Please sign in to post.

Would love advice on my Christmas market trip plans

Hello, and Merry Christmas! Inspired by the season, I am working on my itinerary for our Christmas market trip next year. Our initial plan is:

Munich 2 nights (not our favorite city, just long enough to see their Christmas markets). We will be flying in here from the US.

Nuremberg 3 nights

Strasbourg 3 nights

We could use some advice on a couple of things.

1) I would like to rent a car somewhere near Munich and drop off near Strasbourg. I've looked up the prices and the drop off fee is not prohibitive for us for the ease of movement it allows, as we would like to visit some smaller towns as day trips. Will it be difficult to find parking in the cities of Nuremberg and Strasbourg during this busy period? Is it usually very difficult to drive this time of year? We have lived in the northern US and are reasonably comfortable driving in the snow.

2) From Nuremberg we would like to visit Rothenburg ob der Tauber and possibly one other smaller town as daytrips. Any recommendations for scenic, historic towns near Nuremberg with great markets?

3) From Strasbourg we would like to visit Colmar and possibly some smaller towns such as Eguisheim as daytrips. Does it make more sense to stay in Strasbourg or a smaller place like Colmar? I was leaning towards Strasbourg because I've heard the markets are lovely, but am concerned about the difficulty of getting in and out of the city for daytrips with the car.

After our time in Strasbourg we will travel to Paris, meet up with family and continue on for 2 more weeks in Europe without a car. Does the pace of this portion make sense? Any additional recommendations or suggestions are always appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Posted by
15560 posts

Based on my limited experience (one visit to Christmas markets, southern Germany, Alsace, Salzburg 11 nights), I would say that Alsace is much less likely to get snow because in Colmar there was a large display with fake snow. Also they plan for carolers on boats on the canals, so probably not cold enough for them to freeze. I remember lots of snow and ice skating rinks in southern Germany.

Driving/parking in the cities is likely to be a problem. The markets are mostly in the city centers, in just about every city square. Most of the main streets are closed to traffic completely when the markets are open, except for trams and emergency vehicles. There are lots of day-trippers including many locals, who may drive in, making parking hard to find, expensive, and maybe too far away.

I flew into Frankfurt. If you haven't been there, it is one of the most under-rated tourist destinations. The markets weren't anything special, but I daytripped by train to Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Bad Homburg for delightful markets. My favorite market in Germany was the Medieval Market in Esslingen (a short train ride from Stuttgart - also a good market). What most impressed me about Munich's markets was the size and number of them.

The Alsatian markets were very different from the German ones. Strasbourg was very nice, Colmar won my heart. I wish I'd had time to visit the villages. Since the villages are small, it may be very helpful to have a car, but stay in one of them, not in Colmar. I'd recommend getting to Strasbourg by train and getting a car there. AFAIK there is only one rental agency in Colmar. It's an hour's drive to Colmar and the villages are in that area.

With your plan, I'd think about skipping Munich, flying into Frankfurt, going to Nuremburg (after a lot of research I decided it was one to eliminate) if you so choose, by train as well as your other towns. And then train to Paris, of course.

In Germany/Austria, the markets started up around lunchtime. Around 5 pm the locals started gathering and by 7 pm it was really hard to walk around because of the crowds. The locals come to eat, drink and be with friends. In Frankfurt the markets closed around 9, in Munich much later, a couple were open til midnight. In Colmar, markets closed at 7. In Strasbourg it may have been a little later. It seemed to me that most people came to enjoy the markets and the special events (like caroling on the river). You'll have lots of time for sightseeing in the mornings and early afternoons, so I recommend going to places that you want to sightsee.\

On a June visit, I stayed in Eguisheim (one of the smallest villages) at Marie Bombenger B&B. There's parking and it's on the edge of the village, about a 6-7 minute walk to the center.

Posted by
5239 posts

Strasbourg has a good park and ride scheme. You park in a large car park outside of the centre and take the tram into the centre, very easy and eliminates the nightmare of finding somewhere to park.

Posted by
6590 posts

"Munich 2 nights (not our favorite city, just long enough to see their Christmas markets)."

