We thought it would be fun/romantic (now expensive and logistically challenging) to spend Christmas in Germany and New Year's in Paris with mostly German sites in between from 12/16/11 - 01/02/12 The way I have our trip set up, we either spend 24 December through 26 December in Tirol/Bavaria (castles, snow, etc.) or Berlin (great city, lots of museums - all closed during this time I assume). I need a sanity check on this itinerary. 12/16 to 12/18 Prague 12/18 to 12/21 Berlin (via 18:30 train) 12/22 to 12/23 Rothenburg (via Berlin 8:30/Arrives 13:30; train to Nurnberg; pick up rental car) 12/24 to 12/26 Routte/Fussen (via Romantic Road) (hoping for some advice on how to spend actual Christmas Eve and Christmas Day there with all things closed)
12/27 to 12/31 Munich (visit Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau - drive back to Munich) 12/31 to 01/02 Fly to Paris 12/31 in the morning; celebrate new year somewhere... Any tips, advice or alternative Start/Middle/End would be grandly appreciated. I'm just sick to my stomach knowing I've started so very late on getting all this together! p.s. We've been to Paris before and just want to be there for the NYE experience. Hence the brief stay.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8961 posts
I think you are cutting your time in Berlin rather short and you will probably wish you had more days there. For Christmas Eve, you will need reservations for dinner somewhere, and your time is getting rather short. Everything shuts down on the 24th around 1400 or so, especially in the smaller towns. Staying in a resort type area might be better, plus you have a better chance of snow. Good luck with this though as many places will be already booked full. The 25th and 26th are both holidays, so stores will be closed on those days too. Museums tend to share the holiday closing and opening hours, so check with the individual museums and tourist attractions to see what their opening hours will be. Some restaurants may close for the entire holiday period, but the bigger cities will of course have not as many closings. The Romantic Road is not anything special at all, it is just a road that connects popular tourist towns.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32921 posts
What Jo said. And I would much rather be on the Fussen side than the Reutte side. There will be much more happening - it is a really nice quaint town with all the facilities.
Posted by
OP
Seattle
45 posts
Okay, so ditch the car. I've heard this one before and so will heed this. It was suggested I just use Munich as a base to day train it to Fussen, Rothenburg I coming down from Berlin). I think I'll be less stressed if I narrow my hotel days and may even get a better shot at finding a place for the Christmas holiday if I commit to days before and after those big days.
Wish me luck and again, many thanks for your wisdom!