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Germany in December 2019

Hi everyone!

My husband and I are considering a two and a half week trip to Germany. We'd likely arrive around the 4th or the 5th, and leave by the 24th but we're not completely set on dates. We both love Christmas, and we began planning this trip as a Berlin to Dresden to Prague to Vienna to Budapest (we likely would keep it to four cities, but we hadn't narrowed it down yet) but I can't help but want to stay in one country for the entire trip so that we can really experience all it has to offer instead of just hopping around to major cities in Europe. Has anyone spent December in Germany? I've heard that its a magical Christmas destination! Can anyone suggest what cities we should see that are very Christmasy but could still stand on their own without Christmas? We're trying to build an itinerary but aside from Berlin, I don't know how to narrow down any locations. Are there any must see countrysides or villages? Favorite cities?

Thanks to everyone in advance. I know this is a very broad request, but I guess you have to start somewhere. :)
Paige

Posted by
3016 posts

Interesting post and questions.

You already mentioned Berlin which has a lot of Christmas markets and more experiences such as illuminations of Kurfürstendamm and Unter den Linden, Christmas Garden, concerts, special food (try a Baumkuchen at Konditorei Buchwald) and so on:
https://welcome2berlin.weebly.com/christmas-markets-berlin.html

Also in other larger German cities such as Hamburg and Munich you will find a variety of markets but also on the countryside and small towns you will find one.

A lot of people will tell you about old and famous markets. In my eyes the age really does not matter because the markets are re-made every year. Typical tourist markets are Dresden, Nuremberg, Erfurt, Augsburg and very much for the Scandinavian tourists Lübeck.

Be aware that there are regional differences in Christmas tradition. While southern Germany is very much on the "Christkindl" version with Christmas story: figures, manger, small Jesus etc. the northern part is more in the illumination part of Saint Lucia. The individual markets have very dfferent atmospheres which is created by a lot of parameters.

With two and a half weeks I would make a tour:
+ 3d Hamburg with 1 day in Lübeck (get Stollen from Niederegger)
+ 6d Berlin incl. 1 day in Dresden,
+ 1d Erfurt
+ 3d Nuremberg, maybe 1 day for old town of Bamberg
+ 4d Munich (1 day Augsburg)

And lookout for the events beyond the markets as mentioned in Berlin.

Hope that helps a little bit.