Solid advice from Chani above. There are so many nice markets in Germany that I see no grounds for heading back into Munich if it's a place that doesn't please you immensely. Nuremberg is a great town but can get overwhelmed at Christmas. For your 5 nights in Germany, I would look further into flying into either FRA or Stuttgart and also into the many nice destinations and markets that are closer to this area and to Strasbourg. You will be spoiled for choice.

The region around and to the south of FRA, like most of Germany, is extremely well served by train.

http://www.bahnstatistik.de/Strecken/StrR-BW.pdf

I would postpone the car rental until you are ready for the Alsace. In Germany, Mainz, and further south, Esslingen and Stuttgart, were already mentioned. Additional destinations to consider might be Heidelberg, Speyer, Schwetzingen (and Schwetzingen Palace,) as well as Tübingen and Gengenbach. As the map indicates, all these towns and many others nearby are accessible by train - and the service is frequent, dependable and inexpensive (day passes.)

When you leave Germany, you catch a train to Strasbourg (not far from Gengenbach) and pick up a car there for a couple of days after your time in that city is up.

Posted by
610 posts

Chani- thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful response. I hadn't really considered flying in to Frankfurt, I dont know much about the city so it had never been on my radar except in transit. You gave me a lot to think about with reworking my plans. And of course you should go back! It's a slippery slope, isn't it? My husband and I agreed to bring his younger sister to Europe, she wants to see Paris, Vienna and Rome. So of course that turned into us thinking that there is no reason we couldn't fly in a week earlier and do some Christmas markets, and then might as well make it a rounded 3 weeks and spend Christmas in London.... And so there we go, a quick and simple 10 day trip has snowballed into something much longer, more complicated, more expensive, and infinitely more exciting!

JC - thank you for your tip of the park and ride. I think that would help solve some of our concerns very nicely.

Russ - I appreciate your suggestions for markets to see if we change our plans to Frankfurt and south instead. With Nuremberg being so busy, it probably makes since to reduce our time there and instead spend some time in one of the other towns you mentioned.

Thank you all for taking the time to answer!

Posted by
13809 posts

Bookmarking and taking notes, haha! You know I always love your trips!

Posted by
5697 posts

But if you DO get to Munich don't forget Salzburg only a 2-hour train ride away. Our FAVORITE Christmas market. This was our second Christmas in Salzburg -- still no snow.

Posted by
4616 posts

We were just in Strasbourg , and from about 10-11:00am until 8:00pm, there's no driving into the Old Town, as all the streets become pedestrian ways. Also, there is a backpack/luggage security check as you cross the river walking into the Old Town area.
We loved the Strasbough markets, and the Stuttgart markets, plus Esslingen [15 minute S-train ride from Stuttgart,] is not to be missed.
Book your hotels early- especially for the weekends- by June. We found Rothenburg hotels filled up very quickly, six months out.
We ran into problems with the French transportation strikes, which are too difficult to predict this far out, but we learned one must research the status of the strikes before the trip.
Search my history and you can review my Trip Reports. Our trip was incredible and glorious, and I'm so excited that you are planning one of your own.
Safe travels!

Posted by
610 posts

Ha, Pam! Likewise! I love having travel obsessed friends so I dont feel so out of place. And you always inspire interest in a new place for me!

Laura - thank you for the Salzburg suggestion. That is an interesting idea.

Posted by
610 posts

Pat - I loved your wonderful trip report! Thank you for sharing. I have now had several recommendations for Esslingen, so I will definitely try to include that in my plans. It sounds like a very unique market!

Posted by
15560 posts

And so there we go, a quick and simple 10 day trip has snowballed into something much longer, more complicated, more expensive, and infinitely more exciting!

LOL, Tamara. That's how all my trip planning goes. And still I have trouble keeping within my 3.5 week maximum. As for going back, I saw enough snow in Germany/Austria in a week to last me a decade. The trip was in 2012, so it's not time yet, but . . . I'm going to London for a couple weeks in winter, I'll see how I manage to deal with the cold there - though I don't plan to be outside much. If you want to get an idea of what to expect, I have photos here and here from my trip. A few were taken in Esslingen.

