Itinerary/home base ideas for December in Bavaria/western Austria?

Hi John,

We did 2 early Dec. trips for the Christmas markets in '10 and '13 and have visited a number on your list. Berchtesgaden, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Hallstatt, Rothenburg, Neuschwanstein, Reutte. We had only 8 nights both trips, so we based by Berchtesgaden (Schonau am Konigssee) for 4 nights and by Innsbruck (Hall in Tirol) for 4 nights on both trips.
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My opinion, skip Reutte altogether.

Loved Berchtesgaden and the smaller markets. Innsbruck was our favorite town at this time of year on both trips.

Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, Hallstatt can be seen from one central base. Add a day cruising the Wolfgangsee visiting the markets in St. Gilgen, Strobl and St. Wolfgang.

It a terrific time to visit these places. The Christmas markets just add even more to the charm of the old towns and villages. Christmas lights and decorations, Christmas trees, food stalls, the smell of roasted chestnuts and wood burning, stalls selling crafts and ornaments, sweaters, etc. etc., hot drinks, music, carolers and more. Incredible holiday atmosphere.

Paul

Paul,

Thanks for the all of the info...it's really helpful. Two questions, if you don't mind...

-Which home base did you visit Rothenburg from?
-Did you use a rental car or trains to get around?

Thanks in advance!

Hi John,

We stayed in Rothenburg, actually about 10 minutes outside of the old town. This was during a trip in October. Sorry, I should have been clear. This was on a trip flying into Frankfurt and out of Munich.

We rented a car both early Dec. trips. We've been to Germany and Austria many times. I think 3 bases is a great plan. Keep in mind places like Fuessen and other small old towns and villages do not have Christmas markets every week. Some have a market just 1 weekend. Many have Christmas markets open only Thursday through Sunday. Innsbruck, Salzburg, Hall in Tirol have them everyday and night. From a base in/near Innsbruck, heading to the charming towns (Christmas markets every day) of Sterzing/Vipiteno and Brixen/Bressanone, over the border in Italy, is easy.

Paul

Bavaria in December is one of my favorite destinations. If I could make one scheduling suggestion, especially since you're traveling with a child. Try to do the big market cities on weekdays. While Nurnberg, Munich, and Innsbruck are all wonderful, there can be a crush of people on weekends. Not as much fun for a child then. If I'm in Salzburg, Saturday is the day I head out of town to Konigsee and Berchtesgaden or to the Wolfgangsee. If in Munich, I would do castles on Saturday.

I think Rothenburg might be a good choice for one of your bases, especially if you have a car. Nurnburg, Wurzburg, Bamburg,, Dinkelsbuhl are all easy day trips. (They may be easy on a train also, but I haven't done that.) Rothenburg is just more pedestrian friendly than the big cities, and a child could be set free to walk more easily.

Northern Bavaria: In winter the larger towns will have more interesting things to see and do and more places to spend your time indoors in the predictably cold weather. Nuremberg is an excellent base for train travel - use a VGN "Tagesticket Plus" day pass (less than E20/day for your family) for train outings at any hour of the day to Rothenburg and Bamberg; the same ticket is valid on inner-city transport. Note also that a Tagesticket Plus bought on Saturday is valid on Sunday as well.

To visit Wuerzburg from Nuremberg, use the Bayern Ticket (E28.)

Wuerzburg is a good base as well; use the Bayern Ticket (also valid on inner-city transport) for outings from there to Bamberg, Rothenburg and Nuremberg. On weekdays the Bayern ticket is valid only after 9 am.

The only reason I see for a car in this area relates to your child... Do you need a car to stow the supplies you might need to care for him while you're out?

Thanks for the responses everyone, and for pointing out some smaller towns that sound wonderful. Ruth, the tip about avoiding the big markets on weekends sounds like a great one. Russ, I think we could bring the things we need for our son without a car, but that certainly is a factor in favor of renting one. I was mainly just trying to get an idea of if train travel was feasible, or if a car was a must-have. It sounds like we may be able to get away with trains if we really want to, at least in Northern Bavaria.

We have taken 4 recent Christmas Market trips to this area. We also lived in Germany till our daughter was two. This should be a great experience for yourself and your child.

Train vs. Car. It is nice to have a car with a small child and not have to be concerned with a hiccup in the transportation system but I still would choose the train. You can sit together as a family - without strapping the child to seat - and just enjoy each others company. Plus the train system will deliver you to the town center with the least hassle.

Bases. If you decided to go ahead with a car, Rothenburg would be an excellent base as the traffic is relatively light and parking is readily available just outside the wall if not at your hotel. Plus, Rothenburg is far less overwhelmed during the advent season that it is in high season. Restaurants and hotels are readily available and the city is very charming. Its many tourist shops give over to Christmas goods at this time of the year so you can do some shopping indoors if the weather turns bad.

https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Advent-2010/Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber/

If you take the train, Würzburg would be a very nice base. Nürnberg has a larger market; but, the city and its market are overwhelmed by shoppers in the evening. Visit the Nürnberg market during the day when the shopping traffic is light. Würzburg has many sights and modest market. It is still tough to get a table at a restaurant after 7PM, so we would eat early and then visit the market.

Salzburg. I love the city but it is at its worst in this season to my taste. Shops and restaurants - actually everywhere - are crowded and the urge to get money out of you can be overpowering at times. I might try to find a smaller town to act as a base and just visit it during the day.

