Mother/Daughter Christmas Markets Trip: Austria, Germany, & France

Vienna - thank you, Emily on the forum for your helpful posts about the Vienna Christmas Markets & logistics! It had been several years since I’d been to Vienna, so everything you shared was helpful. I know you mentioned to avoid the more expensive Airport CAT train, but after three flights, we were exhausted & went ahead and opted for the one stop train to Wein Mitte. As we came up from the metro escalator, my daughter was in awe of St. Stephens Cathedral in front of her! A perfect beginning!

Our hotel, Gastehaus Deutscher Orden Wien, was a block away. It’s located in the same building entrance as the chapel where Mozart played. Our room was basic but safety & location were excellent! I would recommend this for a solo traveler. The hall had a balcony door for photos of the cathedral roof designs, too.

We may have been exhausted, but with a Christmas Market almost out our door, we were ready to spend an hour there before calling it a night. Emily had rated this one of the lesser markets, so it was good to start here and do the nicer ones over the next two days. Trying our first hot mug of European gluhwein for a toast to being here & ……..yuck! I referred to it as gasoline wine. LOL!

We visited four more Christmas markets in Vienna, attended an excellent “Light of Creation” light show in the Votive Church, toured the Treasury Museum, and walked for hours each day just exploring & enjoying the beauty of Vienna. I took her to Figlmuller for a delicious schnitzel meal, and we were seated at the table next to the one where my husband & I had eaten. : ). We also had a delicious breakfast our last morning at Paremi, a French Boulangerie. There’s an old-time shop on the main street to reach Figlmuller’s lane (very close) with the traditional wood windowcase. We found the old-time paper advent calendars with a picture of St.Stephens on them, plus some adorable felt deer & house ornaments. We could have purchased a lot more at that shop if it was our last city! ; )

Our favorite Christmas Market in Vienna was the Rathausplatz for the walking lanes into it with Nativity huts, the beautiful building backdrop & lights, and especially the ice skating ribbon vs. just a rectangular rink.  There was a real community feeling of families . Overall, Vienna was a winner with such a nice variety of markets to attend! Four Christmas Market mugs hopped into my suitcase in Vienna!

When I discussed destination options for this trip, Salzburg & Strasbourg were my two “must do’s”. I’ve always liked Salzburg, and I hadn’t stayed in Strasbourg, previously, but heard about their oldest market. As soon as I told my daughter about “Sound of Music” tours, Salzburg became her #1 request. : )

Salzburg - As we approached Salzburg by train, the skies cleared during our last 30 minutes, and we had spectacular views of the mountains. Salzburg is lovely in Summer, and now it was gorgeous decorated for Christmas!

We stayed at Hotel Elefant, on a pretty lane located two blocks from the Duomo Christmas Market. This hotel was another great choice where I would stay again. I liked its location better than the Weisse Tube where I’ve stayed previously.

We checked in & went up the funicular to the fortress. One of our Christmas mugs is white & has the fortress on it! : ) My daughter appreciates nice photos of herself, and I suggested taking some up there posing her with her fluffy coat hood highlighting her profile, along with the mountains as a side backdrop. Some friends said it looks like I took a cover poster photo for Austrian tourism!

The Sound of Music tour was a lot of fun! We enjoyed the scenes & facts and some singing along the way. I was especially touched when I happened to be the front seat passenger during our ride out to Mondsee as we drove by part of Wolfgangsee. My husband & I stayed at St. Wolfgang after Salzburg, and I had stored a wish to return to St. Wolfgang on the lake sometime to see it in the winter after seeing photos in the village. I saw the sign for St. Wolfgang & did get to see the lake - a happy compromise! And, my daughter loved this ride out into the beautiful countryside. Our guide mentioned a restaurant with apple strudel with vanilla sauce at the Mondsee church stop - a good recommendation!

