Christmas in Munich or Nuremberg?

the important thing to know is that the markets in small towns may only be for one weekend and it could be anytime from late November. In bigger towns they may run longer (and there may be more than one) but most will end on Saturday 23 December or early afternoon Sunday 24.

This website holds a lot of info but still not everything. And due to a design fault the links to market details are not clear, hold the cursor over market names, if they go red you can click for more info.

http://www.weihnachtsmaerkte-in-deutschland.de/bayern.html#

Much though I'd love to just stay in Bamberg, if this is your first time you need to be in the south for the mountains. If you are lucky you may see some snow.

To me, Munich seems the better choice. Not so crowded as Nuremberg perhaps? Lots of possibilities for side trips: Salzburg, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Mittenwald, even Innsbruck, even Nuremberg. If you have been researching, you will have found that Munich has several Christmas markets on its own. I will be there this December and am looking forward to the Creche Museum. Depending on your dates, do a search for Krampuslauf in Bavaria, too.

The Nürnberger Bratwurst cannot be beat, but I found the Christmas market there to be overwhelming. I am pretty sure I located Nürnberg-style Bratwurst in the Munich Viktualienmarkt, too.

Don't lose too much sleep. You are sure to enjoy whatever you decide on.

As has been said, you will not lose with either choice. We would prefer the day trips from Nürnberg better: Würzburg, Rothenburg, Bamberg and Regensburg. Still, Munich also has great options: Regensburg, Augsburg, etc. You are unlikely to see snow in either place but we saw it during our various Christmas Market trips.

Rothenburg
https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Advent-2010/Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber/

Regensburg
https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Advent-2010/Regensburg/
https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Advent-2010/Thurn-and-Taxis-Palace-Market/

BTW, the crowding in either Nürnberg's market square or Munich's Marienplatz can be unmanageable on weekend nights.

Will you plan to be there ON Christmas ? (Afternoon of December 24 through December 26) ?? Just be aware that things close down -- we stocked up at the hotel breakfast buffet!

We decided foolishly to try to do the Tübingen Chocolate Festival the last weekend it was open. I should have known better. It was like a salmon swimming up stream. We couldn't even get to the stalls to see the delicious chocolate. After an hour of trying to make our way through the crowd we gave up. The boys were happy because we found a car museum instead.

I was warned that Nuremburg could be the same way during the weekend. So we decided to hit Nuremberg mid day on a Wednesday, while it was hopping it was not crazy busy. We were able to enjoy ourselves.

I did have some good advice when planning our trip. Choose the destinations you want to to see and the Christmas markets are an added bonus.

I would recommend Munich for the Christmas Markets. Munich has a wide variety of markets and I would recommend a general walking tour to get the non-Christmas market history (wonderful place). Depending on how long you are going to be there, a quick overnight to Nuremberg would be good. The Nuremberg Christmas market is much more compact (and the sausages are wonderful), and there are also some remarkable historical sights to visit.

Thank you so much for your input and the fantastic photos. Sounds like we are in store for a win-win situation. Smiles to you all and joyous future travels!

I would recommend Munich just because there's more than one market, so it's not as concentrated as Nuremberg's. You can always do Nuremberg as a day trip from Munich if you really want to visit! (I'd go on a weekday, though!)