Two weeks in Germany - Smaller Towns by Train

Most small towns will not have enough to do for a 4-night stay. But some are located well enough that a short train trip will take you to other places that might be interesting. Is that what you had in mind?

And which airport do you expect (or prefer) to use?

You might want to consider Gengenbach in the Black Forest. I stayed there for 4 nights back in 2022 and absolutely loved it. The town is very charming with beautiful half-timbered houses (it's frequently called a "chocolate box" village) and has a beautiful Altstadt, with quite a few restaurants and cafes to choose from. It's right on the main train line so there are plenty of opportunities for day trips. It's also a very quick (and easy) 40 minute train ride to Strasbourg (well known for its excellent Christmas Market).

The town church (Saint Marion) is quite beautiful, and the medieval gates to the city are really interesting. The Benedictine Abbey is also worth a visit, and behind it are some cloistered gardens that were a joy to wander through. This was one of my favorite places. It was peaceful and inviting and I could have stayed for hours. There were little signs of inspiration scattered around, and some children from a nearby kindergarten playing on one side. Also don't miss a walk through Engelgasse and Höllengasse streets (near the TIC). Here you will find cobblestones and half-timbered houses, flower pots and cats resting on doormats and quaint dolls in the window. I felt like I had walked back in time when I strolled through these quaint and narrow streets.

Hamburg has towns and markets of Bremen and Lübeck as day trips in reach and also enough to do.

A shorter stay option is Goslar with World Heritage old town and nice market.

You might consider Würzburg. It is moderate sized (128k population) with many sights including an Archbishop's Residenz, a castle, a pilgrimage church, a cathedral, etc. You can easily walk across the Altstadt (old town center). Its Christmas Market is large enough to be well stocked but not overwhelming. There are easy day trips to Rothenburg, Aschaffenburg (a favorite of ours for its community feel), Bamberg, Ochsenfurt and Marktbreit.

We were planning a Christmas trip this year but had to put it off for a year. Goslar was one of our planned destinations. We have visited it before but not at Christmas time. There are easy day trips to Quedlinburg and Wernigerode.

Würzburg can be reached from the Frankfurt Airport. Goslar can be reached from the Hannover Airport (connection through Amsterdam for us).

If you wanted to continue on from the Frankfurt Airport through Würzburg to Munich's Airport, you could stop at Regensburg. There are 3 Christmas markets in this UNESCO World Heritage City. It is our favorite Christmas Market stop. There are nearby smaller towns (with markets) to be visited: Straubing, Amberg and Landshut.

Neustadt (on the wine road) is a big town, that you can walk all around with no issue in a couple hours. It's also a good train hub; from there you can reach out to cities like Mainz, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Trier, or even Strasbourg. But don't. Take the local trains and visit Bad Kreuznach, Or Freinsheim, a medieval walled town nobody's heard of. Or Bad Durkheim, or Speyer, where 6 emperors are buried. Eat at one of the dozen Michelin restaurants nearby. Visit one of the two dozen castles (or ruins). Go to Landau and walk the old fortifications. There's a lot to do in the area, and it's very overlooked by most Americans (other than those working around Ramstein Air Base.)

Seeing that you have 2 weeks, you might add Bamberg as a 4 day stay between Würzburg and Regensburg. There are good day trips to Coburg, Kulmbach and Kronach (all 3 having interesting castles). I know that Bamberg, Coburg and Kulmbach have all had Christmas Markets in the past. I am uncertain of Kronach. We have stayed for a couple days in Bamberg, Coburg and Kulmbach. It is a nice, lightly visited (by Americans) part of Germany.

I concur with Gary Mc on the Franken cities, but you might consider only two nights in any given city as there is only so much to do. We went to Coburg last year and visited the Naturkunde-Museum and the Veste Coburg. The Veste Coburg has the best collection of medieval weapons I have seen. Of course get a Colburg roast bratwurst cooked over pine cones. You might look at Amberg in the Oberpfalz and Murnau am Staffelsee, but check the market opening dates. Lots of traffic, but Bad Tölz too and you are in a good area to explore.

Some of the best preserved medieval walled cities or towns 0f a modest size are on The Romantic Road from Wurzburg to Fussen. The most famous is Rothenberg ob der Tauber. Others like Dinkelsbuhl are less covered with tourists. Augsburg is wonderful, it is only about 350,000 population, but worth a day.

You can take the train to most of those towns or cities, but it is best done by car. Still, you may be interested in visiting some of these places.

https://www.romanticroadgermany.com

We had a great time at the Xmas market in Freiburg im Breisgau (pop. 230k--didn't seem that big at all). We did it as an overnight from Colmar by bus.

I stayed in Lichenfels - the basket town of Germany - for 5 nights. Located a little way north of Bamberg! it is conveniently located near the towns such as Coburg that others have mentioned.

Other places I have stayed that might work are Gengenbach as mentioned by Mardee ( convenient to markets in Strasbourg and Colmar France ) - I’ve stayed up to a week there- and Limburg an der Lahn - stayed 5 days there