Germany christmas market trip

I've been to a fair number of Christmas markets - and like them very much. I have never been interested in building an itinerary based just on reviews or rankings of Christmas markets, however - or one that focuses only on Christmas markets. Some people create their trips based on the finest restaurants they have read about or the best beer/wine venues, or the greatest cathedrals, but I just don't think of travel in this way, and Christmas-market itineraries feel odd to me in the same way. I've been delighted by every Christmas market I've come across, but I've always fit the markets into an itinerary that was drawn up with other goals in mind.

Am I missing anything??

Besides Christmas markets, I don't see any specific goals,sights or interests on your part. So maybe the answer is "a lot." Are there other reasons for choosing the destinations mentioned? There's a lot you can see/do/experience/learn in Germany that could influence your planning, even in winter, but it's hard to tell what else you are planning to see/do over those 10-12 days.

Following onto the previous comment... Christmas markets as events to be savored are usually set from dusk till 10 pm... ie. from 4pm to 10pm max... Best lights, best crowds, best food, rides for the kids, and fun. What are you interested in doing on your trip the rest of the time?

While the atmosphere is best at the markets after dark, the crowds can be intense. If you want to shop, go during the day, during the week. After dark and on weekends, expect shoulder-to-shoulder crowds where you don’t move unless the crowd moves.

Three nights in Nuremburg seems like a lot. Consider 1 or 2 nights in Rothenburg. The market is small, but the city is so cute.

Have you searched this topic? I responded several times about my favorite markets.

I have a number of trip reports about Christmas markets, but mostly about the ones that are around Frankfurt. The small ones are the ones that attract me the most, not so much the large cities and certainly not Nuremberg.

If you are landing in Frankfurt, spend a few days there instead of training right away to Cologne. Or at least one day to recover from your flight and then you can buy that cheap ticket to Cologne from Frankfurt and go there in the morning.
From Frankfurt, you could visit the markets in Mainz, Wiesbaden, Marburg, Limburg, Bad Homburg (weekends only) Seligenstadt, Heidelberg, Rüdesheim and of course, Frankfurt.

Stuttgart, paired with Esslingen is my 2nd choice of fantastic markets. I do prefer the markets that have decorated stands and not the markets where all the stands look exactly the same, like in Nuremberg. At night time, they are so decorative and the atmosphere is so much fun.

I wouldn't visit a city because of a specific Christmas market, but because I want to see the city. There are wonderful Christmas markets in almost all cities, large and small, in Germany. The thing is, Christmas markets are only really beautiful in the evening. So I'd rather stay in cities where I also enjoy the daytime.