Travel by train

If you've been to the northwest region, you might want to consider heading to the east and then south. You will invariably have to stop in Hamburg if you're coming from Copenhagen, and that is worth a stop. Who is "we"? Are there kids involved? If so, they would probably enjoy the Miniatur Wunderland there.

You could stop in Berlin for some history depending on your interests, then head down to Leipzig or Dresden (or both), then on to Nuremberg (which has a wonderful Christmas market) and visit some of the towns and cities nearby, like Würzburg, Bamberg, Regensburg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber. There are many other good choices in this area ass well. Other destinations would be to head to Munich, then possibly down to Konstanz for lovely lake views and on to the Black Forest. And if you're in the Black Forest and looking for more markets, Strasbourg in France has a very good one, and it's a quick hop across the border.

Mardee, Thank you! We, is my husband and me (late 50s). Need to add that we’ve been to Bamberg, Regensburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and Munich. Sorry! We have not visited Berlin, and it’s been over 30 years since we’ve been to Hamburg. Strasbourg, Colmar and Riquewehr are on the list once we reach our son and his family who live in Kandern. We be traveling there with them. (funny connection - I work at Duluth Trading Co. in Portland 😊)

I would suggest a path between your eastern and western places you’ve visited before. From Hamburg I’d head to Berlin and its many, varied Christmas Markets. Then I’d look at various Harz area towns like Wernigerode or Quedlinburg or Goslar. From there I’d go to Leipzig or Erfurt then Würzburg. From Würzburg I’d go to Strasbourg then to Freiburg ending in Müllheim. All of these medium sized cities have great Christmas markets although I’d check weeklong vs weekend openings based on 2022 dates or 2023 if available. Some of these distances aren’t far by train so you could choose if a town is a day trip or destination. Have fun planning and meeting family for Christmas 2023. We’ve been to all of these beautiful cities except Würzburg, several at Christmas time.

Ha, that's funny! They are all over the place - I'm visiting relatives in Cincinnati right now and there's a DTC a mile or so away.

Okay, then, how about Quedlinburg? Caveat - I have never been but it's on my top 10 list of places to go to. The whole area sounds wonderful - lots of small, quaint towns with festive markets, lots of gorgeous scenery and off the beaten path. It's an easy train ride from Hamburg, too. https://www.quedlinburg-info.de/en/en/welcome.html

If you search these boards, you will find quite a few posts about the area. It sounds like everyone who has been there raves about it/

Mardee and Mona, great suggestions! Will start researching these. Thanks! Mardee, out here there are very few DTC. The next closest stores are 109 and 293 miles away 😜

Hi,

On Essen, what was the particular focus in exploring there? I've been there once (2007) but only in the Zentrum, which sociologically was certainly revealing relative to other Ruhr area and lower Rhine cities.

It was more a base to visit Moers outside Essen. My maiden name, and where past generations are from.

I haven't been to northern Germany to compare, but my favorite parts are the middle Rhine/Mosel area, the German Alps, and the Bodensee.

Hi,

If you're going from Copenhagen to the southwest corner of Germany, then I would suggest in terms of historical /cultural cities and towns without too much geographic deviation Münster/Westf., Soest/Westf. (the oldest town in Westphalia) and Minden an der Weser.

Coming from Copenhagen three places that escaped severe war damage, basically emerged from the war unscathed ....Lüneburg for a small town and just across the Danish border, the city of Flensburg. South of that the town of Eutin/Holstein.

All these places are lovely, walkable, serene, etc. besides steeped in history.

Fred, thank you! Places I haven’t heard of, excited to read up on them 😁

@ halfdozmom.....You're welcome. There are lots and lots of towns/cities in North Germany well worth your time in exploring, visiting , etc. Depending on your history interest and curiosity, some of the places listed above deal in Prussian-German history should you be interested in seeing these esoteric museums.

If you are going from the Hamburg area, you can take the ICE to Hannover (all quite doable as a day trip ) , then the regional train or S-Bahn from Hannover Hbf to Minden. Certainly the town is well worth exploring if you intend to see the Prussian museum. If not, then I suggest taking a taxi from Minden train station to go out to Porta Westfalica. Some years ago the place was a construction site, that's all done now.

Porta Westfalica has a huge, I mean huge, statue (Kaiser Wilhelm Denkmal as the sign indicates). That in itself is fascinating, but if not, then there is the tremendous view. The only the view in terms of breadth I can compare it to is that in Laboe (accessible by bus from Kiel Hbf or the ferry nearby ) from the top of that Naval Memorial.

Arrange with the driver when to pick you up. The German WW1 monument/memorial is on the hiking trail too

part 2 here.

If you decide to stay in Hamburg, when I do that I stay in a 3 star hotel opposite central station, using the Kirchenallee exit.

You can get to Schwerin in Mecklenburg to visit that lovely palace. It used to be (prior to 1914 ) Schloss Mecklenburg-Schwerin (to distinguish that from the other Mecklenburg). Getting there from Hamburg Hbf is a straight shot eastwards, shorter than going from Berlin.

Going to add that Hamburg is a fantastic town (obviously folks on here know where I stand on that), but it is rather weak in the Christmas market department. For those, Lübeck and Bremen are BIG favourites.

As far as markets I would also recommend the Mainz market and FOR SURE Strasbourg! Also, in the wine regions (think Stuttgart) the quality of the Glühwein is better. For a smaller town in that region, try Ludwigsburg.

I can't speak to the markets in the Harz, but it is TOTALLY worth a visit at any time.

But if you haven't been to Berlin, yes yes yes. And for markets in the East, I would consider Dresden. It's on my list. You could actually then go down to Prague from there, then over to Salzburg--and the markets near there would be my all time favourites. That is the Strobl - St. Wolfgang - St. Gilgen trio.

So maybe Harz, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Salzburg / town trio, then if there is time, up to Stuttgart or Strasbourg would be my thought.

HowlinMad - love your idea! We were actually thinking of heading that direction. Haven’t been to Salzburg in 30 years! We will be heading to Strasbourg, Riquewhir and Colmar after we reach our son and family. We will be doing that with them 😁