Winter Travel Itinerary - December 2024

Six months ahead is not a bad time to plan since the air travel sets the time frame. You don't say what your interests are, but in our trip planning I tend to plan a loop. You also don't mention what you have seen in Germany before. It will be winter. The days are short and commonly windy and possible rainy. Snowy near the Alps.

Check out the website of the Bavarian Palace Administration for information on things to see and information on opening times and admission charges. Every city has its own official website of course, but look for the official ones, not the third party vendor sites.

https://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/index.htm
or
https://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/discover/museums/

You have 13 nights. Beginning in Frankfurt for the night of the 4th or somewhere quite nearby, I would suggest heading south up the Rhine then east then back north. Perhaps Heidelberg, Freiburg, Augsburg, Munich (maybe a 2 night side trip south to Gramisch-Partenkirchen/Mittenwald), Nuremberg/Bamberg and back to Frankfurt for night of Dec 16. You really have eleven nights excluding the 4th and the 16th. Since I like 2nd tier cities best, I would probably spend night 1 and 2 in Heidelberg, nights 3, 4 and 5 in Freiburg, nights 6, 7 and 8 in the Munich area (side trip to Ga-Pa), and nights 9, 10, and 11 in Bamberg, which is a World Heritage City. I have found that for hotels using Rick's guidebooks to choose areas with things I want to see and then cross-referencing with Booking.com for a better view of costs and alternatives is a good first approach. Again traveling in winter makes nearby accommodations to sites/stations easier to manage.

Have fun!

We have made 5 Advent trips to Germany, three flying into Frankfurt and out of Munich. We focused mainly on southern Germany (Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemburg) that is so popular with many Americans and is featured in your post. We had a great time.

As you are flying to/from Frankfurt, I might consider some areas closer to Frankfurt to cut your overall travel time. Würzburg, Bamberg and Rothenburg are in Northern Bavaria and are some of our favorite tourist/market towns. Erfurt and Coburg are a fairly easy trips from Würzburg or Bamberg. Limburg (Lahn) and Marburg (Lahn) are about 1.5 hours by train north from Frankfurt. Mainz is an easy hop from Frankfurt.

Bavaria gets great travel press and deserves it. Still I like to cut the time lost in transportation and the areas of Franken (Northern Bavaria) and Hessen are closer to Frankfurt and filled with worthwhile sights. We are considering 2 possible itineraries for Christmas Markets next year: one in/out Frankfurt (like yourselves) and one in/out Hannover.

From Frankfurt I would also catch Strasbourg at this time of year. Their Christmas market is high on my list and is about a 2,5 hour drive from Frankfurt and close to the Black Forest.

After a trans-Atlantic flight, it makes sense to at least stay in Frankfurt for one night. If you want to book trains to go someplace else, like Strassbourg, etc. then you don't have to stress about making them on time if you have flight delays.
From Frankfurt, maybe consider some time on the Rhein to see castles, Mainz and Wiesbaden for the markets and museums, Limburg and Marburg for historical, medieval towns but also cute little markets.
Frankfurt itself has dozens of museums to choose from. Day trips to Hessen Park OpenAir museum, the Saalburg Roman Fort, the Kaisers Palace in Bad Homburg, or a spa day there are some other suggestions.
Worms, Speyer, Würzburg, Aschaffenburg, and Eltville are near by, but also have some interesting museums and great Xmas markets.

Thank you all for the timely responses! I obviously have more research to do! This is actually our first time to Germany. We have traveled to other European countries but Germany at Christmas time has been on our list for many years.

I had been considering staying overnight in Frankfurt for the first, maybe first 2 nights after traveling but wasn't sure since we'll be staying in Frankfurt the night before our departure. That's why I was thinking of making Frankfurt our last destination - maybe 2 nights. We have an early morning flight on 12/17.

We are definitely interested in seeing castles and some of the smaller, quaint towns versus the larger cities although I had Munich on my list as we are considering a day trip to Dachau and a visit to the Olympic Park. We also would enjoy attending a football and/or hockey game as my husband is a huge sports fan. The Black Forest is a must-see for my husband so I definitely need to factor that in.

I appreciate all of your input and suggestions. I will continue researching and refining my itinerary. May come back and ask for more of your thoughts once I've done some more homework. Thanks again!

https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/2024-25-fixture-list-release-announcement-bayern-dortmund-leverkusen-27714

It is most definitely not too early to try to get Bundesliga Football tickets. If this is priority you may find that your trip will revolve around finding a game you can get tickets to within your time frame.

It is most definitely not too early to try to get Bundesliga Football tickets.

Thank you for sharing the link with the schedules! From everything that I've been reading, tickets can be very difficult to come by. Seeing a game is definitely one of our top attractions so yes, I will want to factor that into our itinerary IF I can secure tickets. Any insight or suggestions on the best approach to securing tickets? Thank you!

You are talking about Ice Hockey right?

Nuremberg got decent team You can check this ticket website from time to time:

https://www.eventim.de/en/artist/nuernberg-ice-tigers/nuernberg-ice-tigers-saison-20242025-3700592/?affiliate=GMD

You are talking about Ice Hockey right?

Yes, ice hockey. It's our fav sport. Thank you for the link!

I'm with @MsJo on at least a night or two in Frankfurt at the beginning of the trip. A last night in Frankfurt before flying out is also a good idea. When my wife is with me I stay at one of the hotels attached to Terminal 1. When traveling alone I stay at the Moxy in Gaterway Gardens, which is near Terminal 2.

I think both Nurnberg and Munich are great destinations. I look forward to hearing what others have to say about a home for several days in the Black Forest. It's a trip I'd like to take.

Schöne Aussicht A Hotel in a remote spot in the Black Forest

2hrs south of Mannheim

I'd seriously consider basing out of Nuremberg for 4-5 days, and then moving over to Karlsruhe. From Nuremberg you can see Wurzburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, and Munich all by train and easily. From Karlsruhe you can see Heidelberg, Baden Baden, Strasbourg, Speyer, or Freiburg. You could then wrap up your trip in Frankfurt and take the train to Mainz also.

Thanks to everyone for your input. I'm still refining my itinerary but I'm sure I'll be looking for more input. Thanks again!