We arrive from Vienna, mid day on the 8th Dec. staying at Hotel am Viktualienmarkt until we leave for home mid morning on the 12th. We want to see the Munich markets as well as take several day trips via train to other towns for their markets.
Is a day and a half enough for Munich markets, or would we be better off spending one evening there and taking three separate day trips to other towns?
What other towns markets are must see that we can dat trip to see if we can only do two or three?
Salzburg has some good Christmas markets. Too bad you will miss the Krampus run- it's on the 5th this year.
I will be in Vienna on the 5th and plan on taking the train to Salzburg for Krampus
In my opinion, the markets are best after dark. But, that being said, there's so much to do in Munich that I can't see wasting time traveling to another Christmas market if you only have 1-2 days.
Nuremberg is the most famous place you could reasonably do a day trip to, and it's very easy to do it by train. The Nuremberg Christmas Market is a 10 minute walk from the main train station. Trains run every 20 minutes and it takes about an hour to get there.
You might try Regensburg. Good for a day trip and the market in the Thurn and Taxis palace is famous for being so beautiful. The town itself is gorgeous too.
Have you thought about not doing as many day trips, and instead staying overnight in Salzburg which would allow you 2 days there? You could do that on your way from Vienna and that would save some backtracking. That would be my personal preference, FWIW. The markets in Munich are definitely worthy of more than 1.5 days, IMO.
You might consider the Christmas market in Augsburg. I attended this market for a day in the early '90s. It is not huge but very special. At the time there were live "angels" that came out on platforms high on the town hall at scheduled times with music accompaniment. I think this continues to take place but I would check with the tourist office. It was a short train ride from Munich.
Side story--Actually we (four of us) were to drive to Augsburg but we did not read the parking garage sign in Munich carefully enough and when we left our hotel in Munich on a Sunday morning, walked a few blocks to the parking garage where we'd left our car and realized the parking garage was closed on that Sunday morning. So we walked to the train station and took the train. We took a taxi to our hotel in Augsburg, toured the Christmas market and on Monday returned to Munich to get our car (and pay an for an extra day of parking). Won't happen again. Since the late '90s we always take public transportation. And took a semester of German and my husband took three semesters : )
Have a wonderful trip. Happy planning!
Traveler Girl
We liked the market by Chinese Tower in English Garden. That is a good one to visit during the day. The market at Marienplatz is fun at night. There are also fun shops and beer places at the V market.
If you intend on dining in Munich get reservations asap. The restaurants are sold out anywhere near the markets.
Christmas Markets on Lake Tegernsee 1hr by train from Munich
I was in Augsburg last year and while the Christmas Market is nice I wouldn't go out of my way to see it again. Regensburg would be a better choice.
I'll make another suggestion, one that will put you in a town that doesn't see a lot of American tourists, go to Amberg.
My wife & I lived near Nuremberg (small town of Fürth) in 1987-88 (both being stationed in US Army). We went to the Nuremberg Christkindlsmarkt and had a blast. We realize things change over time, and over 30+ years . . . well, we are going again next week (Dec. 2024). But we are also going to spend a day down in Munich to see their version of Christkindlsmarkt as we want to see the Krampus parade, which Nuremberg does not have. We might go to other Christkindlsmarkt in various towns, but we only have 8 days so we will be limited in time, preferring to tour castles and other sites as well. So anxious to be back in Germany. I really appreciate Rick Steves’ info and sharing his wealth of travel experiences.
It will be a long day and packed, but go to Nürnberg. Christkind, Lebkuchen, Bratwurst, Zwetschgenmännla. Get a Glühwein and relax and take it as is. Franken in Bayern.
