We have booked travel to Stuttgart from 12/23-12/29 but have recently learned that much of the city is closed during the Christmas holiday. We'd like to experience Germany during this time of year but worry that we'll be too spending much of our time in our hotel. Should we change our hotel reservations and find another nearby city that has more festivities during the holiday or are we misinformed? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.
Posted by
White Bear Lake, MN, USA
479 posts
Kevin, you'll be within a reasonable driving distance of the eastern part of the Black Forest. If you have a car then there will be plenty of "unscheduled" things you can see in the Black Forest.
Furtwangen is fairly far south, but doable as a day trip from Stuttgart. Baden-Baden is not awfully far away either.
Posted by
Paradise
7064 posts
It isn't Stuttgart that takes Christmas especially seriously - it's Germany and much of the rest of the continent. But you're only talking about a couple of days - the evening of 12/24 through the 26th - when almost everything really is shuttered, and even then you'll be able to get a meal in larger hotels or around the train station.
I would simply plan to enjoy the outdoors on those days - take an outing and a stroll, as most Germans will do if the weather is cooperative, through towns of architectural merit. Schwaebisch Hall, Bad Wimpfen, Tübingen are good nearby options. Or tour nearby Burg Hohenzollern - open the 25th & 26th. Or set up for 2 days near the palaces south of Munich instead - Hohenschwangau is open both the 25th and 26th, Neuschwanstein (not a tour I endorse) on the 26th.
You will have missed most of the Christmas festivities, but from the 27th on you can still visit a Christmas Market if you head north to Speyer, where it continues through Jan 6.
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles
2 posts
Thanks Russ!
Posted by
Atlanta
3262 posts
My husband and I are flying to Stuttgart (12/26) nearly the same time as you. We've decided to take the train and spend three nights in Colmar, France with a day trip to Strasbourg and then 2 nights in Baden-Baden, Germany with a day trip to Freiburg and the surrounding area. We'll take the train back to Stuttgart for our last night before we leave on Jan. 2. We'll have some time in both France and Germany and the distances aren't too far. We are reluctant to rent a car in December when the weather could be iffy. Bon Voyage!