The rest of our time in Salzburg was enjoying the beauty of wandering & photographing, hearing the music at the market, etc. One caution we noticed was there’s no vehicle barrier at their market like we saw at other cities. Only one more Christmas mug was added to my suitcase in Salzburg.

Munich - to be honest, I placed Munich as a 1-night stay in our itinerary because I wanted all of our transportation between cities to be a 2-hr max, direct train connection. But, we voted Munich our favorite Christmas market stalls designs! They had an authentic woodland forestry feel to them, decorated as “old-time Christmas “.  The grand buildings just added to the setting.

Our hotel was Hotel Schlicker, and it couldn’t have been closer to the market! A perfect location a half block away. I reserved a smaller room, and we were fine with it because we both just brought a carry on suitcase. Heavier packers would need the larger room.

We did the typical touristy stuff in Munich, including stopping in the noisy Hofbrau (didn’t stay). A green Christmas Market mug joined my others in the suitcase in Munich.

Stuttgart - I had stayed here for a work trip, so it was nice to come this time as a tourist. I reserved EmiLu Design Hotel - the most modern hotel of our trip. It was half a block from the Christmas Market downtown and just one metro stop from the train station.

Our second day in Stuttgart, we took the short train out to Esslingen. Esslingen’s architectural setting is a joy to photograph, and the medieval market was a lot of fun! Entertainment & people dressed in period clothes rounded out the look. Definitely don’t miss it if you’re in the area. It felt warmer in Munich & Stuttgart, and I decided to just double-layer my 32 Degree thin tops and skip the heavy coat while we spent the afternoon in Esslingen. I was mostly warm enough with a couple of cups of apple cider at the medieval market.

Stuttgart’s market had several sections - a combo country fair rides section & the Christmas Market. Their stalls were more elaborate decor - some with high moving parts, I.e. spinning wood fan, bears on tightropes.  And there were more options of items not seen at other markets.  Some stalls were larger to step inside, plus they had yurts with tables to eat inside.  The smells were wonderful with more unique food options - grilled fish, etc.

My daughter treated me to a delicious Italian dinner our last evening in Stuttgart, close to our hotel, and we went up to the hotel rooftop to relax & finish our stay here.

A terracotta crock Christmas Market mug from Esslingen joined my others at this stop. (We didn’t like the one available at the Stuttgart market.)

Strasbourg - I saw a post on the forum to expect very heavy crowds, but we were fine. There was a long line to go into the cathedral, but it moved fairly quickly & definitely worth it! What a pretty town decorated around the canal section, and stunning oversized decor on multiple stories of businesses. The street with the large teddy bears on windows, etc. ended up being a few steps from our hotel building! Hotel Le Rohan is another one where I had us located a half a block from a market - the Cathedral Market.

While we were exploring Strasbourg, my daughter pointed to a church which ended up being another highlight. A medieval church to photograph, plus the organist was practicing some Christmas music!

Wow, we had to really search for the ceramic Christmas mug at Strasbourg! Almost all of the stalls were using plastic cups. My daughter saw some ladies carrying the cute red mugs, and I could translate their answer enough to locate them - whew!

Our last city was Paris - a great ending city. I planned to avoid the Christmas Markets here and focus our time for my daughter’s first chance to see Paris. We discussed several activity options while planning the trip because we only had one full day.

In Paris, we stayed at Hotel Lumen Paris Louvre, located a block north of the Tuileries Garden. The Pyramides metro stop is just around the corner. During our one full day, we walked our feet off, mostly not riding the metro. We started at the Musee de Orangerie, worked our way over to Sainte-Chapelle right after lunch, and finished the day with an early evening sunset Seine cruise. It was a damp cool temperature, so we bundled up with our layers and thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the front row of the outdoor seats. After seeing the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower, we looked back & noticed we were the only people sitting outside on the boat, except for one other couple!

Misc. Notes:.

