Germany to Paris: A December Christmas Markets Trip
Back in June, two of my best friends and I traveled through Greece then Turkey, and ended up in Paris. I hadn’t been back to France for a while before then and I think I forgot maybe how much I loved it; unfortunately I was only there for a few short days, and it was hot as balls in July, so I promised myself I would come back later in the year, and that’s how this trip idea was born. I wanted to show my boyfriend around Paris to show him all the parts I loved, and then my parents recommended a driving tour they had done the year before through Germany to see the Christmas markets; and well, we love it when a plan comes together. We flew into Munich and rented a car, and drove around Germany and Austria, hitting the cute towns and the Christmas markets, before returning our car in Munich, taking the train to Strasbourg then Paris, and flying home from Paris.
The route: Füssen → Rothenburg ob der Tauber → Nuremberg → Salzburg → Hallstatt → Munich → Strasbourg → Paris. Germany, a couple of days in Austria, then France; 13 nights, December 2–15.
Quick verdict
Since this trip was basically the demon love child between the Romance tour in Bavaria, a Christmas market tour, and a Paris trip; there was A LOT going on. So many of the places we saw were gorgeous but I did feel like for me personally, after a point, the small towns and Christmas markets got old so I loved the variety of bigger cities like Nuremberg, Munich and Paris and was especially moved by Dachau – which wasn’t even in our itinerary originally.
The Itinerary
- Dec 2: Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenschwangau, then drive east to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
- Dec 3: Full day in Rothenburg ob der Tauber (old town + Christmas market)
- Dec 4: Travel to Nuremberg, evening at the Christkindlesmarkt
- Dec 5: Travel toward Salzburg with a midday stop at Chiemsee, evening in Salzburg
- Dec 6: Day trip from Salzburg to Hallstatt
- Dec 7: Morning around Salzburg, travel back to Munich, evening Christmas market (Marienplatz)
- Dec 8: Morning at the Dachau Memorial Site, then travel to Strasbourg
- Dec 9: Full day in Strasbourg (Petite France)
- Dec 10: Arrive Paris overnight, afternoon in the Marais and around Opéra/Galeries Lafayette, evening near the Louvre/Palais Royal
- Dec 11: Parc de Bagatelle (Bois de Boulogne), Notre-Dame/Île de la Cité, evening in the Latin Quarter
- Dec 12: Latin Quarter and the Marais, then Champs-Élysées Christmas market
- Dec 13: La Vallée Village outlet shopping, evening back near the Louvre/Palais Royal and Champs-Élysées
- Dec 14: Champs-Élysées, evening at the Eiffel Tower
- Dec 15: Depart
Bavaria
Neuschwanstein Castle & Hohenschwangau
The postcard castle – Ludwig II’s 19th-century fantasy build that basically invented the “fairytale castle” silhouette (yes, that one inspired Disney). You unfortunately can’t just show up: entry is timed and ticketed, tours run about 30 minutes through the interior, and there are two options – guided or audioguide, but both need a timed slot. Tickets are sold online through the official Hohenschwangau Ticket Center or in person at the Ticket Center in the village itself (that in-person line starts forming before the 8am opening and sells out fast). December is off-peak compared to summer, so the booking window is more forgiving, but still would HIGHLY RECOMMEND locking in a few weeks ahead rather than winging it same-day. Sadly, I had forgotten this tiny detail so I looked up tickets to the castle while we were in the lounge waiting to board our flight to Munich and could only find one slot for the day we were landing, so don’t be like me. I’m happy to say we made it out of the airport and to the castle in time for our tour, and it was an amazing beginning to our trip. Be prepared to park somewhere in town and walk around 20~ minutes uphill to the castle; we hadn’t accounted for that and ended up power walking up the hill to make our tour on time. I don’t usually recommend guided tours, or touring the interiors of everything BUT this castle was absolutely worth getting the full guided tour of, it was absolutely amazing.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
The half-timbered old town that shows up on every “best Christmas markets in Germany” list, and apparently earns it – market stalls, holiday garlands strung between medieval buildings, the whole thing. A full day here per the photos. We wandered around the streets, and went into a few giant (multi story) shops that were fully Christmas themed. We then wandered around the streets, feasting on the food sold in the stalls, and some glüwein. I’m not sure a whole day was necessary here, but since we were coming off a travel day, it was highly appreciated to have a slower day. In terms of our hotel, we stayed in a hotel with a very cool castle exterior, however the interior was quite outdated and the wifi didn’t work one of the nights (which was basically a catastrophe considering we’re chronically online anyways but also work remotely), so sadly I cannot recommend the hotel we stayed at. We took a day trip from here to Füssen and Nördlingen (we’re both huge Attack on Titan fans and this was so cool to see), but due to some car trouble we got there later than we wanted to, would highly recommend coming here before dark for Attack on Titan fans.
Nuremberg
Home of the Christkindlesmarkt, one of Germany’s oldest and most famous Christmas markets; night market stalls under lit church spires, a whole production. The city definitely had a Gothic vibe, which I was a huge fan of, and the Christmas markets spanned all over the city. They also had a special Glühwein here that was local to here (I think it was called the Nürnberger glühwein), would highly recommend it. This was definitely a livelier and more crowded city, and felt a lot larger scale than the previous Christmas markets we had gone to.
