christmas markets

Where will be be located? There are great markets all over Germany.

We are not sure. I am thinking of flying into Munich. From Germany we are headed to Paris but thought we would see some German Christmas markets first. I thought Munich would be good but then I read that it would be crowded and that the best ones were in the smaller towns.

Must they be in Germany? If your goal is Paris, how about markets in Strasbourg and Colmar?

How do you plan to get to Paris?

There are as mentioned Christmas markets all over Germany. If you don't want to visit the ones in Munich, you can consider Stuttgart, Augsburg or Ulm, they are all along the train route from Munich to Paris.

There are tons of German Christmas Market threads on this Forum, as well as Trip Reports. I'd suggest a little broad research into those first. Then come back with some specifics -- this or that?; worth the extra time and detour?; too big? too small? etc.

My personal favourites are Bremen and Strasbourg, but they are different. Flying into Frankfurt allows you to visit Frankfurt and Mainz easily, then travel on to Strasbourg. I preferred Mainz over Frankfurt.

Your definition of "best" or expectations would help because just the headine "Christmas markets" is a huge field from ...
+ permanently to only week(end)ly
+ huge to small
+ partyish to more religious oriented
+ different specials and amount of craftsmanship