We both bought rainproof toasty warm winter coats for this trip, and we especially needed them in Austria & for our night boat ride on the Seine. I brought a pair of Kamik winter boots as my only shoes, and I didn’t regret it. My feet were never cold, and with my custom inserts, my feet were comfortable walking & standing.

An additional benefit of the Women's Apres Arson II Winter Long Down Jacket I bought: we were in the Comfort Plus section of the Delta planes. Usually I sleep a little and doze off at times. This coat was like having a lovely down duvet blanket! I put the coat on backwards, i,e, my arms resting in the loose downy sleeves with the coat interior facing me, and I slept for 5 hours on the way to Austria! Wow, that was amazing & certainly helped since we had three flights to reach Vienna.

We both brought a 2-wheel carry on and an empty backpack. Those cute Christmas mugs came home with us! I brought home 8 of them, plus a few ornaments and small items. (Bring a roll of bubble wrap to make packing & protecting very easy.). My daughter brought home 7 mugs, a few ornaments and a nice village house.

An additional hint:. I decorated my home for Christmas a few weeks before we left. It helped so much to have an idea of what I really might want to buy & not bring home “more stuff”. (I don’t like clutter.). I also took photos of my bookcase, fireplace mantel, etc. decorated in case I wanted to reference any while making decisions.

Expenses: I paid for our hotels; otherwise, we paid for our own flight, trains, food & Christmas mugs - LOL! The Splitwise app worked well again to keep track, and we both used ApplePay when not paying cash. Some of the stalls only took cash.

Moving cities often: After we finished the Christmas Market cities, I asked my daughter which city she would recommend eliminating if we were cutting out one city. She paused to consider each one, and she replied that she wouldn’t want to skip any that we saw. So for travelers who like to move slower, neither of us have a recommended reduced itinerary. : )

This was such a wonderful trip! I love the memories we made, and it was fun to have a different type of focus at familiar cities. I would definitely return for another Christmas Market trip in a few years.

Jean, that’s the way to do a Christmas market trip, quickly and painless. Every time I read one if these trip reports I think, wow, we should just go, now. Maybe next year.
What a wonderful time you had with your daughter. Enjoy your daily coffee or tea or maybe some hot cocoa in a different mug each day.
And I’m going to bookmark it for maybe 2026!

That sounds like such a nice trip! Thanks for sharing this trip report. Bookmarking!

As always another excellent Jean trip report! So glad you and your daughter had a great time. Good job pulling it off so quickly, too.

Sounds like a fantastic trip! Thanks for sharing! There's something to be said about pulling off a last minute successful excursion!

Jean, I'm so jealous, and so overdue to return.
Our last Xmas markets trip was 2019. We also enjoyed Stuttgart and Esslingen , both of which a return trip is warranted. I remember drinking gluhwein in Esslingen and dancing in the streets to the German band playing lively Medieval music. The next day, we just had to sleep in and recover- it was more like a party. My daughter and I will always have those memories!
Your itinerary looks ideal, and having a mother-daughter adventure is priceless. Thanks for writing a great Trip Report, and for sharing the holiday excitement.
Where next?

What a fun memory, Pat! I can picture the scene at Esslingen. : ). And I was so glad Esslingen is so easy to reach by train. How many of those cute Christmas mugs came home with you?

My next trip is back to Spain in February. We always did a relaxing trip for a few weeks that month during the dreary gray winters of Seattle and continued that tradition even when we moved to this sunnier state. Spain is easy to navigate & relaxing with repeat cities and excellent events for a solo traveler. : )

What a fun trip! I went with the girls a few years ago and my husband and I were supposed to go last year, but cancelled. I was just talking to our daughter about another trip for either this coming year or next. The funny thing is, the trip my husband and I were to do was very similar to yours, minus Paris. So I am taking notes, especially on hotels!

