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bringjoy2theworld
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
European Christmas Markets?
in Travel
I have decided that I really want to experience Europe at Christmastime. I know that we can't go for Christmas per se, but I thought we might be able to go the week or two after Thanksgiving. Where would you recommend for the best Christmas markets? Will that time period be too early in the holiday season? I've looked at a few of the European river cruises and some of them, I can't figure out how you have time to do anything because they only stop for 3 or 4 hours. I can't imagine only spending that much time in a spot. So, any input or suggestions would be appreciated.
Re: European Christmas Markets?
Someone on the IN board did one of the river cruises during the Christmas Markets and had a great time.
I've been to them in Germany, France and Edinburgh. They're all good. I think that the time frame you're looking at is a good time to go. This past year the ones near me started towards the end of November, last year they started closer to the middle of November.
This is the website I used when trying to figure out which markets I wanted to do in Germany. It lists the bigger ones (there are smaller ones in smaller towns, but those usually only last a weekend or so). http://www.germany-christmas-market.org.uk/
We were in Europe during the week of U.S. Thanksgiving this past year. We didn't go for the Christmas markets but the markets were already open when we were in Cologne. We walked through 2 of them and they were really nice (and unavoidable...you pretty much HAVE to walk through them). We bought some great souveniers. There was a tram that went from market to market.
From my research prior to my trip, some of them don't open until closer to Dec. 1st but I'm guessing the Cologne ones are medium-large since it's a nice town for tourists.
That was me! :-) we used Uniworld Cruises and were thrilled with the food, service, and staff! Everything was outstanding and the staff took amazing care of us. Our cruise director was local (as were most of the tour guides), so they had all kinds of great tips & suggestions on where to go/what to do in each city.
http://www.uniworld.com/destinations/Europe
We did Vienna to Nuremburg in 8 days, and I never felt like our time at port was too short. We usually had a full day in each city/town, with an exception for one or two sailing afternoons. Also you can choose how you spend your time. We chose to do a tour in each city but you could easily skip it so you have more time to explore.
The Xmas markets were so awesome! Some of the bigger cities even had a few markets, and we had plenty of time to see everything! It's a really fun way to see multiple cities in a short amount of time. (our cruise went to Vienna, Durnstein, Linz, Passau, Regensburg & Nuremburg). I'm really hoping to do Basel to Cologne this Xmas!
Let me know if you have any questions! Have an amazing time, wherever you decide to go!!
Dave & Jennifer 10.18.08
My Doha Adventures
Thank you ladies.
Jenny- I'll probably page you or send you a message as we get closer to planning. I'll definitely check out uniworld. The only company I've looked at so far for the cruise was Viking. I'm happy to hear that Paris had markets because I was thinking we might do Paris this May and then go back for the markets. Now, perhaps we can combine the two. This is getting exciting. However, now I need to figure out where to go in May as I need a break so desperately.
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I would not do Paris for a Christmas Market. If you want a traditional European Christmas market I would do Germany, Vienna, Prague, Copenhagen or Tallinn. The German ones are the most traditional.
It was cold when we went - probably somewhere around 20 F temperatures, but that's what the gluhwein is for!! It keeps you nice & warm :-D also I recall some of the Markets having fire pits so you could warm up.
The snow wasn't slushy, since it was so cold. Actually it turned out the Danube Canal was frozen, so it was closed, and we could not sail to Nuremburg as initially planned, but ended up going by bus instead!
So it's certainly cold but that shouldn't stop you :-P just drink lots of gluhwein!
Also the best tip we got was to bring a bag & some napkins to the markets, so if you keep the gluhwein mugs, you can clean them out & carry them easily! (we took home about 12 mugs)!!
Dave & Jennifer 10.18.08
My Doha Adventures
My favorite x-mas markets in Germany are Dresden (Saxony, has 4-5 markets, and one medival one, really cool), Rothenburg (Bavaria), Schwarzenberg (Saxony and only open the first two or three weekends in Advent) Seifen (also in Saxony and has all the wood carving stuff that is sold at markets all over Germany, propably my ultimate favorite). I liked Erfurt and Weimar (Thuringea) also.
I?ve been to several in Munich, but I was pretty meh about them, been to Passau?s, really meh about that one, been to Bamberg?s which was better than the ones in Munich and Passau. Berlin was pretty meh IMO, too.