Christmas Markets
By way of background, my first ever “solo” trip was as a Senior in High School. Over the holiday break I visited a friend and her family in Germany for two weeks. This was a trip that stuck with me. As my friend showed me her country during the time of winter wonderlands, my mind was captured by the magic of Christmas.
Since then, I have experienced a Christmas Market here and there while traveling during the Winter Months. It was in 2014, while in Tallinn, Estonia enjoying their city market, that I first thought - “ohhhhh! What would it be like to travel throughout Europe with the purpose of discovering Christmas Markets?”
It seems as though many others are thinking the same as Christmas Market Travel has become quite a trend and I’ve been following an abundance of Christmas Market focused social media accounts!
Now, as a parent, it’s been such fun dreaming this trip of allowing my son to experience a sense of the magic I enjoyed many years ago as a high schooler.
And now we are embarking on an 12-day adventure through Europe at the beginning of their Christmas Market season. Like the beginning of all trips, we have no idea what is in store. I am sure that experiences will be much different than those I’ve previously had and plans are often aspirations not a prediction of what will happen!
I’ll be chronicling our adventures on this page and welcome you travel along with us! As always, I love hearing your thoughts, suggestions, and ideas - so feel free to email me at mindelynn@readfarandwide.com!
In order to start our Christmas Market Adventure, we needed to first make our way across the Atlantic. So we flew from Boston to Amsterdam (which was a much easier flight than our Newark to Cape Town flight that we experienced last June!). For the most part Jack slept, I played solitaire, and Sean watched movies. Fortunately there were no problems and upon landing we made our way through customs and to the train station. (Btw - major respect for Amsterdam having a great train station connected to their airports. This makes me really love a place!)
Despite a bit of a delay that caused some stress in making a connecting train - all went smoothly and we arrived in Cologne - the first stop of our Christmas Market Adventure
Cologne, Germany
So I’ve lost the amount of times that I’ve visited Cologne. One of my closest friends has lived there for quite some time and we try to connect every other year. I’ve grown to love the city and for the most part can get may way around with little problem, which is a nice thing when I’m traveling with Jack and his grandmother.
We got a great hotel near the main train station which meant we were within walking distance to . . .
The Christmas Market at Cologne Cathedral!
I’m not a huge person for “Top ## best places” lists - but for what it is worth, Cologne is often on those lists for Christmas Markets and the Cathedral Market is usually the iconic picture they use to show how dreamy it is.
So it was epic to have this be our first market experience. Despite Jack’s jet lag - we lived it up. We got our first glasses of gluhwein, kinderpunch for my mother-in-law and hot chocolate for Jack. I got my first spatzle of the trip (when is Kraft or Annie’s going to figure out how to sell spatzle in a box?) and we meandered through the stalls.
We arrived shortly before sunset and were able to see the lights come on and the whole area transform into a wonderland. We bought a handful of ornaments, collected our first souvenir Christmas market cup (more on this later) and called it a night knowing that this whole idea of building a trip around Christmas Markets has some great possibilities.
The next stop in our adventure was to check out the Chocolate Factory tour in Cologne which is located along the Rhine River and provides iconic views for a lovely early morning walk. I’ve been on the tour before - but never with a 6 year old, which made me realize they hand out much more chocolate to kids than adults - what’s with that?
But seriously - this tour is really fun. It is more than showing the production of chocolate (which is presented as a form of art), as it communicates the history of chocolate and its interplay in colonization, climate change and culture.
The exhibits, artwork, and artifacts are top notch. But the star of the show is the production demonstration of chocolate. For those who grew up watching Picture Picture on Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, this is legend (iykyk). And it’s a good thing Lucy and Ethel never tried to get a job here as they wouldn’t have lasted near as long as they did in I Love Lucy.
So having sampled the right amount of chocolate and picking up a few treats to take home, we exited the chocolate factory into the…
Cologne Harbor Christmas Market
As I mentioned, the chocolate museum is right on the river so it only makes sense for there to be a Christmas Market outside the museum with a nautical theme.
After getting our 2 gluhweins, 1 kinderpunch, and 1 hot cocoa from a charming tall ship bar - we started to meander like one does. Since we know there are many Christmas Markets ahead, we are in more of a scouting phase of our trip. Looking to see what the selections are like and then strategizing how to financially and logistically get the treasures back home.
