I'm trying to figure out our itinerary for our upcoming Christmas market trip. My current plan tentatively has us arriving in Stuttgart on a Thursday by train from Strasbourg then leaving on Sunday heading on to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. We want to see the markets in Stuttgart, Esslingen, and Ludwigsburg at some point during that time. My 8 year old is particularly excited about the Esslingen market so it is likely we would try to do that one on the Thursday (and possibly more than once) unless that is really sub-optimal from a crowd perspective. Are these markets really crowded on the weekends? I keep seeing advice to avoid certain markets on weekends, but wasn't sure if that applied to the Stuttgart, Esslingen, and Ludwigsburg markets. Thank you!
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8960 posts
My experience is that they are spread out enough that you don't get that cattle car feeling you would get in Nuremberg, for example. Stuttgart especially is set up really well to avoid that, which is why it is my favorite big city market. Not sure about Esslingen, but you may want to look for some Youtube videos of the market to see how full it is. Make sure you are there until at least late afternoon when they start lighting the candles, lanterns and torches. It is a completely different atmosphere.
Sarah from Stuttgart may be able to answer your questions more accurately.
Posted by
Columbus, USA
332 posts
We visited the area in 2015 on a weekend. The Stuttgart one was hopping on a Saturday. But it wasn't jammed packed where you couldn't move. (we were there early) Stuttgart was cool because all of the hut roofs were decorated differently. We visited Esslingen on a Sunday and were there right as it opened. It was also St Nicholas day so it was fun to see him in the crowed of people. I think this was my favorite market out of the 16 or so that we visited. It was different and had something for everyone. The kids part was really fun.
After Esslingen we went to Tübingen for their Chocolate Festival. I was really looking forward to that, however it was the last day and I have never seen so many people packed together. It was worse than salmon trying to swim up stream. We gave up after an hour. I would thing that during the week it would be ok. I mean it is chocolate :) At night they project images up on the houses to make them look like gingerbread houses. I would love to try this again, just not on the last day.
Posted by
Salt Lake City
1483 posts
Sunday December 2013 Esslingen
https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Other-1/Esslingen-2013/
It was busy but not overwhelmed.