Austria
Salzburg
On the way here, we stopped by the Bogner Bernau outlet store (recommend for ski or winter attire lovers). We arrived in Salzburg late at night and walked around the old town and the Christmas market, which was one of the more formidable ones we saw on this trip. We also ended up at the time where they had a tradition going on where people dressed as Krampus would walk down the streets and also come into the restaurants, I had so much fun watching them! The food was incredible and it was here that I discovered the lemon Stiegl beer that stole my heart (and that I later flew home). The locals also recommended the Salzburg Nockerl, which was a sweeet meringue-y dessert; not my personal favorite since it was too sweet for me, but it was worth a try!
Hallstatt – St. Gilgen – Ischl – Bad Ischl
The lakeside village that’s absurdly photogenic and absurdly overrun — about 750 residents host roughly 900,000 visitors a year, and parking fills up by late morning in peak season. From Salzburg, the options are: bus to Bad Ischl then a connecting train (with a ferry across the lake to reach the village center, roughly 1.5–2 hours each way); driving yourself (~80km, with the option to detour through St. Gilgen/St. Wolfgang/Bad Ischl); or a half-day organized tour. Early arrival matters most for actually enjoying it without fighting crowds for photos. We drove through all of the towns, and definitely had a later start than planned. Between all of them, Hallstatt was definitely the most breathtaking and wow-ing, although we did have an amazing apfelstrudel in Ischl.
Munich
We drove back to Munich, dropped off our rental car in the afternoon, and checked into our hotel. Munich, unsurprisingly, felt like the largest city amongst all our stops so far. The streets were overflowing, stalls everywhere; everything lit up beautifully, We stayed at a very conveniently located hotel- would highly recommend it, the vibes were really cool. We spent the evening wandering around, strolling the Christmas market at Marienplatz- the illuminated Frauenkirche/church facade backdrop was especially amazing. We did have some of the best food of the all the Christmas markets here, so I would recommend just wandering around and trying anything that catches your eye; we actually went back for some of the food we had the next day.
Dachau
Originally, our itinerary had us having a slow morning in Munich before our train to Strasbourg in the afternoon. When we got back to the hotel the night before, I decided to look up what to do while we were here and Dachau came up. For some reason, I had not realized we would be close enough and had not factored in Dachau into our itinerary. We had a few hours before our train to Strasbourg, and while it wasn’t ideal timing; I really wanted to go to Dachau. Getting there was pretty simple, we took the train and then took a shuttle to the entrance, tickets were pretty simple to buy and thankfully did not need that much planning in advance.
Logistical details aside, I’m not quite sure how to describe Dachau except to absolutely recommend you visit. It was most definitely a heavy and solemn morning, and I wish we had a little more time as we had to rush towards the end of the museum; but otherwise it was one of the most memorable parts of our trip and I am incredibly thankful that I had the opportunity to see it. There is a lot of history explained in the museum so I would absolutely budget over an hour for just that part, probably around 4-5 hours overall.
Strasbourg
We took the train from Munich to Strasbourg, checked into our hotel, which was incredibly comfortable, right by the train station and just a short walk away from the town itself. Strasbourg brands itself the “Capital of Christmas,” and it’s absolutely a well-deserved title; the market season runs late November through Christmas Eve, with lights up through early January, spread across multiple market sites through the Grande Île old town. Petite France (the half-timbered canal district) is the postcard part of it, with the river running through the picture perfect houses. Since we were also in France at this point, there was a whole different cuisine to try (love myself a good tarte flambée), and very tasty wines. We spent the evening and most of the next day here just wandering around before taking our train into Paris.
Paris
As I mentioned in the beginning, I have been to Paris a handful of times, so there were some must-do things that I just did not need to do on this trip. I chose to go A LITTLE off the beaten path in terms of sightseeing. We stayed in Marais-which was absolutely a 10/10 decision. The cute restaurants, shops, boutiques and vintage shops in the area was just beautiful. Our airbnb was not the most comfortable since it was basically a ground floor storefront (I’m not even convinced it was legal), so I won’t be recommending it, but I definitely recommend staying in the Marais.
There were a few things on my list that I wanted to check out – Officine Universelle Buly 1803, the Polène store near Champs-Élysées, Louise Carmen for beautiful, custom journals; so we spent most of the first afternoon and evening wandering around leisurely and popping into those stores. I ended up getting customized lip balms from Officine, you can choose the material/color of the case and get it engraved so I picked up some gifts for friends and family. Unfortunately, nothing from Polène was really calling my name, so I chose to just enjoy browsing. As for Louise Carmen, I’m not much of a writer, but I really wanted to get into journaling and thought having a gorgeous journal would get me started on this journey. I’ve definitely used the journal, but I’m not sure I can report this expense as completely justified.
