Right before the outbreak of covid, in December 2019, I had an amazing road trip in Germany to see the Christmas markets. A road trip through Germany is itself a very exciting thing to do but we spent 2 full weeks moving from one city to another to attend and enjoy every Christmas market on our way. In total in 14 days we visited 11 cities: Dusseldorf, Wuppertal, Cologne, Stuttgart, Munich, Nuremberg, Erfurt, Hanover, Berlin, Munster, and Leipzig. I have been to half of them before but never during a Christmas season, so I was curious to see the difference, especially because I come from a non-Catholic country that has a different tradition for Christmas and Christmas fairs.
Nuremberg Christmas market is ranked one of the best in Germany and Europe so no wonder it was the star of the trip. It really showed all its glory to us with all those richly decorated stalls with handmade artisanal toys, Christmas ornaments and homemade pastry. Nuremberg market is the best choice for those who are interested in local art and craft as nowhere else I saw so many crafters showing off their masterpieces as in Nuremberg. I soaked up so much joyful Christmas environment that I even bought a lottery ticket for the first time in my life. I didn’t win anything but luckily it didn’t affect my Christmas mood.
The Christmas market in Munich is also absolutely worth visiting, it is spread throughout the city and has so many locations that you basically have a full tour through the city’s main touristic attractions just by hopping from one market to another. Every location in Munich has its own theme, the most striking too me was the one styled as medieval times and offering treats and souvenirs that conveyed the medieval spirit.
Surprisingly some other cities, less known to tourists for Christmas markets, made a deep impression on me as well. Stuttgart and Erfurt are among them. The Christmas stalls in Stuttgart were really endless, they occupied such a huge area that we couldn’t finish them all in one day even though we didn’t stop in front of every tent. The market in Erfurt was much smaller but so lovely and if offered a huge variety of dishes and drinks. I tried very nice hot pear wine there which I didn’t see in other cities.
The traditional drink of Christmas is mulled wine and of course it was sold at every market in multiple locations. Mulled wine is served in ceramic or glass mugs that must be returned after you finish the drink. But for a couple of euros you can keep the mug. Why to keep the mug? Each year every city designs its special mug and collecting them could be a nice hobby. Personally, I couldn’t help keeping those lovely mugs, especially the one from Munich. I still use these mugs during winter season to drink tea or mulled wine and to remember the unique atmosphere of Christmas markets.
