Christmas Markets in Germany

Markets are pretty much the same to my experience. The atmosphere is more important than the goods. The best idea for us is to pick towns that we want to visit and take the markets as a bonus.

We have not visited markets in the north. So I can not readily make recommendations. I would do a search (Weihnachtsmarkt) in Lüneburg, Celle and Goslar as I enjoyed visiting those towns in other seasons.

I will be anxious to see what others recommend.

I might suggest Wernigerode. The town is picturesque and the market is held in the main square. I have been to the town but never during Christmas market time. What I have read, however, is that this is a lovely, small town market.

There are several nice Christmas markets in Northern Germany. The most popular is the one in Rostock, because of the tourists from Scandinavia, but since you don't want crowds I would recommend Lübeck, Lüneburg, Wismar and/or Stralsund instead. All of them are typical towns of the Hanseatic League, all of them are (mostly) preserved (which means a romantic atmosphere), and three of them are World Heritage Sites.
These towns are made of brick, which is typical for Northern Germany. If you travel south the next interesting area is the Harz region, which are Northern Germanys highest mountains. The towns there are made of wood, which means they look completely different. The highlights there are Goslar, Quedlinburg and Wernigerode. All very romantic, and two of them are World Heritage Sites. Especially Quedlinburg is highly recommended.

Since you mentioned that you love crafts and Christmas decorations:
It's not known outside Germany, but many German Christmas traditions, and most of the things you can buy on a typical Christmas market, originate from the mountainous parts of Central Germany, the area between Erfurt (Thuringian Forest) and Dresden (Ore Mountains), which are both to the south of the Harz mountains. The Christmas baubles were inventented in a small village (Lauscha) to the south of Erfurt, and all the handmade wooden Christmas toys like pyramids, miners, nutcrackers, smokers and Schwibbogen, are from the Ore mountains, to the south of Dresden. Moravian Stars are from a village to the east of Dresden. And Stollen, the popular Christmas cake, is from Dresden.
The Ore Mountains are actually known as Germanys Christmas country, and the epicenter is Seiffen, a village with nothing but Christmas shops all year round. Here is a nice articles about it:
http://www.startribune.com/longing-for-light/110826984/?c=y&page=all&prepage=1#continue

Erfurt and Dresden offer two of Germanys biggest (200+ stalls) and most popular Christmas markets. I wouldn't recommend Dresdens Christmas market, which is very crowded, but Erfurt is the only big German Christmas market on a completely preserved town square in a (almost) completely preserved city.

http://www.weihnachtsmaerkte-in-deutschland.de/

note that start late November and may only run for one weekend in small towns.

It's far from Hamburg, but if you want some markets that break the mold, Southwestern Germany is the place to go. Stuttgart is the best large city market I've been to, as they decorate the roofs of the stalls. Nearby Esslingen both has a great normal market and a middle ages market that's fantastic. 15 minutes by train in the other direction is Ludwigsburg, which has an elegant baroque market. There's also unique markets like the one at Hohenzollern castle (only on two weekends, I believe), and the market under a huge train trestle in the Black Forest.

Otherwise, Berlin has a huge diversity of markets (over 50) and would be a logical stop if you don't want to go far south.

We're probably using Iceland Air that flies into Frankfurt and Munich if we were to go South in Germany. We've been to the eastern Ore Mts and to Munich and Bavaria before (summers) and are hoping to see a different side of Germany.

HI,

We had been to many places in Bavaria and Austria many times, but to visit some places again, like Salzburg and Innsbruck for example, was like visiting for the first time again. Both are stunning with the Christmas lights, the smells of food outdoors, stalls, etc. Our favorite during the Christmas market season is Innsbruck. Berchtesgaden, Salzburg plus the town's and villages on the Wolfgangsee (St. Gilgen, St. Wolfgang and Strobl) are all worth visiting.

Paul

Consider going to markets near Frankfurt rather than spend so much time traveling. The Taunus mountains and the Rhine are are beautiful. You don't say when your dates are though.
Medium to large markets
* 23 Nov. - 23 Dec. Rüdesheim (closed 26 Nov.)
* 25 Nov. - 17 Dec. Bad Homburg, weekends only
* 27 Nov. - 23 Dec. Worms
* 27 Nov. - 24 Dec.
* 27 Nov. - 22 Dec. Heidelberg
* 27 Nov. - 22 Dec. Hanau
* 28 Nov. - 23 Dec. Wiesbaden
* 29 Nov. - 23 Dec. Aschaffenburg
* 30 Nov. - 23 Dec. Mainz
* 30 Nov. - 17 Dec. Seligenstadt
* 28 Nov. - 23 Dec. Hanau
* 28 Nov. - 22 Dec. Esslingen Medieval Market
* 1 - 23 Dec. Marburg
* 1 - 23 Dec. Michelstadt
* 1 - 23 Dec. Darmstadt
* 27 Nov. - 7 Jan. Speyer

Small markets
* 30 Nov. - 3 Dec. Oberursel
* 1 - 3 Dec. Idstein
* 2 - 3 Dec. Kloster Seligenstadt
* 2 - 3 Dec. Frankfurt Höchst, Medieval Market
* 2 - 3 Dec. Ronneburg Castle, Medieval Market
* 2 - 3 Dec. Boppard, Medieval Market
* 2 - 3 Dec. Hessen Park Open Air Museum
* 6 - 10 Dec. Büdingen
* 8 - 10 Dec. Königstein
* 8 - 10 Dec. Ingelheim
* 9 - 10 Dec. Ronneburg Castle, Medieval Market
* 9 - 10 Dec. Wertheim, Medieval Market
* 9 - 10 Dec. Eltville
* 9 - 10 Dec. Kronberg
* 9 - 10 Dec. Bacharach
* 9 - 10 Dec. Hofheim
* 9 - 10 Dec. Bad Soden
* 9 - 10 Dec. Kloster Seligenstadt
* 9 - 10 Dec. Neu Isenburg
* 9 - 10 Dec. Schloss Vollrads, Oestrich Winkel
* 14 - 17 Dec. Gelnhausen
* 15 - 17 Dec. Ingelheim
* 16 - 17 Dec. Eppstein
* 16 - 17 Dec. Hessen Park Open Air Museum
* 16 - 17 Dec. Oppenheim
* 16 - 17 Dec. Kloster Seligenstadt
* 16 - 17 Dec. Ronneburg Castle, Medieval Market
* 16 - 17 Dec. Wertheim, Medieval Market
* 21 - 23 Dec. Ingelheim

Markets generally start to open around noon, for the local lunch crowd. They start to get crowded around 5 or so, when the locals get off work and start congregating with their friends. Often by 7 pm it is difficult to push through the locals standing around in groups with mugs of mulled wine and enjoying their evening.