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Germany/Poland/Czech winter 2026

Hello travelers,

My wife and I will be traveling from Nov 20 - Dec 11, landing in Frankfurt continuing from there via train for the whole trip.

Our itinerary is as follows:
Frankfurt - 1 night
Berlin - 5 nights
Wroclaw - 4 nights
Prague - 4 nights
Nuremburg - 4 nights
Frankfurt - 2 nights.

I already have our EUrail pass for the 5 travel days between each destination. Accomodations have not been booked yet so still have some flexibility and open to suggestions. Packing carry on only obviously and we don't mind cold and rainy weather. We are 27 and 31, wife is vegetarian 😬.

A main highlight of the trip will be experiencing the Xmas markets and decorations in all the places we will be.

I wanted to ask the group for other tips/suggestions/experience's they had for those areas or travelling during the winter season. My travel experience has mostly been during shoulder seasons so also interested in any closures or difficulties associated with winter travel. I have been to Prague before, but the other locations will be new for both of us.

In terms of our interests, we are interested in WW2 and historical sites, hikes/walks (within reason of weather and availability without a car), cultural experiences, food and drinks.

I have traveled a fair amount, mostly in Europe and am a firm Rick Steves disciple 😅. I always value the RS forum and tips from the travel community, so thank you everyone for your information and help.

Cheers,

Armando

Posted by
4672 posts

A main highlight of the trip will be experiencing the Xmas markets and decorations in all the places we will be.

In this case I recommend considering Dresdner Striezelmarkt and markets of Ore Mountains into the trip. Their handcraft capabilities and offering on the markets are really worth visiting.

Posted by
30577 posts

For WWII-related sites you have the large Nazi camp in Terezin, outside Prague. It can be a DIY trip, or there are tours. I'm heading there this year myself, but I gather from what I've read it is a major time commitment.

Berlin has a number of WWII-related points of interest as well as many Cold War sites. Rick includes quite a few of those in his list of top sightseeing suggestions: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/germany/berlin. Click on "At a Glance".

Wroclaw is a very pretty city and certainly worth visiting. However, you may end up wishing you had shifted at least one of your planned nights there to Berlin because of the overwhelming sightseeing options there. However, I know nothing about Christmas markets; there may be a lot of that sort of thing going on in Wroclaw.

Posted by
4616 posts

My tips:

Frankfurt: Maximize your time in Frankfurt -- consider a walking tour with Ms Jo (https://frankfurt-on-foot.com/)

Berlin: WW2 around every corner. I'm not sure where you are from, but if from the US, I consider the Berlin Airlift to be one of the US's finest moments. One of the key airports for this was the now decommissioned Tempelhof Airport which was markedly expanded by the Nazis in the 1930's and is a nice example of Nazi architecture. Tours of the facility are available (https://www.thf-berlin.de/en/your-visit). If you happen to be a Dietrich Bonhoeffer fan (I am!), you can tour his parents' house (where he stayed when in Berlin, where he was arrested) in the Grunewald area (https://bonhoeffersociety.org/about/bonhoeffer/bonhoeffer-house-in-berlin/); the Grunewald train station is the location of Gleiß 17 (Track 17), the track from which Jews were deported from Berlin -- there is a memorial there at the track. If you wanted to spend some time with a private guide here, you can't be Robert Sommer (http://thetrueberliner.com/); he was the 15-year-old punk rockerson of a high-ranking East German bureaucrat the day the Berlin Wall fell; he squatted; he got a PhD in history; very interesting guy who can tell you about growing up in East Germany, about unification, about squatter life, about current life -- he has lived the history of the city and can give more than the "victor's history" [i.e., West German history] of Berlin and Germany).

Prague: I can't say enough good things about an Operation Anthropoid tour with Martina (https://www.operationanthropoidtours.com/). The Army Museum at Žižkov is excellent and has much information on WWII in Prague.

Nuremberg: WWII at every turn but much medieval history, too. Market can get really, really, really, really crowded at night, especially on the weekend.

Have fun!

Posted by
75 posts

I agree, Rothenburg ob ter Tauber is lovely. I would really recommend getting to Cologne - they have about 7-8 Christmas Markets and the one by the cathedral and ones close to that are incredible! We have been there twice and will go back this December! We LOVE the Hotel Lowenbrau which is on the river and has an incredible restaurant. Rothenburg's market is nice, but it is the town that makes it special. We have twice enjoyed Romantik Hotel Markusturm. Pack an extra bag to bring home all the Christmas market mugs!