Posted by
4616 posts

Chani, having just returned from the markets, I really love your pix. One question: How the heck do you attach pix to your posts?
Thanks and safe travels!

Posted by
610 posts

Chani, thanks for sharing your photos! The food ones are especially inspiring! :)

Posted by
15560 posts

Tamara - the food was sooo good - and I'm vegetarian when traveling. There's so much good food everywhere in all the markets, you may want to skip breakfast and never set foot in a restaurant. The potato pancakes in Munich were amazingly good, piping hot and crispy, with a choice of sugar, apple sauce, sour cream or my favorite, quark (a very soft cheese very similar to creme fraiche). And for anyone who doesn't want to drink (alcoholic) mulled wine there's kinderpunsch everywhere too. When you start to get cold, the best thing is to hold a cup of hot punch.

Pat - I'll send you a PM

Posted by
3049 posts

I've been to the Xmas markets in the areas you're talking about except from Nuremberg (was going to do it this year, but we will ill so much of the time). I actually like Munich (it grows on you) but I don't think their Christmas markets are exceptional enough to stay 2 nights in a city you don't otherwise like unless you're specifically interested in Tollwood which is a unique experience.

I do adore the markets in the Stuttgart area, the big 3 which are open continuously and are all some of the best in Germany are Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg, and Esslingen, the latter being my favorite ever. But they are increasingly popular with Germans and international tourists, so I would try to schedule visits to them on weekdays. Even weekday evenings become insanely crowded if the weather is decent (i.e. not raining) and a weekend night in good weather is a nightmare. Parking is also a nightmare. Base in an AirBnB in Stuttgart or a hotel in Esslingen or another charming town on the S-Bahn line and don't think about driving to the markets.

There are a lot of other great markets in the greater Stuttgart region, but many of the best are only open for one or two weekends or one week, and a lot of them start early, so you might want to think about Thanksgiving travel, or if you plan to be around over Christmas, note that even the "big" markets often close the last Advent Sunday or on the 22nd or the 23rd and the country shuts down entirely from 24-27th. On a plus note, the French markets tend to stay open after Christmas. But if I had my druthers, I'd try to base my trip around the first week of advent for the largest selection of open markets.

I finally went to the Tuebingen Market this year, and maybe it was the drizzly weather, but I wasn't that impressed. It's unique in that it has only real handicrafts, but it's not particularly beautiful nor were the food offerings that exciting. The middle week of December hosts the real attraction, the ChocoART festival, which is like a Christmas market entirely about chocolate, basically. This is unique and worth seeing if you can make it work in your schedule, but again, go on a weekday. I went on a Friday morning and by 5pm it was becoming unreasonable.

Other great markets in the area include the Castle market at Burg Hohenzollern (one weekend only), the market at Maulbronn monastery (ditto), and Bad Wimpfen (2 weekends I believe). These are near other scenic towns and locales with markets too, so if you do some research you could hit 2 in a day, particularly with a car, from a base near Stuttgart. Train makes the timing more difficult in this case for these markets further out from the major cities. It's near impossible to visit Hohenzollern without a car, for instance, unless you're a hiker.

As for driving, if you're used to driving in snow, I wouldn't worry about it, and only once in the last 5 years have we had significant snow around Christmastime in SW Germany. You can't predict the weather, but even if it snows, Germans are efficient about clearing the major roads.

As for France, I love Strasbourg's varied markets and Colmar is always a delight. Strasbourg does have a good Park and Ride system but for your interests I'd consider basing in Colmar at a hotel at the outer ring with parking, and then walking in Colmar, taking the train to Strasbourg, and driving to villages. Outside of Colmar and Strasbourg getting around without a car can be trying in Alsace. (i know because I keep trying, lol). Hope that helps!

Posted by
610 posts

Sarah, thank you so much for your thoughtful response. You gave me a lot of new ideas to consider. It sounds like I could go back to these regions every year and never run out of new markets to see!

Posted by
84 posts

I really enjoyed the Markets in Strasbourg and Colmar. Lots to see other than just the Christmas markets, also.
Another small town I really enjoyed was Riquewehr. It was very charming with some unique handmade ornaments. The best I remember, there was parking available on the edge of town. Easy to see in a few hours.