Hi Our family of 4 will be in Heidelberg for 3 nights from December 1st. We then have 4 nights before needing to be in Colmar. We were thinking of Bacharach and Cochem or Basel but not sure about this time of year. Any information would be great. Our daughters will be 21 & 17. Cheers Kathy
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
For various reasons, I personally prefer Europe in the colder months, but you have to be aware of certain planning considerations that differ from the summer months. The largest difference is in the hours of daylight, which are greatly reduced compared to most of the US and the populated areas of Canada. Particularly in Germany where the smaller towns are not brightly illuminated at night, this reduces how much touring you can do in a given day. And realize, that many of the popular itineraries you will see in travel books were not written with winter travel in mind.
That aside, I still prefer Europe in the winter. At many of the popular tourist areas, crowds are thin. The European take on Christmas is delightfully understated and tasteful compared to the US.
As for weather, if you are from Hamilton, Ontario, you may find Germany more mild than your hometown. Not warm, but not Arctic either.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9220 posts
There are little Christmas markets all over the place then. Of course Frankfurt will have a very large Christmas market in its town square. Really very pretty.
Büdingen - 4-6 Dec. (not on the Rhein, but a really neat castle and they do the market down in the old moat with real lanterns, etc.)
Idstein - 5-6 Dec. Christmas Market
Ronneburg - 5-6 & 12-13 Dec. Historical Christmas Market.
Here is a website with a more comprehensive list.
http://www.weihnachtsmarkt-deutschland.de/burgweihnacht.html
The weather might be not so wonderful then, but it might be ok too. It gets dark around 16:30 or so.
Posted by
Salt Lake City
1528 posts
I will echo some of what has already been said. We spent the first week of last December in Germany and will again this year. The days are indeed short and Christmas Markets are nice as they give something to do for those long evenings.
We liked our stop in Rothenburg best. It can be a real tourist trap in the peak tourist season but a decent, beautiful stop in the off season. The whole town becomes a Christmas Market with every small shop selling Christmas items. Plus there are many restaurants, cafes etc. to meet the tourist needs all in a compact, walkable town. If you are traveling by car it is also a good travel base. Our pictures from last December:
http://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/gallery/6787052_w2d22/1/433656478_iwoYP
Regards, Gary
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
You can do the Rhine/Mosel in December. Marksburg Castle in Braubach, south of Koblenz, is open for tours: www.marksburg.de . Mainz and Trier would make for good places to visit and stay - they're real cities with lots to do and see. But I would avoid overnighting in the smaller towns like Cochem and Bacharach at that time of the year - just too dead and too little to do - but you can see them along the way. You could also stay in Koblenz if you just wanted to stay in one place and do daytrips by train or car along these rivers.
The Christmas markets in Mainz and Rüdesheim are terrific. Trier's is good too - very atmospheric - but a little smaller. I've heard Bernkastel has a very atmospheric market as well.