A friend and I may be visiting Christmas markets in Germany, Austria, France, and/or Switzerland this year, and I'm having trouble choosing towns. Some of the smaller towns (Esslingen, Heidelberg, Strasbourg, for example) look like they have delightful markets, but what are the towns that both have delightful markets and good daytime sights/activities? Are there charming small towns with good indoor things to do, especially if the weather is bad? Maybe they're the ones I've listed, maybe not! Thanks for your help!
Posted by
San Diego, California
5620 posts
Most towns have a palace, museum/ art gallery, and a cathedral to visit, and in Germany, look for a car museum nearby.
As I said in my trip report, many Xmas market towns aren't in the RS Guide books, so Google the local TI for local info. I actually received hard copy maps and printed info from the TI's. Have you decided where you're flying in/ out?
Have fun.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8022 posts
Strasbourg is a delightful small city (it is not a town) with much to see and do there. It has a gorgeous cathedral, fun shops, and charming museums (don't miss the Alsatian museum, which was wonderful). It's also a very walkable city, and has many interesting spots, including La Petite France, which has a large concentration of Strasbourg’s colorful half-timbered buildings, dating from the 1500 and 1600's. I was there for a day trip and absolutely loved it.
FWIW, Heidelberg is also not a town either - it's smaller than Strasbourg but would be considered a small city with a population of around 161,000. Esslingen is the smallest but again, not a town. :)
Posted by
Germany
626 posts
Strasbourg is well worth a visit at Christmas, day or night. Heidelberg as well. People visit these places in the summer, too. ;)
Really almost any place that is worth visiting at night for the markets would be worth visiting during the day--even the smaller villages will have museums or similar that are worth seeing. The markets during the day are also fun, just different. And remember, it gets dark early--still day time!--in Germany in the winter.
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
Are there charming small towns with good indoor things to do, especially if the weather is bad?
Excellent question. Weather can be a real issue. I enjoy Christmas markets a lot. But even when the winter weather is good, the number of hours most of us can actually endure outdoors - comfortably and enjoyably, that is - is relatively small in winter. So I think a wise approach is to book your stay in somewhat larger places - larger than "small towns," that is. Not just any larger places, but places that actually offer sightseeing/activities that will be of sufficient variety and interest to you and your friend, places where your interests can definitely be pursued INDOORS.
Once you have a few city-candidates in mind, you can then shop around for Christmas markets both in town and in smaller towns nearby. Towns with Christmas markets have proliferated in recent years and are generally not hard to find or to reach by public transport, but do check out the train or bus connections. Some small-town markets are open every day, others on weekends, so check that too. Then narrow down your options.
I believe you said you have 8-9 days in a separate post. Several years ago my daughter and I pulled off a trip of about that many days which included a few days in Mainz (pop. roughly 210,000, with a great Christmas market.) We had frequent rain and a little snow. But thanks to Mainz's churches, museums, and the many pedestrian-accessible indoor shopping options, we had a great time in town and managed to stay mostly warm and dry as well. On one day we took the train through the scenic Middle Rhine Valley to Koblenz (half the population of Mainz) and to small-town Rüdesheim (pop. 9-10,000) for their Christmas markets. Rüdesheim's Christmas vibe was magical. On a separate day we traveled to small-ish Speyer (which is blessed not just with a nice Christmas market but with lots of sights as well) and back. Speyer's market, by the way, is one of the few markets which remain open AFTER Christmas.
So Mainz worked out very well for us. With a longer stay, we might have made day trips to other places (Frankfurt? Cologne?) as well.
We had not considered Speyer (smaller, but not really a small town with pop. 50,000) as a base town. But its proximity to Mainz, to Heidelberg, and other places might qualify it as a good sorta-small wintertime base.
Esslingen: Have you considered basing in Stuttgart? Maybe it has what suits you. Day trips to Esslingen, Tübingen, and other fine towns with markets would certainly be doable from a Stuttgart base.
Posted by
Germany
626 posts
Mainz was a wonderful choice for us as well. We did travel over to Frankfurt one day and liked their market, too. But Mainz was more my speed.