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Bavarian Christmas Markets
5 Days from£765
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The Award Winning Leader in Escorted Worldwide Rail Holidays
Take advantage of our latest saving of up to £20 per person when booking on or before 14/08/2018.
Sample the sights and smells of three Bavarian Christmas Markets by train. Regensburg, Rothenburg and arguably Germany's most famous Christmas Market, Nuremberg.
On arrival at St Pancras, we meet at our dedicated Departure Office before taking the Eurostar to Brussels. We continue into Germany and the medieval city of Nuremberg, where we spend four nights at the Hotel Maritim.
After an introductory guided walking tour of Nuremberg, you are free to visit the Christkindlmarkt, one of the most prestigious and atmospheric Christmas Markets in the world. Its brightly coloured stalls radiate from the Market Square in the Old Town with the unmistakable aromas of Advent in Germany, filling the city with an incredible festive atmosphere.
Also, be sure to admire the city's other attractions. These include the Kaiserburg Fortress, which is the centrepiece of Nuremberg's beautiful medieval architecture - encircled within the city walls of the Old Town - and the Handwerkerhof, or Craftsmen's Courtyard. Located in the middle of the city it is surrounded by the towers and walls of the medieval fortifications. A little town of its own, here you can discover workshops and shops from craftsmen such as pewter workers, glassmakers, engravers, potters, gold and silversmiths, and much more.
Today we travel by rail to Regensburg. Situated at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, the town has one of the best-preserved medieval centres in Europe - a UNESCO World Heritage site. Your time here is free to explore and St Peter's Church, Regensburg's landmark is truly unmissable. The church, with its impressive stained-glass windows from the Middle Ages, is the greatest Gothic cathedral in Bavaria and took over 600 years to build. At this time of year, Regensburg also boasts three Christmas Markets, which you are at leisure to explore.
Leaving Nuremberg by coach we head to the highlight of the 'Romantic Road' - Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Its Reiterlesmarkt is set within a magical townscape of quaint alleys, cobbled squares, half-timbered houses, city gates and medieval town walls. Marvel at Rothenburg's stunning architecture, take a walk along the complete town walls or visit the town's famous Christmas shop, which offers more than 30,000 traditional German Christmas decorations. We enjoy a farewell dinner at the hotel tonight.
Heading westwards across Germany, we change in Cologne for Brussels. In Brussels, we connect with the Eurostar service to St Pancras International.
Please note that while every departure of this tour will feature the same excursions, the order may differ from that shown above.
Provisional departure and return times, where available, can be found together with our dates and prices by clicking on the 'Prices & Availability' button. We write to all booked customers approximately 10 weeks prior to the start of their tour to advise the exact departure and return time for their particular group.
An escorted experience and all travel arrangements
Comfortable accommodation in your destination
Delicious meals included
Exciting excursions and free time to explore
Enhancing your tour
Nuremberg is medieval in the centre where the main market is; it was a big market, at least 100 stalls and probably more. One nice thing we found in Germany was that there are still lots of independent shops and bakeries etc, so you saw all sorts of different things for sale. All the stalls and shops are decorated beautifully (not to mention shop windows - gorgeous and really inventively done). Everywhere twinkled like Fairyland! Their decorations and crafts are quite different to what we have, so plenty to look at, and if you like sausages and mulled wine there's lots to eat at the market too. We stopped at a cafe mid-morning for Cerri to have a crepe and me to have some juice, and did the first bout of shopping: Christmas decorations, nice handmade soaps, sheepskin slippers for Jeff, etc. We stopped for lunch at a little indoor mall; we got fried fish and potatoes but not like our fish & chips - delicious but different. Anyway, when we saw the first plate loaded up we cancelled the second order and just shared the one - we found the portions everywhere were huge so we tended to share our meals. This also allowed us to visit pastry shops to get goodies for in between meals - lots of apple strudel!
Visit three contrasting Christmas Markets
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We were dismayed at the absence of cold weather and snow, but in all other respects were not disappointed. Pre-holiday administration was professional and our Tour Manager, Alan, was thoroughly competent throughout.
Happening upon Great Rail Journeys' web pages was, for us, a revelation. There on the screen was the ideal short holiday plan. Not only Nuremberg but Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Regensburg Christmas Markets. We booked straight away.
Each of the locations were special, but away from the markets Regensburg got our vote. There was enough time to visit the Dom and listen to the famous choir, see Germany's oldest sausage kitchen, cross the fast-flowing Danube on the Old Stone Bridge and enjoy, in Spitalgasse, what must rank as Germany's smallest Christmas Market.
Nuremberg's Maritim Hotel is excellent. Close to everything, it could not be better.