Every December, our social media feeds are flooded with pictures of twinkle lights adorning medieval walled cities in Germany, illuminating storybook-like Christmas markets, sparking a wanderlust from deep within. The wanderlust grows like a crescendo in your mind and you finally decide to book that flight to Germany to embark on an Epic German Christmas Market Adventure.
But…
Now what?
How do you embark on this epic German Christmas market adventure that you’ve been dreaming about? Where do you go? What do you do?
Don’t worry – I’m here! Let me guide you along your journey to creating the best German Christmas market adventure that fits your budget, schedule, and desires!
Let me preface this article with a caveat:
We all have different tastes, desires, and budgets. Our timelines will be different. This guide will serve as just that – a guide. I will post my itinerary at a later time. This article serves as a way to get you thinking and planning the German Christmas market adventure to suit YOUR dreams, not mine or anyone else’s.
What are your German Christmas market adventure goals?
Before you start planning any major trip, you want to make sure your goals are clear. This will not only help you design your adventure, but will offer some guidance as situations arise throughout.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Are you wanting to visit as many Christmas markets as possible?
- Is there a particular part of the country you want to base yourself in (like Bavaria by all the castles, or Berlin because you want to experience the city)?
- Do you want to country-hop on this trip?
- What do you want to accomplish with your visit?
- Do you want to sightsee along the way?
If you don’t have a goal, start thinking about one. Germany is a wonderful place, but the last thing you want to do on your German Christmas market adventure is get overwhelmed with all of your options.
When I went to Germany, my goal was to visit as many Christmas markets as possible. I wanted to experience big-city markets, as well as the smaller town markets.
Left to right: Tübingen, Ludwigsburg, Munich (Marienplatz)
Pick a city to be your “hub”
Even if you’re not planning on staying in one city for your German Christmas market adventure, you will want to pick one big city to be the central hub for your excursions. Let me explain.
When it comes time to plan out where you’ll be going and which German Christmas markets you’ll be visiting, you need to have a focused area. Germany is a large country and it doesn’t make sense to visit Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, and Cologne all in one trip. You’d spend too much time in transit between the cities.
Instead, pick a big city (we chose Munich) and visit markets close to it. Often times the best way to do this is to use the city in which you fly in or out of.
And, if you choose wisely, you’ll pick a city to be your hub that has more than one Christmas market within the city’s limits.
Left to right: Children’s market in Nuremberg, Munich (Marienplatz), Munich (Odeonplatz)
How long do you have for your German Christmas Market Adventure?
Any time you have to spend exploring the Christmas markets in Germany is well worth it, but you want to be sensitive to your timeline.
This is where the wisdom of choosing a hub city comes into play. You don’t want to be spending the majority of your time in transit between markets.
Yes, driving along the beautiful countryside of Germany is all part of the adventure.
Yes, riding the train across the country isn’t something to miss.
But not at the expense of actually visiting the markets.
Based on how much time you have in the country, calculate out how much time it would take to get from place to place, keeping in mind a buffer of time for things to go wrong, traffic, or spontaneity.
When I was planning my German Christmas market adventure, I made sure that my friend and I weren’t spending more than 3 hours a day in transit. As such, we stuck to cities in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, and got to see markets that aren’t as crazy busy as some of the big cities.
Left to right: Nuremberg, Ludwigsburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber
How do you want to get around to the markets?
One of the best decisions I made for our German Christmas market adventure was to purchase train passes.
I fell in love with the German public transportation system when I studied abroad, and it honestly wasn’t even a question when planning a trip to visit the German Christmas markets – we were getting a rail pass.
We ended up getting the 1st class, 7-day pass, based on where we were going to be visiting. If you’re on a budget, the 2nd class pass will work, no problem.
Something to note is that the majority of German Christmas markets are easy to get to via public transportation. Since the cities are so well connected, and the fact that most markets are in the main center of town (you know, where most forms of public transportation go through), you can get around easily without a personal vehicle.
Unless you have the desire to visit small towns only, or if you have a physical limitation that would prevent you from using it, I would highly recommend getting around via public transportation: bus, train, streetcar, subway.