When the girls and I went, we loved Salzburg. The SOM tour was so fun, and yes, the apple strudel in Mondsee was wonderful! The only mug that broke on the way home was the one from Salzburg, and of course it was my favorite. So a good reason to return;)

I am glad to read about your experience in Strasbourg as I have been reading about massive crowds. I wonder if the weekends are worse?

I love that you travel with your daughters:)

What a wonderful trip you planned! And such great memories to make with your daughter! Please give details on the "rainproof toasty warm coat"-my aversion to cold weather has so far made Christmas markets a no-go for me.

Cala, this is the one I bought; it’s on a half-price sale right now.

Columbia Women's Apres Arson II Winter Long Down Jacket

My daughter brought hand warmers, and we both brought toe warmers (small packs you open & they keep you warmer for several hours in your gloves/mittens, boots, etc.). My daughter used all of her hand warmers for her circulation. But, neither of us needed our toe warmers. We both had good boots, ready for anything.

Mikliz97, I thought of you & your daughters when we were doing the Sound of Music tour! Did your mug that broke have a drawing of the Salzburg fortress? We picked up that one while we were up there. The one in the Duomo Christmas Markets had a regular look to it. I was planning to give my daughter any mug if her matching one broke during the trip home. Luckily, they all made it. Humorously, when we had the taxi to go to CDG at the end of the trip, the driver wanted to load our suitcases, but we insisted on doing it ourselves, saying there were breakables in them. And when we reached Salt Lake City, there was an earlier flight that could save us 90 minutes of waiting as our last flight. We explained to the gate agent, we were willing to fly standby, but we need to ensure our suitcases wouldn’t be gate-checked. She actually let us board (as the last two people) and make sure our suitcases had a spot before we accepted that flight! How very kind!

As far as Strasbourg, we were there for one day. When we arrived, we took the tram to the center and walked over to the cathedral. After leaving off our suitcase, we went through the cathedral which was a long line but not unreasonable. Afterwards, we were exploring all over the center of the city, so we may have missed some of the more crowded spots during the day-tourists period. We avoided any tour guide w/ groups because their cluster can certainly clog up a lane very quickly.

We were there on a Thursday.

Jean, thanks for a wonderful trip report! I just forwarded this to my sister to read, and she and I are hoping to make our way to the markets next year. Great description and great information!

You've renewed my faith that a Christmas market tour might be fun. The crowds I'd read about were holding us back about considering it. I'm not sure how much we'd enjoy the actual markets but the way the towns are decorated would make it worthwhile. We want to return to Strasbourg anyway and may make it an Alsace trip.

Thank you, Jean, for sharing your Christmas Markets trip report with us. I appreciate the hotels and clothing details you included.

Sounds like a wonderful trip with your daughter!

I am glad to read about your experience in Strasbourg as I have been reading about massive crowds. I wonder if the weekends are worse?

Yes, they are.

And the further you get into December, they are worse too.

So it is much smarter to go in late November or early December, as Jean did, and avoid weekends.

(Crowds will be less, train tickets will cost a bit less if bought far enough in advance and not for Fri-Sun...)

Thank you for sharing your Christmas Market experiences.

I did a Christmas Market trip with a friend two years ago. We went to Bruges (day trip to Ghent), Cologne (my cousins live there), Strasbourg (day trips to other towns in the Alsace & Black Forest), Hinterzarten for the Ravenna Gorge Market and Frankfurt (went to markets in surrounding towns). Strasbourg was my favorite, and the most special and unique experience was the torch walk to Ravenna Gorge and the market there. If markets are the focus I would skip Belgium. Cologne had multiple markets that were very nice. There were good markets in Frankfurt and nearby as well.

Fun report! We just got back yesterday from a similar trip and fun to hear about other markets—we overlapped Strasbourg and Paris.
I was nervous about possible cold and wet weather but we lucked out.

Patty, which cities did you visit? Would be happy to hear about your experiences, too.

Jean! What a wonderful trip you all had! Thanks so much for your quick trip report, I’m sure it will be helpful to others!

