Christmas itinerary with market focus from Munich

Do you have any particular smaller towns in mind? There is in general no need to rent a car to visit smaller towns in Germany as most of them have a railway station. And those that don't are usually connected to the closest railway station with pretty frequent buses.

Also, there are direct night trains from Munich to Rome that also stop in Salzburg along the way. Taking the night train will save you one hotel night, and is a time efficient way to travel.

Good thought about the night train. One additional point - i would bet that 9 and 11 YO kids would find the idea of a night train to be super exciting and cool.

But now i am wondering about renting a car during the Germany portion, getting out of the big cities and driving to some smaller towns.

I agree with Badger here, a car is not needed. When we lived in Munich and owned a car we still used the trains to visit nearby Christmas markets (Salzburg and Nuremberg). The weather in December can be poor plus it gets dark early, parking near a market can be a hassle, traffic on the A8 between Munich and Salzburg is almost always terrible.

It sounds like you already have some experience with Christmas markets so I won't give details about all the market in Munich (search this forum if you are interested). Instead I would recommend researching areas in the foothills south of Munich that are accessible by the BOB train (not all these links are updated for 2020 yet). These will give you something different than just Munich/Salzburg/Nuermberg markets.

• https://www.tegernsee.com/en/christmasmarket
• https://www.schlierseer-weihnachtszauber.de/museumsweihnacht/
• https://www.bad-toelz.de/de/kultur-veranstaltungen/veranstaltungen/christkindlmarkt.html

DJ

Why on earth would you do the night train? Travel between Munich and Nuremberg, and between Munich and Salzburg, is less than 2 hours. Do you really want to be sitting in a train station at 3am with kids? You can take an evening train, but I wouldn't do that either. The best time in the markets is from 5pm (and it's dark then) to close. Most of the tourists who visit for the day are gone and it's just locals and over-nighters. I highly recommend you travel to your destination before noon, drop your luggage at the hotel, tour the old town and head to the market in the evening. Get a good nights sleep and catch a train to the next stop in the morning.

Thank you DJ for the thoughts on driving. And the suggestions for the night train to Rome. I thought they were eliminating most night trains a few years ago but I will definitely look into it and the kids would love it.

Think the plan at this time is 3 nights in Salzburg going directly from the Munich airport. Then 4 nights in Munich with possible daytrip to the neusch... castle. Then fly/train to rome

And the suggestions for the night train to Rome. I thought they were
eliminating most night trains a few years ago but I will definitely
look into it and the kids would love it.

Night trains are becoming more popular again both as a way avoid airports with their queues and security checks and instead arrive right in the city centre, and as a way to lower your carbon foot print a lot.

Think the plan at this time is 3 nights in Salzburg going directly
from the Munich airport. Then 4 nights in Munich with possible daytrip
to the neusch... castle. Then fly/train to rome

The Night train stops in Salzburg as well, so spending time in Munich first, then Salzburg and after that night train Salzburg-Rome would mean less backtracking. For more information on the night train, see www.nightjet.com