Please sign in to post.

December 2025 Advice

Hi all, we've booked flights to Munich for December. Arriving into Munich on Dec 20 and Departing back to the USA on December 31. I have a rough idea of what I'd like to do given the time we have but would really like some advice on how we might want to consider tweaking this. I've listed what I have currently sketched out but am also completely open to other ideas/approaches on how some of the many more seasoned travelers to this part of Germany might handle a winter itinerary with these dates. Thanks a lot for your consideration.

Arrive Dec 20th, transit to Nuremberg. Dates below reflect overnight location on those dates.
Dec 20: Nuremberg
Dec 21: Nuremberg
Dec 22: Nuremberg
Dec 23: Munich
Dec 24: Munich
Dec 25: Munich
Dec 26: Munich
Dec 27: Munich or Salzburg
Dec 28: Salzburg
Dec 29: Salzburg
Dec 30: Munich (likely just getting a hotel at the airport as we have an early departure on the 31st)

Nuremberg: I would like to be in position to see the Christmas market here and also in position to day trip to Rothenburg. I landed on 3 nights mainly because I assume the first day will be exhausting and will likely only have a chance to see the Christmas market that first day. Then we would have two days for Nuremberg itself, Rothenburg day trip, potentially a day trip to another location like Bamberg.

Munich: This is either 4 or 5 nights depending on how many nights we want in Salzburg. The main idea here is to have a base with flexibility to do some day trips outside of Munich depending on weather each day. I definitely want to visit G-P and head up the Zugspitze. We'll likely want to go to Neushwanstein Castle. There are also things we will want to do around Munich (like the markets -- I do realize some close starting Christmas Eve)

Salzburg: Any thoughts on 2 or 3 nights here? I'm good either way. It would just either add or remove a day from Munich at this point.

Posted by
2111 posts

Unless you plan to ski the Zugspitze in December is probably a waste of time. You won't see much unless you get the very rare clear day.

Nuremberg has a very good Christmas market, but, remember, it's best after 4pm, when it starts getting dark. There's plenty of other stuff to do in that city otherwise.

The Christmas markets around Munich are okay, and I like the old town that time of year, but frankly I'd add to the time in Nuremberg. you have Bamberg, Amberg, Bayreuth, Wurzburg. Ansbach, Neustadt (Oberpfalz), Regensburg, etc. all close by. Munich does have Garmisch, Augsburg, and Ingolstadt, but (my opinion) the markets are better north, or south, of the Munich plain. Innsbruck is good, Salzburg, Oberammergau; these are pretty good.

Posted by
985 posts

Sunrise Munich Dec 20 08:01, Sunset 16:22 (4:22). Christmas Markets are most fun late in the afternoon and evening (not all that late given sunset time) when they are lit up gloriously. Lots of time to day trip to Bamberg and Rothenburg returning in the mid-afternoon. If you want a different Christmas Market experience consider taking the U-bahn in Nuremberg north to downtown Furth... They also have a user-friendly sized Christmas market aimed at locals in a more Medieval Style.... great food, no crowds. Your arrival day in Munich from Nuremberg you will have lots of time to look around the town. A day trip to G-P and the Zugspitze again is easy enough from Munich, but start early or you will lose the light. I am not sold on Neuschwanstein since it is empty, LInderhoff was a lived in palace in comparison.

The Bavarian Palace Administration website has lots of useful information:
https://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/index.htm

The Nuremberg Municipal Museums website does also:
https://museums.nuernberg.de/nuremberg-municipal-museums/

I personally can recommend the Feuerzangebowle at all of the Christmas Markets. Have fun.

Posted by
19 posts

Appreciate the advice. I’m tinkering with this itinerary now and like the idea of adding time to Nuremberg. The thing is I’m using Marriott points there and extending to a 4th night makes the 5th free so…

Do either of these options make sense?

5x Nuremberg
6x Munich

Or

5x Nuremberg
2x Salzburg
4x Munich

I figure doing Salzburg in the middle is a long train ride with a change but I also know that we’d be making the trip anyway so might be a good day to get it out of the way since we’d have to wait for our hotel room in Munich.

Note: 5 nights in Nuremberg will have us changing to either Munich or Salzburg on Christmas Day. Is that going to be an issue? Can obviously stock up on food just wasn’t sure if we’d run into transit concerns or not. Thanks!

Posted by
2111 posts

Do Munich/Salzburg first, then Nuremberg.

Posted by
985 posts

If Christmas Markets are an important priority I would pick Nuremberg first (but that's just me having lived near there) , Munich second, and Salzburg third. But with the nights of the 20-24 in Nuremberg you will miss the Munich market. The Salzburg Market extends until January 1. If you want to see the Munich Market you will have to arrive on the 23rd. I am not a big fan of changing hotels often, so because the train trip is quicker between Munich and Nuremberg than some of your other "day trips" so you can always head back if you want for an extra day. Traveling on a major holiday is rarely a problem since so many individuals travel home for those days but you will need to book travel early because of the crowd. My preference would probably be spending the nights of the 20-21-22 in Nuremberg, get an early train to Munich on the 23rd (drop your bags at the hotel so you can wander the Town/Market for the day) stay for the nights of the 23-24-25-26-(27) in Munich with a pre-booked fancy dinner for Christmas Day, and the nights of the (27)-28-29 in Salzburg.

Salzburg is a 1.5-2 hr train trip so with an early start you can have most of the day in Salzburg on the arrival day and on the departure day from Salzburg.

I do not endorse the following websites but they have a lot of local infromation.

https://www.munich.travel/en/topics/markets-festivals/christmas-markets-munich

https://www.salzburg.info/en/salzburg/advent/salzburg-christmas-market

Posted by
664 posts

We were in Munich before Christmas in 2024. We have visited Munich before so on this trip we took a day trip to Regensburg and to Garmish for the https://www.partnachklamm.de/en Partnach Gorge. The gorge was iced over and a highlight of our trip.