We chose to wander around the streets and pop into everything that looks interesting, rather than have a set itinerary on this part of the trip. I loved it because I was able to discover little things I never would have seen otherwise, and it felt like I discovered a completely different side of Paris. A word to the wise, there is a lot of walking and a lot of subwaying involved here. I would recommend getting the French metro pass on your phone (you can add it into your wallet and buy metro tickets directly from there, within the city and also to/from the airport), and pack some good walking shoes.
My boyfriend had never been to Paris, so we obviously had to go to Notre-Dame (since it reopened post reconstruction after the fire), and he went to the Louvre while I wanted around the Galeries Lafayette. Grand Palais and Petit Palais have always been on my list, but on my previous trips I had never gotten around to it; so this was my opportunity. We went to the free exhibition in Petit Palais, which is a gorgeous building by the way, and we were also lucky enough to randomly come across an ice skating event at night at Grand Palais – which was a very unique and fun experience, and one I would highly recommend if you have the time and the opportunity to go.
This was also my chance to go to the Louis Vuitton Foundation, which is very out of the way, but had a huge exhibition and was an architecturally weird building. I really enjoyed the exhibition there, but I’m not sure it would be high up on my list if I hadn’t already seen some of the other must-see things in Paris.
We stopped by the Ritz bakery for some pastries (multiple times) and also walked around the Ritz which was decorated insanely beautifully for Christmas. I was incredibly tempted to buy one of their cute teddy bears but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that much on a bear at my ripe age. They also had a very cool looking cafe/hot chocolate stall that had too long of a line for me to want to try it, but looked delicious. We tried to go to Cedric Grolet as well because I had been to the one in London and loved their pastries, but the line was too long to tolerate. If you make it in, I would recommend their cookies alongside their famous fruit looking pastries.
As for food, we had one dinner at Chez Janou – which I’ve been to before and just love the vibes and the food, would highly recommend a reservation for this one, especially for the summer months. We also went to Le Relais de L’Entrecote, which is definitely a very touristy spot (line was around the block half an hour before they opened), but my parents and I have been going there since I was a child so I have a soft spot for it and like going there at least once on every trip. They only do one thing – entrecote, fries and salad. You get 2 helpings of the entrecote and fries I think (used to be unlimited, but I guess inflation hit everyone), and I always love a profiterole for dessert. They don’t take reservations and you have to line up, I would recommend going to NOT the Champs-Élysées location as it definitely was the most crowded, we actually got out of line for this one, took the subway to the Montparnasse one and definitely got in earlier than we would have if we had stayed. Another one of our notable dinners was at Comptoir de la Gastronomie, this was definitely a more fancy and (as the name implies) gastronomic dinner; and it was delicious.
La Vallée Village
The designer outlet everyone ends up at eventually. The easiest way in from central Paris is the Shopping Express shuttle- direct bus from Hôtel Pullman Paris Bercy (Métro line 14, Cour Saint-Émilion), with a morning departure and a choice of afternoon or evening return; it has to be booked online in advance, no buying on board. The RER A to Val d’Europe plus a short walk/shuttle is the cheaper DIY option if you’d rather not commit to shuttle timing, which is what we chose to do. I would say it was very easy to get in and out of, and there were so many good stores here, I would definitely recommend a stop here if you have the time, especially if you’re visiting around one of the seasonal sale times.
Eiffel Tower (final night)
We had to end the trip with, of course, the Eiffel tower. I can’t say this was logistically the best choice as we had to wait for it to light up (it lights up for a few minutes at the top of every hour) and then we had to find our way home – which was pretty far between the walking and the trip back. The Eiffel tower is obviously a must see landmark, but I will say it takes more time than you would think to get to and from it, so factor that in.
Practical notes
- Getting around Bavaria/Austria: we rented a car, and woud definitely recommend it; it was much easier than navigating all the public transportation (if it was all even possible via public transportation). We rented our car from Avis, and were generally happy. Unfortunately our car broke down on the second (or third?) day and Avis had to send us a tow truck, then a cab to the nearest Avis where we were given a sadly not so equivalent car. We lost half the day, but honestly, in terms of how they handled it, they did everything they could; it was just unfortunate.
- Munich/Strasbourg → Paris: We took the train from Munich to Strasbourg, then Strasbourg to Paris. Super easy, would highly recommend. Quick note: I would recommend you not bring that much luggage (we struggled) and to not forgot to sit somewhere where you can see your stuff (can never be too safe).
- Neuschwanstein tickets: book online through the official Hohenschwangau Ticket Center ahead of time; same-day in-person tickets sell out early.
- Hallstatt: go early if day-tripping – parking and the village both fill up fast even outside summer.
- Since we went in the winter, it was obviously very cold everywhere on this trip. I personally took my ski jacket, and a lot of cashmere. I did not step out without gloves (must) and a beanie (also must) and a scarf. I would highly recommend a heavy duty moisturizer – I love this Aestura one – and Aquaphor or Torriden chapstick. I would also high recommend wool/cashmere socks like this, to keep the feet warm.
- The hotels I would recommend – Hôtel Tandem in Strasbourg, 25hours Hotel The Royal Bavarian in Munich and Hotel Villa Carlton in Salzburg.
- You will want and need cash for the Christmas markets, don’t be like us and bring euros to spend.