Christmas in Germany

Germany is a big country with many different cities that would appeal to different people. It is hard to guess which city you would like best. You might tell the board what you would like to see and do. If you are only going to be in Germany only for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, many things will be closed. Almost all the Christmas Markets will be over. People will be spending time with their families at home. It is not the best time to visit Germany if you want to interact with the people.

Your best option would be a large city or winter sports resort (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Oberstdorf, etc). This will probably give you the most dining options. Realize, as well, that the few restaurants that remain open on Christmas (including those in hotels) will probably serve their main meal early in the afternoon and then close.

Gary - I'm not exactly sure what we are interested in seeing yet, I have just now started reading the guidebook and planning our trip details. We will be in Germany from the 20th - 29th, and then heading to Amsterdam for NYE. We are flying in to Munich, and going to some Christmas markets in that area (perhaps Rothenburg and Nurnberg), and we hope to end our trip in Berlin. We are renting a car, so we are open to stopping anywhere along the way. We are both currently Peace Corps Volunteers in Morocco, so I would be really interested in perhaps seeing a movie on Christmas Eve or Christmas day because neither of us have been to the cinema since our arrival. Do you know if movie theaters are open on these days? I realize a lot of stuff will be closed, so we will most likely just spend our time walking around and hopefully skyping with our families. Thanks for the advice!

If you want to see a movie (assuming you don't speak fluent German), you will need to be in a larger city. That's because many films in Germany are dubbed, and only in larger cities can you count on having subtitled films. The code: OF means original language (no subtitles) OmU means original language with subtitles (assume German titles unless specified) Sometimes they will specify: OmDtU means German subtitles, and OmEnU means English subtitles. If you don't see one of these in a film listing, assume it's dubbed into German. On my recent trip to Berlin, the Woody Allen movie To Rome With Love was showing 3 ways: 1. A US print, with no subtitles for the English and English subtitles for the Italian (luckily for us, this was the one we went to). 2. Original language track with German subtitles for everything.
3. Dubbed into German. Again, you won't find these options in smaller towns and villages. Berlin and Frankfurt are likely to have the best variety of English-friendly film options (although I wouldn't choose where to go solely based on this - but since you mentioned it as an interest, I wanted to make sure you weren't disappointed).

My wife and I once spent a Christmas in Salzburg, Austria, not that far from Munich. You would need to make arrangements for meals in advance and keep something edible in the room. I doubt that you will find a movie; but, Salzburg does have an advantage. It has many beautiful sights in the city that are open to view anytime, and there are many attractive places to visit on a day trip by car. We liked the Danube Valley and the Salzkammergut (a lake district). A similar case could be made for many moderate sized cities between Munich and Berlin. Bamberg, Würzburg, Nürnberg and Regensburg are examples. If you can enjoy just walking around and seeing the old town; these are attractive places. Christmas Eve would be especially quiet. Gary