Jean--I think our mug did have the fortress on it, not 100% sure though. It was a beautiful navy blue color though and that really caught my eye. That is funny, I too like to handle my bag vs letting drivers do it. How nice about SLC! I will need to plan around weekends for this, which we did not need to do for Munich/Salzburg in 2022. I am really leaning towards 2027 as 2026 is already super busy for us and I want to be able to plan it properly.

Kim--That is what I figured. We are planning to go earlier, hopefully the end of November. I do need to check the opening dates for the markets in some cities. Thank you:)

Jean. We flew from San Francisco direct to Frankfurt. First market (and mug) was from there. It seemed to have fewer crafts than other markets but great food and hot apple wine. We did not stay late due to jet lag.
We then went to Nuremberg for 2 days. Sunday was very busy but Monday less so. They seemed to feature spice cookies and various sausages.
Next up, Strasbourg—3 nights. We arrived for the early evening markets which were beautiful and yummy. The tree lighting was accompanied by beautiful music. The next day we went to Colmar with its sparkling wine and cozy market. It was crowded but reasonable. The train back was packed and that evening in Strasbourg was rainy so we stayed in our air bnb with a wine and cheese picnic. We spent the next day touring the streets of Strasbourg and visiting the markets. The streets were so beautiful. We ended the day with the tree lighting and dinner in the market.
On to Paris for wandering, eating and purchasing butter. We saw a few Christmas markets there but they were quite small. We did go to a light show on the Champs Elysees—very crowded but it was Saturday night.
We were lucky enough to only need raincoats once. The temperatures were not too far off from the SF Bay Area. Would I go back? Of course! So many markets to visit!

Patty, that sounds like a great trip! We had our one evening/night of rain in Salzburg. Fortunately, the weather had been perfect the previous day, so we didn’t miss anything.

Jean, this is a wonderful trip report as always, and i am so happy for you and your daughter that you made these memories together ! Your hotel planning seems to have been impeccable !!! And you got lucky with mild weather. Thanks for sharing your tips and about all the charming places you saw. I am going to have to do Christmas markets again someday .

Very nice trip report. Thanks for sharing insight into the markets you visited and into the joy of traveling with your daughter.

Great trip report! It brings back memories of our most recent Christmas Market trip in 2023. Esslingen is definitely on my "next time" list.

Hi Jean, I logged on early Sunday morning in hopes you might have some comments about France and voila! This trop sounds lovely and a beautiful way to spend time with your daughter.

I am going to plan a short solo adventure for the first time (after spending a week with my daughter who moved to London). Have you traveled alone in France?

Hi CaliMom, yes, I have traveled solo in France. I have it on my short list to return again. Here’s the trip report. I traveled solo in 2019 for two weeks, and then my husband joined me for the last week. I was happy with all of those location choices.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/our-combined-solo-couple-vacation-in-france-2019
One comment - the B&B, Le Jardin Cathedrale where I stayed in Chartres is not the same handy & beautiful garden location as the B&B currently using that name. They use some of the same furnishings, so it may be that the owner moved homes.

Previous to that trip, my husband & I did a trip to France, and I did the 1-week RS Paris trip.

Thank you Jean! Super helpful! I love how organized all of your trip reports always are!

Once again, you’ve travelled well and generously shared your (and your daughter’s) experience. Not slow travel, but wonderfully themed and organized travel

Thank you. Best wishes for for a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

So glad you had this time with your daughter! (And maybe selfish of me, but it gave me hope that my oldest might still want to take trips with me now and again even if she does get married someday way out in the future - she's just 16 now). My kids and I had fun watching Christmas Market videos on Youtube recently. I'm sure it'd be fun and it sounds like you did an excellent job picking some of the best. And I think it's sometimes better to not have forever long to plan - fewer revisions and less second guessing, right? Merry Christmas!

p.s. I want a coat that makes me sleep 5 hours on the flight over!