A highlight of the harbor market, in addition to the ship bar, is a ferris wheel that provides fantastic views of the city. We took a ferris wheel ride which was longer than we expected and then enjoyed some french fries, mushrooms and a corn on the cob for Jack. So far, I’m impressed with the variety of foods. Maybe by the end of this, I won’t want anymore gluhwein and french fries for awhile… but there are worst things in life.
Bonn, Germany
As I mentioned, I have a very dear friend who lives in Cologne, so it was a priority to find time together. It was especially meaningful as we realized that we first met 30 years ago!
We had such fun catching up and watching our kids figure out how to play, despite not having a shared language (fyi: The game Uno is fantastic for such situations).
My friend had the great idea to make a day trip to Bonn - which Sean and I had never been to. We knew it was the capital of Western Germany and birthplace to Beethoven, and had a haunch that they’d have some good Christmas Markets - so off we went!
Before exploring markets we decided to take the kids to see Beethoven’s birthplace which is now a museum. Keeping our expectations low - we entered the house with three kids in tow and with the goal of not causing any permanent damage to the artifacts. Fortunately there were plenty of interactive exhibits, and a great ap to download. It was really well done and I was particularly impressed with how Beethoven’s struggle with hearing loss was explored. Surprisingly - music wasn’t playing throughout the house, but the experience was still impressive
Earlier in the year, I had the unique opportunity to hear all Nine of Beethoven’s Symphonies performed in order over the span of a month and a half. The experience has stayed with me and a highlight of the museum was seeing a copy of the Sixth Symphony in Beethoven’s handwriting. Things like this make travel so special.
After a quick stop at the Haribo candy store (#funfact: Haribo is from the city of Bonn) - our Christmas Market adventure began.
It was wonderful for Jack to have two friends to show him their favorite treats: spiced almonds, potato twisters, lebkuken, and crepes were all new to Jack. Nutella with Sprinkle Crepes were a fast favorite. Of course, we enjoyed french fries and another round of 2 gluhweins, 1 kinderpunch, and 1 hot chocolate.
Another highlight was a children’s ferris wheel were the kids got to ride without adults. This also made allowed us to enjoy our gluhweins without kids for a bit.
Once again, we were able to see the Christmas Market transition from daylight to evening. This is such a neat experience to see how the lights make the setting all the more magical.
Heidelberg, Germany
As I mentioned before, I experienced my first trip to Germany as a senior in high school and I have cherished many memories from that trip. One of the highlights was visiting Heidelberg where my aunt studied in college so there was a personal connection at the time and the visit left an indelible impression.
So in the planning of this trip, we realized a short visit to Heidelberg would work as it was not too far off our main route.
If you have seen the Hallmark Classic Heidelberg Holiday, you would know that the city is famous for its castle as well as - Christmas Markets! What also makes it unique is that it did not experience much damage during World War 2 so many of the buildings have a charm that is unique.
So upon checking into our hotel, we grabbed a cab to first walk around the castle.
If you are interested in learning more about the castle, feel free to check out the Wikipedia Page. It’s quite interesting and has some great quotes from Victor Hugo and Mark Twain.
In order to get to the castle, you can walk up a picturesque path. However, since we are traveling with a 6 year old and his grandmother, we opted for the cable car - which was a fun experience. The castle has wonderful views of the city which are worth viewing even in the gloomy and cloudy weather which has defined our trip to date.
The highlight for many people of the castle is that it houses the World’s Largest Barrel - aka the Heidelberg Tun. Of course we checked it out and took a nice break in an adjacent room to enjoy a glass of wine, pretzel and apple cake. Afterwards we meandered the grounds a bit while listening to the audio guide and then made our way back down to the main city.
Since the Christmas Markets weren’t opening until the following day, we took some time to visit a few of the churches which feature prominently in Protestant religious history and then took the advice of a our hotel’s concierge and enjoyed dinner at Schnitzelbank - which was amazing. Such a quaint spot with a great vibe. The food was great and we ordered too much as we wanted to sample everything. This was one of our favorite places to eat so far on this trip - other than Christmas Markets … obviously!
