Germany in December/Christmas Markets

The Christmas markets are great. Just remember that the smaller towns have great markets but they are not open every day. Do an internet search to see when the towns in the area you are headed are open.

Also, bigger cities like Berlin and Munich have more that one market.

Salzburg has a great Christmas market as well. Also, at Salzburg you have a better chance of having snow.

We're flying into Berlin but hoping to get down to Munich as well, and
perhaps other towns nearby. Rothenburg ob der Tauber is on our radar.

Why do you want to travel to the other end of the country?

Martin, we just do. :) When we travel we tend to move around and explore different parts of the country instead of staying in one city. Our itinerary isn't set in stone yet but we're considering both places.

Berlin has several permanent and non-permanent Christmas markets in different tastes (map).

Instead of Munich and RodT I suggest Harz old towns of Quedlinburg and Goslar which has also a very nice Christmas market - with less tourists. Erfurt would be a good closer alternative, maybe also Dresden.

I would recommend Erfurt and Regensburg. You get the Weihnachtsmärkte (several market places in the city) and a great city to visit for a night or two. There are many smaller Dorf/village markets, but you have to be familiar with the area. As mentioned some are only open on the weekends for maybe two weekends. Don't know the opening times and have never been, but maybe Meissen, Bautsen and Gorlitz along with Dresden closer to Berlin? Interesting is some of the smaller Weihnachtsmarkt start small and cozy (gemutlich) and end up with buses of people after a few years and sometimes eventually close. I've not been impressed with the Weihnachtsmärkte in München. Nurnberg is the most famous, but I would pick crowd less times as it can get so crowded you literally can't move.

if you search Christmas markets on this website, you will see several threads

I just asked because
1. many German Christmas traditions come from the region and mountainous areas halfway between Berlin and Bavaria, i.e. Saxony and Thuringia. Moravian Stars, Stollen, handmade wooden Christmas toys like nutcrackers, candle arches, Schwibbogen or pyramids, Christmas baubles etc. THE German Christmas Country are the Ore Mountains, which celebrate Christmas like no other region of Germany.
2. it's not necessary to travel to the other end of the country to see old, beautiful towns. Quedlinburg for example, already mentioned, is closer to Berlin, bigger than Rothenburg odT, and a World Heritage Site.