Christmas Markets

We did Strasbourg. Rothenburg, Munich, and Prague over last Christmas. I would consider Rothenburg as a base or perhaps Munich if you want a larger town. The German Christmas market close on Christmas eve and some the day before. Prague's were open through the 6th. Don't know about France.

Nurnberg is the largest and provides the most entertainment of the markets. We also enjoyed Salzburg. Perhaps a good base would be Munich, depends on the size of city you prefer.

Nürnberg's has been in operation for hundreds of years - a real treat. If you'd like to try the Rheinland, the markets in Mainz, Rüdesheim, and Trier are all delightful - Mainz would be a good base town. And if you'll remain there after Christmas, the Speyer market (south of Mainz) continues into January.

Hi, What Christmas Markets are open depends when you plan to travel. We visited the Christmas Markets in Austria at Salzburg, St. Gligen, Innsbruck, Hall in Tirol and Rattenberg. This was in late November (week of Thanksgiving). The Markets in Germany (Berchtesgaden, Munich, Mittenwald, etc.) had not started yet. Recommendations: Rattenberg's market was our favorite with Salzburg a close second. Salzburg had a number of them in different parts of the town. If I was basing in one place for a week, I'd say either Salzburg (and visit the markets in the towns in the nearby Salzkammergut) or Innsbruck, which has beautiful markets (multiple markets) there also. Innsbruck is convenient to Hall in Tirol (nice, but small, market), Rattenberg and the markets in nearby Brixen/Bressanone and Sterzing/Vipiteno, just over the border in Italy. From Innsbruck, Mittenwald and Garmisch (in Germany) are only about an hour away. We have pic's at: http://www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html Paul

Depending on your travel dates, you will be able to visit Christmas markets in almost every town, city and village in Germany. They all have one, but many of them for just a weekend. The cities or larger towns for the whole 4 weeks of Advent. I visited a lot of them last year, going by train from Frankfurt and keeping travel time to an hour or less and these were my favorites. * Frankfurt - began in 1393, this is a big one, looks beautiful in the old town square, good gift items and the best party atmosphere * Idstein - this was one of my favorites, held just one weekend, the market winds through the cobblestone streets. Gorgeous fachwerk houses, witches tower and a very unusual church interior at the Union Church. * Bad Homburg - Another favorite, this is partly set in the courtyard of the Kaisers' summer residence and then winds out through the old town. Good family atmosphere, lots of handmade items. Minature steam train for the kids. Beautiful location in the Taunus Mountains. * Büdingen - My favorite town anyway, this is a medieval walled town filled to the brim with fachwerk houses. The market winds through town and along one of the city walls, there is a medieval market too. Lantern lighting only, great handcrafts. * Seligenstadt - part of the market is in the town square, nice atmosphere, and the other part is in the Carolingen abby, begun by Charlemagnes biographer in 815. Extremely high quality hand-made items. * Wiesbaden - Great location surrounding the Market Church, good decorations, but though the city is absolutely stunning, the market doesn't really stand out for anything in particular. * Ruedesheim - Location is fantastic, overlooking the Rhine, the decorations are really good and the whole town looks great. The stands were a real disapointment for me. Supposed to be an International Market, but there was too much cheesy, cheap stuff, other than the stands from Scandanavia & Nepal

The two most impressive I attended last year, in terms of overall fun atmosphere, were Mannheim and Darmstadt. The most "quaint" was Seligenstadt. A point worth mentioning that isn't well known on this website- you'll find Christmas markets in France, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands as well. Actually, the best one I've ever attended is Hasselt's (Belgium) annual "Winterland".

Thanks for all the comments. These are all helpful starters.