I’m sure it will come as no surprise that we LOVED the Heidelberg Christmas Markets. Since it is a rather small town the markets are easy to get to by walking along the main street - which is mostly pedestrian. We began our day when they opened at the central market and had the honor of being the first purchase of the season for a few of the vendors. Of course we got 2 gluweins, 1 kinderpunch, and a hot chocolate. The Heidelberg mugs are absolutely adorable! Their handles were heart shaped so we definitely didn’t return these for the deposit and opted to take them home.
The markets also had carousels which Jack enjoyed a handful of rides as we bought a few more ornaments and warm hats as the weather was continuing to be rather dreary. We eventually made it back to our hotel in time to pick up our bags and head to the train station to make it to our next stop. Unfortunately, we were delayed a bit, missed a connecting train, but despite the travel stress made it to our hotel in …
Munich, Germany
So I’m sure it comes as no surprise that Munich was high on our list of cities to visit Christmas Market, especially since the Marienplatz Market was my first market to visit during the winter of 1996. We once again booked a room close to the train station, checked in, cleaned up and rested a bit - then began a short walk to one of the most iconic Christmas Markets . . .
The market is situated under the shadow of the historic Munich town hall with its exquisite architecture, clock tower and glockenspiel. Despite the drizzly rain, we enjoyed meandering through the stalls and of course we purchased our 2 gluweins, 1 kinderpunch, and 1 chocolate milk. Returned 3 mugs and kept one to take home.
Each market has has stalls with similar items as the previous markets but each market has stalls that are unique to them. The Marienplatz market had a stall with lace ornaments that I thought were simply equisite! It is hard to not just purchase everything that captures my eye. However, I try to restrain myself with the hope that this won’t be my list Christmas Market adventure and there will always be another opportunity ro find other beautiful items to place in our home.
As I mentioned, it was rainy so after a good amount of time walking among the stalls, we stopped to have dinner at the Augustiner Restaurant. By way of background, there are specific beers to Munich and each beer is highlighted in tents at Octoberfest. When I went to Munich several years for Octoberfest - Augustiner was my favorite so much so - I bought a hoodie! So it only made sense for us to get out of the rain and warm up with a beer and cozy comfort food.
The next morning we slept in a bit as the day before was a hecitic day of travel and late night of Christmas Marketing. So we eventually ventured out to Odeonplatz and found a charming cafe. Jack had 2 croissants while each enjoyed a pastry and I experienced the best cappachino on the trip to date. For whatever reason - the coffee hasn’t been as enjoyable as I had wished, which was a surprise!
Odeonplatz has an importance place in World War 2 and has a great story of resistance. We took some time to go into the church and reflect upon the brave people in history. Traveling with a 6 year old to places where mans in humanity to man is part of the history has challenged me to figure out how to explain events in a way that is enough for his to understand, but not in a way to burden his heart. I’m so very grateful to his Kindergarten teach who gave me some great tips before we visited Robbins Island in June.
I love the questions Jack asks, and for churches to visit and experience God’s peace and presence while he is contemplating stories that I hope stay with him and form his view of the world.
And now off to another Christmas Market and this one is at the Residence of Munich. The market is in the courtyard and is simply charming. Jack was tapped out with his 2 croissants and so were my mother in law and Sean - so I took one for the team and ordered a gluwein so we could have a lovely mug to take home!
A unique feature of this market were animatronics that moved, spoke and sang songs. They were all very loves, imaginative and full of festive cheer. Except for the Hansel and Gretel one - that story always weirded me out! As I mentioned, each market has some unique items. However, at this point we are starting to see common themes - such as similar paper star vendors! However, they are so beautiful and we purchased our first one as well as a felt wreath that we can hang on our door. Please consider yourself invited to come check it out. I’ll have some gluwein ready for you to enjoy!
After the market we took Jack ice skating in Karlplatz. We are fortunate that his school teaches the kids to skate and that it is something he loves doing with his friends at home. Seeing him skate around the rink with others, timing laps and clearly having fun was a joy to see.
