Visit to Germany in Dec

This trip needs some re-thinking. You'll spend entirely too much time on trains (plus checking out of your hotel, getting to the train station, getting from the train station to your next hotel, checking in, etc.). And you'll also travel during the winter solstice, when the days are very short- about 8 hours from sun up until sun down. with only about 6 with good illumination. The Black Forest isn't one distinct destination, it's a large region that runs down about 3/4 the length of the state of Baden-Württemberg. I can't think of a reason to go here in the winter, other than skiing on Feldberg, and even less of a reason to visit as a daytrip at anytime of the year. Skip it.

Hi Ralph...not a direct flight but via Munich. I was looking at Dresden & Nurmeberg coz they have been rated as the best Christmas markets on many sites...though am open to feedback. Hey Tom....my friend has heard a lot about the Black Forest region and therfore added it as an afterthought. The idea is just drive around and enter a quaint pub/restaurant and meet the locals, etc. especially coz most of the other places would be proper touristy sight-seeing kinda places. From that perspective would it be a good idea? Is Dresden a place worth visitng apart from the Christmas market or should I give it a skip?

On the 24th, most restaurants will close early and I doubt too many pubs will be open. Save yourself a lot of time and effort and skip the Black Forest. Southern and central Germany is covered with similar rural regions of low-lying mountains, but for some reason, the Black Forest is the most well known. There's nothing too special there that you wouldn't see in, say, the Sauerland outside of Köln, or the Spessart around Würzburg and Nürnburg. Save your valuable travel time and hours of daylight for somewhere else.

Thanks Tom....what is your view on Dresden? Also....can the Eurail Pass for 2 countries be used for regional travel?

Thanks Ralph...now I'm really thinking about giving Dresden (if it is not really worth visiting) a skip and instead basing my stay at Munich with a trip to Nuremberg. Maybe I could move on to Frankfurt and then head to Cologne. Would you guys advice that?

This trip is wayyyyy too busy. I think you'd enjoy yourself more if you based out of Munich, maybe. Then you could do a day trip to Nurnberg for the old town/christmas market, and a day trip to Salzburg for the same, both from Munich, very easily. Dresden is supposed to be beautiful, but you just need to cut off some overnight destinations here. If you stay in Munich for a few nights, you could then take a train from Munich to Cologne on the 25th (4 1/2 hours), see the Cathederal (there will be Christmas masses going on so check the schedule, it may be difficult to tour on that day), then you could catch an evening train to Brussels (2 hours). The other big issue is that the Christmas markets don't all run up right til Christmas and most close after Christmas. You need to do some web research to find out what days the markets you want to go to are open. A LOT of stuff shuts down in Germany right before Christmas, and not a lot reopens until January 3rd or even later, as Germans take long Christmas vacations. If your schedule is flexible, I'd consider moving it back a week to avoid all the closures.