Hi,
I am planning to travel this early December to Germany for Christmas Market. I have
a total of 8 days.
Not sure which part of Germany to go, thinking of Berlin and Praque for a total of 8 days.
Which area to stay in Berlin and Praque?
or
Stay in Munich and will do day trip to Nuremberg, Stuttgart and maybe 2 night stay in Heidelberg.
Any suggestions will help. This would be my first time to visit Christmas market.
Visited Munich 1 year ago but just for 3 days.
Posted by
Nederland, CO
1437 posts
Not sure if you mean Prague? Either way I would say it depends on what you want to see beyond the Christmas Market?
My personal preference would be southern Germany. If the purpose of the trip is Christmas markets then I would say the Christmas market in Nuremburg is the mother of all Christmas markets. However, having said this Berlin offers quite a variety of Christmas markets. The year we went I believe they had 20 different markets. If you do go the northern route I would recommend you include Erfurt.
Posted by
Stuttgart, Germany
3049 posts
This is a tough choice. I love Berlin and the sheer variety of it's markets (over 50) make it hard to beat.
On the other hand, Southern Germany cities have the best Christmas markets, period. If opt to do south, I'd split your time between Munich and Stuttgart, as Stuttgart has many good markets to day-trip to (Esslingen and Ludwigsburg being the two most notable), and you can day trip to Heidelberg from Stuttgart.
Posted by
Salt Lake City
1482 posts
Christmas Markets are a joy in the long winter evenings for the atmosphere, wherever they are? We pick towns that we want to visit and take the markets as a plus.
I would tend to do what Sarah suggests and split the time between Munich and Stuttgart.
From Munich I would consider visiting Regensburg and its Romantic Market at the Thurn & Taxis Palace. Augsburg is another day trip.
https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Advent-2010/Regensburg/
https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Advent-2010/Thurn-and-Taxis-Palace-Market/
From Stuttgart Esslingen's Medieval Market is a fairly unique day trip.
Posted by
Huntington, CT
62 posts
Two years ago we did the Bavarian (southern) area of Germany Christmas Markets and it was fantastic. We based ourselves in Munich at the Hotel Haberstock, which was 2 blocks from the Hauptbanhof, which was great when we came dragging home each evening and just had to walk two blocks from the train station to get home. The hotel is very clean, good breakfast included in the a.m. Munich has a number of Christmas Markets, the one in the Marienplatz is just three blocks from that hotel and several others are within walking distance. We trained to Nuremburg, Augsburg, Neuschwanstein (Castle), Rothenburg. Dachau is a 30 minute bus trip and shouldn't be missed. We did it on a Sunday morning and then went back to Munich center for the Krampus parade (google that for more info). One thing that saved us a lot of $$ was a Bayern partner pass transport ticket - good for two people for one day anywhere in Bavaria. Paid about $24 total each day, trains, buses, etc. You buy it at the station and tell them where you want to go and they print you instructions in English, listing train connections, etc. Easy.