The next day we slept in even longer as the travel was starting to wear on us, so we decided to have a slow morning. Jack has been doing school work and reading books, so we spent time doing that. Sean and I read a bit and we eventually ventured out to our next stop of our adventure -
So it is kind of ironic that Jack is obsessed with cars… because we don’t have a car! But wow did he perk up when entering the show room and it didn’t take too long for him to ask “Dad can we get a BMW?” The showroom has lots of interactive exhibits that allow kids to design their own cars which we loved to do. We made our way to the motorcycles, where we could sit on them at test them out (have I mentioned that I HATE motorcycles?)
Then it was off to the museum portion of the visit where we learned about not only the technology of the vehicles but the history as well. I was much impressed that their was a moving exhibit addressing the company’s history in forced labor during the time of World War 2 and the years leading up to it.
We attempted to count the cars in the museum but lost count somewhere around 140. It really is a fascinating place and we spent over 4 hours there!
The BMW complex is located near Olympiapark which was the site of teh 1972 Olympics where tragically several Israeli athletes were massacred. My mother-in-law took Jack to the showroom to play with the exhibits while Sean and I walked to spend time at one of the memorials which recounted the events of 1972 which was located close to the site of the Olympic Village where the athletes were first taken hostage. Once again, I was reminded that there is much in the course of history that can become a footnote in a history book. I’m grateful that travel allows for opportunities to take the footnotes and develop them. To allow moments to sit and reflect on events. If you find yourself in Munich, I highligh recommend taking a few moments to visit this memorial that can easily be overlooked.
After connecting with my mother-in-law and Jack we made our way to the Midevil Christmas Market which is exactly as you would imagine. Something right out of a Madrigal Dinner. The mugs were very renaissanc-ey. There were some great knitwear options so we finally made some selections (I got scarlet and gray mittens to prepare for the upcoming OSU vs. Xichigan game).
Two sweet teenagers kicked a soccer ball with Jack for awhile, which was a great preview of the game Sean and I were planning on watching later that evening - Bayren Munchen vs. Arsenal)
After lots of research and asking various people where to watch the game, Sean finally found a place that wasn’t too far from our hotel. So we went off to grab a nice dinner and made our way to an epic bar that was decked out in Bayren Munchen memorabelia. Despite the lass - it was still fantastic to experience the game being the only Americans (and me being 1 of 5 girls). There was LOTS of beer too - the most we’ve seen the whole trip and that’s saying something!
Our final morning in Munich was spent meandering the streets, finding a cute cafe to have even more pasteries, hot coco and a latte. We then made our way back to Marienplatz where we were thrilled to make in time to catch the glochenspiel in the clock tower perform. It only goes 3 or 4 times a day so it was rather special to be able to see.
After long last we finally got hot cocoa in a boot Christmas mug and a toy soldier mug. Stay tuned for a final tally on how many mugs we’ve collected! I’m sure I’ll provide a ranking as well!
Vienna, Austria
Welp, we finally said our “good byes” to Germany, got on train and made our way to Vienna Austria. My mother-in-law, and I had spent sometime in Vienna in the past, but this would be the first time for Sean (and Jack!). We arrived in the late afternoon and made our way via taxi to our hotel. After checking in we decided to venture out for a short walk to visit St. Stephen’s church which boasts lovely Christmas market around its perimeter.
As you can imagine, the streets were classically lit up and quickly made us feel as though we were in a winter wonderland. It was such a thrill to come upon St. Stephen’s Church and see how it was beautifully illuminated for the the holidays. We began to make our way around the market stalls. We ordered our 2 gluweins, 1 kinderpunch, and 1 hot chocolate and this time the hot chocolate came with sprinkles which made this Jack’s favorite hot chocolate to date - Yay for Vienna.
Fortunately the church’s doors were still open so we took some time to enter in and enjoy some time of solace. During the trip, we had been teaching Jack that lighting candles in churches is a special thing to do. That when lighting a candle we take a few moments to breath deeply and think about people who are we are grateful that God put in our life. After doing so, it can say. prayer of thanks for their presence in our life and light the candle. It was neat to see how Jack made this a regular part of our visits in churches and after each candle he lit - he would share who he thanked God for putting in his life.
Since it had been a long travel day, we decided to make our way back to the hotel and get ready for the next day of more winter fun.
Schonbrunn Palace