If you’re interested in using the public transportation system in Germany, this is a really great overall resource: https://www.german-way.com/travel-and-tourism/public-transport-in-germany/.
Is it worth it to rent a car?
Well, that depends on a few things. Where are you going to be driving? Do you have an international drivers license? Can you drive a manual transmition?
Do you feel comfortable navigating foreign roads? Are you familiar with international road signs? Have you driven in the snow? Do you speak German? Are you prepared for parking super far away from your accommodations?
There are so many variables when renting a car in Germany, and other countries not your own, that it can be hard to justify renting one.
Like I mentioned before, Germany is well-connected via trains and public transportation. Most Christmas markets are easily accessible in the center of town.
If your plan is to stick to the more popular or well-visited Christmas markets, getting a car wouldn’t make much sense.
Before you start talking about the possibility of picking up a rental car for your German Christmas market adventure, take some time to plan out your route so you’re best prepared.
Let’s talk accommodations
You’ve got your game plan, you know which markets you’re going to be visiting and how you’re going to be getting around. Now, it’s time to figure out where you’re going to be staying during your German Christmas market adventure.
Walking around the Christmas markets is a fun, thrilling, and enriching adventure. But, it’s also an exhausting one. And at the end of a long day, you’ll want some place to put your feet up.
So…where should you stay?
During my 2-week trip, I stayed in hostels mainly, but with an apartment for 2 nights towards the end of the trip.
There are benefits to staying at a variety of types of accommodations. Let’s talk about them.
Left to right: Wombats Munich, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Wombats Munich
Hostels
The hostel scene is alive and well in Germany. You’ll see everyone from families to college kids and everyone in between. There are tons of options around the cities in Germany (although some cities I visited, such as Rothenburg ob der Tauber, only had one hostel option).
Pros:
- Cheap
- If you’re solo, you can find someone to hang out with
- Great sense of community
- Centrally located to the markets and public transportation
Cons:
- No personal space unless you shell out for a private room, but those can be as expensive as a hotel room
- Shared bathroom
- Laundry costs money, if available
Vacation Rentals (AirBnB/VRBO)
I get it – not everyone enjoys the hostel scene. And sometimes you just need your own space. After hopping around to hostels all over southern Germany, I was glad I had the foresight to book 2 nights at a cute little AirBnB in Tübingen!
Pros:
- Own space
- Private bathroom/shower
- More local experience
Cons:
- Can be further away from the center of town
- Prices increase during the holiday season
- Can be isolating if you’re a solo traveler
Boutique-Hotel Kronenstuben, Ludwigsburg
Hotels
Staying in larger, impersonal hotels is also an option. These are great if you’re a creature of comfort, have points saved up to cover the cost, or if you don’t want to have to worry about picking up after yourself. Gosh, that sounds like I’m against hotels. I’m not, but they’re definitely not my go-to.
Pros:
- You can use saved hotel points to pay for part or all of your stay
- Familiarity if you’re used to staying in hotels
- Privacy
- Often comes with free breakfast, depending on the hotel/chain
Cons:
- Can be difficult to find bigger hotel chains in smaller areas
- Impersonal
- Often far away from the old city center where the markets usually are
- Expensive, especially during the holiday season
There’s no “wrong” place to stay during your German Christmas market adventure. To fully embrace the adventure, maybe change it up and try something new!
Should you stay in one place during your German Christmas market adventure?
One last thing to consider when you start planning your German Christmas market adventure is whether or not you’ll be staying in one place or hopping around to different cities.
Staying in one location, such as Munich, is a great way to have a home base. You don’t have to worry about packing up and lugging your stuff around. But then again, you limit yourself to markets close by. It’s up to you to decide on what your schedule will be, how hard you want to push it, and what you want your experience to be.
In the end, your German Christmas market adventure is totally customizable to your tastes and goals. There’s no real “wrong” way to do it, and you can make it to what you want it to be.
Hopefully this guide has helped you start the conversation and plan your German Christmas market adventure. Stay tuned for my itinerary from my own 2022 German Christmas market adventure!
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