. Just go to Strasbourg as a day trip. It’s only 35 minutes by train.

It seems like a lot of time in Budapest. Do you have friends/family there?

Your current itinerary is physically doable.

But have you investigated the possibility of any of the following? Flying to Morocco, then boat or plane to Barcelona, then ground transportation to: Paris, Belgium, your towns in Germany, Switzerland, northern Italy, Vienna, Budapest, flights home from Budapest? Or the reverse, flying to Budapest, leaving from Morocco?

Edit: If your major interest is Christmas markets, and if this is something mainly found in Germany, have you thought of just focusing your trip on Germany-Switzerland-Austria, maybe Budapest too if it is a high interest to you? Do you think you will get to travel again?

I have not traveled to Germany but Berlin has spectacular-looking museums.

Our flights to and from Barcelona are much cheaper than if we did multi city through Paris, otherwise we definitely would have done that

It is just my girlfriend and I traveling until we reach Budapest, and then we meet up with her family until the end of the trip, so we are slowing down on those legs. This is also why our order is a little out of place, and we aren't doing Paris while we are near the area already

As far as Christmas markets go, we usually care more about the food and drink than we do about the crafts, so we are okay if some of our markets are more food oriented.

All great input though, thank you all very much! We'd love to have any other suggestions!

Everyone planning a long trip should realize that price is not everything on a flight. Backtracking to fly home can be expensive--more so than flying into one city and out of another. Most take the fast train from Paris down to Barcelona--650 miles in 6.5 hours--topping out at 185 mph.

I use Google Maps extensively when planning trips. Spain, France and Germany are larger countries than you realize, and distances can be great.

You're flying into Barcelona, a very major city, but not spending enough time there. I'd much rather spend days there and not even visit Morocco. You're flying into Milan but skipping the Lake Como area just 45 miles north and heading for Lucerne for a very short stay. Swiss scenery in the Alps is worth taking slowly.

Basil, Switzerland/France is not even in the mountains, and therefore not a great destination city. Then you're wanting to go north to Colmar and Strausbourg (also on the French German border) before traveling circles from city to city in Germany. And you're missing Bavaria, my favorite part of Germany.

Budapest to Bruges is 890 miles with poor train service so I assume you're flying. You've said that you're picking up the girlfriend's family in Budapest so that part of the trip is out of your power.

Paris is a great European city, but it's also very expensive and a place I like to go into for 3 days and leave.

You really should reevaluate your whole trip for better efficiency. Western Europe is not somewhere to try to see everything on one trip.

agree with what David says above. There is no rhyme or reason to the trip. Nuremberg has some of the BEST food in all the markets (and best vendors for authentic German markets) - and amazing cathedrals and Xmas concerts outdoors at night in the main market. Spend more time there. Go to Salzburg- it is worthy of at least 2 days. Keep at least three nights in Vienna - there are many markets there. You can reread my remarks above in my first post, but your trip itinerary is missing a lot, but very jumbled also - what David says is spot on. You will be whipped with SO much travel and not much time in the towns. You're spending more time traveling than exploring and eating and drinking thru the markets. Milan seems a waste. Not much to see or do in Lake Como that time of year - so why Milan?

Lucern is gorgeous, but the Xmas market is small and the others are much better and deserve more time. Basal has a decent market, but not better than the ones in Passau, Regensburg, Vienna, Nuremberg. Cologne is nice, but was destroyed in WW2, so it doesn't have the European 'feel' to it other than the Cathedral. The Market is good, but 2 days is plenty. You have LOTS of time in Paris for January. And Lots of time in Budapest (although maybe the markets will be open??? - we've never been post Xmas). Again, Prague is a good add on if you want. If you don't have flghts booked, I'd switch it up as suggested above. Or, add more time to Barcelona - it is a great town. I'd skip Morocco and milan - by skipping those flights - I bet you could have flown into Germany and out of Paris for a great deal. We are flying into Vienna and out of Munich in Dec for $650 Business Class -- again, we go yearly and do the markets, so we are good at navigating them.. You'll have a great time. Again, try and get Hotel Victoria in Nuremberg - it is our favorite hotel and very reasonable, but it may be booked this close to the time frame.

You arrive in Budapest AFTER the food vendors in the markets are closed. Thats half the fun.

Going to Morocco without going to Marrakesh!?

Why not skip that Morocco with its flights and do more in Europe. Plan a longer trip to Morocco.

Be advised that in going from Cologne to Rothenburg you're spending ca half a day on the train luggage in tow. No problem if you're fine with that. What about Budapest to Bruges .....a pretty long stretch? Zipping back to Belgium from Hungary? No problem depending on your travel style and what you are willing to cope with.

Is there a flight from Budapest to Brussels? Going by train on a multi-hour ride? I could do that stretch by night train depending on the connections unless you're prepared to spend most of the day on the train with transfers.

I would suggest focusing on that part after the stay in Budapest. Go straight to Paris, skipping Bruges. What about seeing more of the Christmas markets in Germany, I would suggest Dresden and Nürnberg, Berlin too if you want to deviate more geographically.

Fred, there are direct flights to Bruges.

Hello
I think morocco worth this trip and I recommend for you to spend two days on fes and having a tour from fes to marrakech via desert at total in 3 days and if you have time you can explore marrakech in one day and having day trips from marrakech to essaouira, all what you need to know is how many days you have in Morocco, for any helps feel free to contact www.izilmorocco.com and wishing you a wonderful trip

Dear Errick,

It seems to be a great itinerary but must remove and add other places to be a great,
here you can see a variant places www.typicalmorocco.com
So feel free to contact us for any help about places and must-visit spots.

Way too much unnecessary travel.
Eliminate Fez, it is a great place, but you aren't in Morocco very long and you miss Marrakesh the crown jewel of the country.
Do Morocco later when you can do it RIGHT.

Also, why fly into Barcelona for a day. Fly into Zurich, do Switzerland and the Rhine Valley trip, then do Brugges and Paris before you do Vienna and Budapest.

As far as Christmas markets go, we usually care more about the food
and drink than we do about the crafts, so we are okay if some of our
markets are more food oriented.

1 Then you will be disappointed in Budapest as the food portion of the markets closes Christmas eve.

2 The Craft part stays open until 1 January and the craft part is pretty good as everything has to clear a review committee before it can be sold; all handmade Hungarian, no imports, no junk.

Germany running out of gas in the Winter?
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/10/02/german-govt-warns-gas-may-run-out-over-the-winter-months/

"Germany running out of gas in the Winter?"

We posed our concerns about this and its possible effects on winter travel in the "Austria" forum. Too, we also queried possible disruptions on the "Germany" forum on TAdvisor. People (on TA) seem to think that winter tourism will continue with minimal effect, but I am having difficulty seeing how that is possible--especially in light of what we are hearing from government and media sources.

Also, there was only one follow up post in the Austria forum here on RS--and that was to say that the only effect of the energy crisis in Vienna is that the Rathaus Christmas market will open one week later than usual.

Is winter travel to Germany/Austria prudent at this time? Is it irresponsible and (possibly) self-serving? I guess the governments of those two countries will determine the former, and I will have to determine the latter.