Christmas in Germany or Austria

Where ever you go, you need to make reservations quickly. Most hotels that offer a Christmas package deal are going to be booked and that since a long time, as many families do this. Everything in Germany pretty much shuts down on the 24th by about 14:00 or so. No restaurant will be open. Thus, you need reservations at a hotel that offers dinner on the 24th. The 25th and 26th are official holidays, so stores will be closed, but restaurants open in larger cities. Garmisch isn't that huge, and you will probably have better luck finding a reservation there. It is very beautiful sitting at the foot of the Zugspitz.

If you can't find anything acceptable in Garmisch, Innsbruck isn't too far away. I would personally prefer Garmisch, but Innsbruck is more of a city and probably has more lodging options.

I agree with the others. You may not be able to find anything this late and a lot of the smaller guesthouses and hotels are closed on Christmas itself.

To get an idea of what is still available to book for Christmas, go to a booking site like www.hotel.de or booking.com and look for rooms in the Garmisch area. It will show you what is available in Garmisch and the surrounding area. I came up with a number of places that still had rooms, some as far away as Innsbruck, but they may have a minimum stay for the holiday.

I was just looking for rooms for New Years and there's nothing out there, frankly. You need to book now. The Best Western in Garmisch is good. Near Garmisch-Part. is Seefeld (this would be my first choice over Garmisch), Lermoos, Grainau. Try any of these towns for a hotel room, as they're all close to skiiing.

Hello Patricia,
Last Christmas my wife and I spent 12 days in Bavaria, and we spent Christmas Eve near Garmisch. Since we were making reservations around this time last year, much of the hotels were booked, as Jo said. We actually found a great little Hotel in Ettal (about 30min from Garmisch) where we slept and took in Midnight Mass at the Monastery. We spent the day wandering in Garmisch and then found a restaurant to have dinner, no reservations. Most of Garmisch shut down around early afternoon, but we saw a kid's peformance of the Christmas Story in the local church just as everything was closing up. Overall a great day. Christmas day is pretty dead in Germany, so we drove around the area, spending quite a bit of time in Oberammergau, where we had lunch in a nice little restaurant. While I would go so far as to say that you won't find anything open on Christmas eve through the 26th, it is pretty limited, especially on the 25th. I didn't notice many problems in the 26th, but we spent the day at Herren Chiemsee and Salzburg so I can't comment on Garmisch or Munich. We were sleeping in Munich on the 25th and 26th, though. You'll have a great time.

Hotel Eden in Seefeld is great!! And their dinners can't be beat!! We even liked it during the World Cup when the hotel was overrun with half-drunk Russians.

I can agree with Nigel. Seefeld is lovely. I actually liked Hotel Eingang, right opposite the station in Seefeld (a little joke). Seefeld is at the top of the pass from Garmisch-P to Innsbruck. It's maybe 20 minute farther than Mittenwald, another possible place to stay, although possible more likely booked. (BTW, Hotel Eingang means hotel entrance. The sign was at the entrance to Karwendelhof.) Another place to ski, not as well known by Americans, is Oberstdorf, in the Oberallgäu, and the adjacent Kleinwalsertal. You might have a better chance to get reservations there, but I don't know. It's very popular with the Germans, because they don't have to put up with Americans, like in Ga-P. I particularly like the village of Fischen, a couple of km down the track from Oberstdorf.

I too have stayed at the Hotel Eingang, all over Germany. Lovely places, but all very different from each other...