Thoughts on a 2 week itinerary to Central Europe in December

You have done Prague, and you liked it, but you say you can do without a second trip so why not spend the time someplace new.

Nuremburg (1N) to Vienna about 4.5 train hours
Vienna (3N or 4N) to Budapest (also good Christmas Markets) 2.5 train hours.
Budapest (3N or 4N) to Salzburg about 5 train hours
Salzburg (2N) to Munich (2N) 1.6 train hours

Personally, for more time in Vienna and Budapest. I would skip Salzburg, or do an early train in one day and a late train out the next day.

Thank you Mr E. I will look into that option, good idea.

If your next stop is Prague I would start in Dresden with famous Striezelmarkt, not in Nuremberg. If Prague is optional I would sprend a few nights in the Ore Mountains with very authentic Christmas Markets and a little off beaten tourist passes. By this you would reduce the travel versus quality time.

Nothing against Budapest but this seems more a detour in that context.

Any reason why you don't have any time to spend in Munich? It is worth at least three days. I agree about skipping Prague since you have been there before.

I love Prague, but was disappointed when we returned in December 2023 as part of our Christmas Market trip. I felt the Christmas market in the Old Town was a giant food market that could occur at most any time of the year. (We did find a couple of very nice markets in more residential areas. ) Of course, there's much more to see and do in Prague, but it sounds like you have likely visited your top priority sites. Dresden, on the other hand, was fantastic! (I had previously spent 10+ days in Prague vs 2 in Dresden.) Yes, markets everywhere-but also concerts, museums, and easy transportation to towns such as Meissen and Bautzen.

Nothing against Budapest but this seems more a detour in that context.

It's not a huge detour. Adds a few travel hours to the trip. But Prague is a bigger detour. To be so close to the most beautiful and facinating capital city n Europe and miss it, isn't logical if you can make it work.

Budapest is on the edge of Western Europe, and if you want to stick to trains, then if you don't do Budapest with Vienna, you pretty much are out of luck reaching Budapest in the future unless you enjoy 8 to 12 hours on s train and so you need to fly.

Munich to Amsterdam? That's not complicated, that's a short flight. As is Munich - London.

MarkK, Excellent I idea. Trains run from Nuremburg to Karlovy Vary to Cheb to Ostrov to Chomutov then down to Prague. But the OP will have to add a few days to the trip.

Amsterdam is on the way to your final destination, London, and it is a flight away from everywhere. Now is when you have to look at how much time you have and what you are interested in to get the most out of your time. Amsterdam, in the future, works well with Paris and Brussels if either of those are in future plans or if your departure city is served by KLM or Air France or Delta you will find in the future you will be in Amsterdam often to change planes .... you just stay for a few days ... then continue on.

Thank you for all the much appreciated feedback.

@MarkK, our flights into Nuremberg are already booked, so unfortunately I think Dresden may be too far out of the way. I have read that the markets there are authentic and really lovely, so it is a pity we will miss this part of Germany.

@Judy, we have been to Munich before and we will certainly travel into town to see all the sights again.

@Den, good to hear your thoughts on Prague, thank you.

@KGC, we were hoping to stick to the train networks but I feel I may need to look into flights if I add Amsterdam. Much simpler, much quicker.

@Mr E, I hope to visit Budapest one day, for sure. If we don't include Amsterdam and remove Prague it definitely becomes an option.

With a few nights to spare we are torn between spending more time in
any of the places above, or making our way towards London where we
will spend our 3rd week. We have thought about Amsterdam for a couple
of nights (this would be over new year), but are struggling to find an
uncomplicated route there.

A very easy way to travel from Munich to Amsterdam is the direct overnight train. Much simpler than flying. And saves you some time since you'll spend most of the trip sleeping (which you have to do anyway).

Another option is to continue to Stuttgart and visit the Christmas markets in Stuttgart and Esslingen. After Stuttgart you can also make a stop in Strasbourg which is a charming city and also known for its market. And if you're spending at least two nights in Strasbourg, a day trip to Colmar can be worth it.

@Mr E, I hope to visit Budapest one day, for sure. If we don't include
Amsterdam and remove Prague it definitely becomes an option.

I dont know your interests, but in the event you put off Budapest this time then two other very interesting pairings woud be

• Budapest and the Balkans by way of Podgorica airport. I love the Balkans once you get out of Croatia.
• Budapest and Ukraine .... Lviv (US State Dept Level 3) is served by an overnight train out of Budapest
  

If you are a big city type, then outside of Vienna its hard to pair without a flight. Good news is Budapest is a hub for Wizz and has a lot of Ryan Air flights too so you can get to or from most of Europe in a 2 hours or less for $100 or less.

And with that, I will leave you with my two favorite videos.
Favorite Tourism Video of Budapest https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?si=IlAWxxN0Kq5LObyk
Anthony Bourdain describing how visually pleasurable Budapest is https://youtu.be/0nd9DuDGCz0?si=aa0c19KaJHEtabkX

Hope what ever you come up gives you what you are looking for and you have an amazing trip.

Great advice! Thanks @Mr E and @Badger.