Between Salzburg and Würzburg is my favorite Christmas Market town, Regensburg. It has a couple markets, lots of hotels and a good selection of restaurants. Plus it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its old buildings. It is close enough for a day visit to Landshut, a beautiful small town with many Baroque building fronts and a small community market.

https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Advent-2010/Regensburg/

https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Advent-2010/Thurn-and-Taxis-Palace-Market/

Gary, thank you so much for the info and pictures....looks like I will have to add Regensburg to our list of potential stops.

After absorbing everyone's info, I've put together a first-cut draft itinerary. I'd welcome any comments anyone has on what they may feel is missing, should be removed, or should be re-ordered. I think we've decided to rent a car. I wanted to keep to three hotel locations, but was unable to pick three that I felt were centrally located enough (primarily due to Munich being in the middle not particularly close to anything else, and since we are traveling in the winter I don't want to be in a position where I have no choice but to drive 2+ hours in a snowstorm the morning of our return flight). With the below plan we could even wait to get the car until some later point of our stay in Nuremberg, I think.

Day 1: Arrive at Munich Airport, visit Nuremberg (sleep in Nuremberg)
Day 2: Rothenburg, and maybe Dinkelsbuhl (sleep in Nuremberg)
Day 3: Würzburg and/or Bamberg (sleep in Nuremberg)
Day 4: Berchtesgaden (sleep in/near Berchtesgaden)
Day 5: Salzburg (sleep in/near Berchtesgaden)
Day 6: Hallstatt (sleep in/near Berchtesgaden)
Day 7: Cruise the Wolfgangsee (sleep in/near Berchtesgaden)
Day 8: Zugspitze or other scenery (sleep in/near Mittenwald/Tirol/etc)
Day 9: The Dolomites -Sterzing/Vipiteno and Brixen/Bressanone (sleep in/near Mittenwald/Tirol/etc)
Day 10: Innsbruck (sleep in/near Mittenwald/Tirol/etc)
Day 11: Visit Castles -Neuschwanstein, etc (sleep in Munich)
Day 12: Munich (sleep in Munich)
Day 13: Depart Munich Airport

Any suggestions on how to make this better (or reduce it to three sleeping locations without requiring too much daily driving) would be wonderful!

-John

Hi John,

Never been to Wurzburg or Nuremburg or Bamburg, but otherwise your plan sounds very good. I would stay in or near Innsbruck instead of Mittenwald. We visited Mittenwald during our stay in early Dec. 2010. It was for a weekday/weeknight and it was dead. Nothing open, not even our favorite restaurant (we have been other times of the year). They have a small Christmas market held from Dec. 15 to 18 only. Substitute the Zugspitze trip with the Nordkettenbahn right in Innsbruck. You can still visit Neuschwanstein on your way back to Munich. FYI: we liked our "last night before an early am flight" in Erding, Germany at the Best Western Park Hotel. Very pretty old town just 20 minutes from the airport.

Paul

Thanks Paul, do you have any other suggestions for places in Western Tirol or Southern Bavaria that would be good for a home base besides Innsbruck? We're thinking about just stopping in Innsbruck on our way west from the Salzburg area and skipping the Italy towns to make the itinerary a little less intense. We've also decided to stay in Rothenburg instead of Nuremberg at beginning of the trip.

The current plan is looking something like this (as you can see the end of it is less well-formed than the beginning):

Day 1: Arrive at Munich Airport, take Romantic Road (sleep in Rothenburg)
Day 2: Rothenburg (sleep in Rothenburg)
Day 3: Nuremberg (sleep in Rothenburg)
Day 4: Berchtesgaden (sleep in/near Berchtesgaden)
Day 5: Cruise the Wolfgangsee (sleep in/near Berchtesgaden)
Day 6: Hallstatt (sleep in/near Berchtesgaden)
Day 7: Salzburg (sleep in/near Berchtesgaden)
Day 8: Innsbruck (sleep in/near Bavaria/Tirol/etc)
Day 9: Bavaria/Tirol/castles (sleep in/near Bavaria/Tirol/etc)
Day 10: Bavaria/Tirol/castles (sleep in/near Bavaria/Tirol/etc)
Day 11: Munich (sleep in Munich)
Day 12: Munich (sleep in Munich)
Day 13: Depart Munich Airport

Day 9: Bavaria/Tirol/castles (sleep in/near Bavaria/Tirol/etc)<<

Is "castles" King Ludwig IIs Neuschwanstein etc.? Then you may want to stay in Füssen and do Neuschwanstein and Linderhof from there. It gives you some time to explore the great environment (e.g., Tegelberg) too. Ettal (near Oberammergau and Linderhof) would be a good base as well.

Füssen: http://www.fuessen.de/en.html
Ettal: http://www.ammergauer-alpen.de/ettal

Hi John,

Garmisch or Fuessen. Not villages, but pretty central to things you'd like to see/visit. We stayed twice in Fuessen. Very pretty old town. Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau castles, Tegelberg cable car are less than 10 minutes from town and Linderhof is close by. Could also day trip to the Zugpitze. If staying in Garmisch, the Zugspitze trip is right there, with Ettal, Oberammergau and Linderhof nearby. Linderhof is pretty much between Fuessen and Garmsich.

We never stayed in Innsbruck, but in Hall in Tirol, 15 minutes away at the Gasthof Badl.

Paul