I’m a travel specialist for Grand European Tours and my wife and I recently returned from our German Christmas Markets tour. We had a wonderful time!

We flew into Berlin’s Tegel Airport to begin the tour. Berlin is a city of constant change and soon Tegel Airport will close, and international flights will fly into Schonefeld Airport. When you fly into Berlin, be sure to check with your travel provider as to which airport you will arrive into.

I spotted our motor coach waiting for us just outside the international arrival hall. I am often asked about our coaches. Rest assured the coach was virtually new and spotless and I appreciated the roominess.

The coach whisked us to our Berlin hotel and then with the afternoon free and being in a Christmas gift buying frame of mind we took public transportation to the amazing Berlin department store KaDeWe. The store was decked out in its Christmas finery. We went up to the gourmet floor. This is the second largest food hall in the world and as a little bit of a foodie myself, I was stunned. The variety and quality of the food was indescribable!

It can always change, but right now the US dollar is pretty strong vs. the Euro. We were able to do most of our Christmas shopping in Germany at pretty close to what we would have paid for the presents back home, but buying them in Europe made them that much more special and unique for our friends and family.

With our first batch of Christmas gifts, we headed back to the hotel to attend the Welcome Reception hosted by the Tour Director. The reception is where you meet your other travelers and have a chance to book your optional tours. I have often said our best advocates are our previous travelers. It was amazing to hear our repeat travelers describe their previous positive experiences with Grand European Tours to the other travelers at the reception.

We visited our first German Christmas Market that evening. Virtually across the street from our hotel was the German Christmas Market at Gendarmenmarket. Each Christmas market is a little different. This market had more entertainment. I am still not sure why the Christmas choir sang YMCA in German at the German Christmas Market, but we found it entertaining!

We began the next day with a fantastic buffet breakfast. Every day on the tour began with a tremendous buffet breakfast. You can have as much or as little as you want. They offered great fresh breads, eggs, many kinds of cheeses etc. It was a great way to begin each tour day.

We had our local city guide give us an orientation tour of the city and he did a great job of exploring the historic detail of amazing Berlin. I felt that I could literally spend a week in Berlin and only touch the surface. All the German cities that we visited left me wanting to return for more.

My wife and I took the optional tour which focused on the Cold War and history of former East and West Germany. We saw much of the small amount of the Berlin Wall that remains. I also found it interesting that next to the famous Brandenburg Gate, where President Reagan said “Tear down this wall”, they now have a Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. The guide also pointed out where Hitler’s bunker was located, along with many other sites. The tour concluded in the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. This is the only site where Russian and US tanks directly faced each other. I never really realized how courageous the Berlin people were. It was truly as President Kennedy said, “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner).

After another great breakfast, we left Berlin and traveled towards Leipzig, Saxony’s second largest city. As a travel specialist, customers sometimes ask, “Do I get the same bus seat each day?” Emphatically no, your Tour Director designs a seat rotation so all travelers got a chance to sit right up front.

We had lots of power shoppers on our tour and we enjoyed every Christmas market. Next to the Leipzig Christmas Market is the Thomaskirche. Founded in 1212 the church was rebuilt in Gothic style at the end of the 15th century. From 1723 until his death in 1750, Johann Sebastian Bach was Cantor of St. Thomas and also Leipzig’s director of music. He is now buried in the church and a statue of him stands outside. After our visit to Leipzig we drove on to Dresden.

The next morning we had our orientation tour of Dresden. This is the capitol of Saxony and is locally known as the “Florence on the Elbe”. We had another local guide and were amazed by the rebuilding of the city. It was virtually destroyed in World War II and now has some of the most amazing galleries and museums in Germany. We ended this tour at the Dresden Christmas Market. It is known for the Christollen bakery product. It tasted to me like fruit cake and I am not a fan of fruit cake, however, I was in the minority as most on our tour loved the Christollen. Back at the hotel I enjoyed the indoor pool; it was a great way to relax at the end of the day.

We left Dresden the next morning, after breakfast of course, and traveled to Nuremberg. Upon arrival we had a chance to visit the rally grounds where some of the famous Nazi rallies were held. We then traveled to the city center where Germany’s most famous Christmas market was held. Of course I sampled the hot Gluhwein (plum wine) and I loved the Nuremberg sausages – smaller, grilled sausages with mustard on great bread. Our Christmas Market power shoppers on the tour voted this as their favorite Christmas market!

The next day we left Nuremberg and headed to the German town I was most wanted to visit, Rothenburg ob der Tauber. This is a great preserved Medieval city. The town has Christmas stores 365 days a year and knows how to celebrate Christmas.

My favorite Rothenburg tale begins in 1631. Rothenburg fell to the imperial army of General Tilly. The merciless General was going to raze the city, but accepted the offer of a drink from a Humpen, a vessel holding 7 pints of the good local wine. Mellowing slightly, he proposed sparing the town if someone could empty the vessel in one draft- an almost unheard of Meistertrunk (a masterly drinking feat). The former Mayor, Nusch, accepted the challenge, and he completed the feat in one draft and 10 minutes. True to his word the town was spared and Nusch lived to the ripe age of 80.

I would have enjoyed spending more time in Rothenburg, but the tour was headed to Munich. The Autobahn is the amazing freeway I always thought it would be, but the motor coaches are limited to 80 kilometers, so I never did get the experience of speed on the Autobahn.

Munich, or Munchen, is the state of Bavaria’s capital. This is a modern city with great museums and the Christmas market is right in the middle of the excitement. We especially enjoyed the HofBrauhaus optional excursion. This had traditional German food and great beer. They even played beer barrel polka and we enjoyed a chicken dance. It was great fun!

It was tough saying Auf Wiedersehen to Germany. We had a great holiday and hope to return soon. One last tip, be sure to bring some winter clothes. You will probably encounter snow at some point, but that just makes it seem more like Christmas.

Click here to view pictures from my tour.

For more information about our 9-Day German Christmas Markets tour, including the day-by-day itinerary, click here.

At GET we strive to provide our clients with accurate and current information about our tours. In order to do this we invest significantly in our staff, sending them out on tours so that they can share their stories and experiences with you, our clients, upon their return.

Our Travel Specialist, David Seeberger, and his wife recently joined our 9-Day German Christmas Markets tour. We hope you enjoyed his report.