Birthplace of Ornaments
Dating back to last year, we wanted to visit the famed German Christkindlesmarkts! After our 2017 tour, we made a list and checked it twice and subsequently forgot about it until fall 2018. On our list, we wanted to visit in 2018:
- Nuremburg
- Cologne
- Dusseldorf
- Rothenberg ob der Tauber
- Munich
- Wurzburg
We opted for a healthy mix of small towns and big cities as we didn’t want to be overwhelmed by tons of crowds like last year in Prague. Plus, a roomy BnB with a fireplace roaring was our goal!
The Plan
We figured we had two weekends, 1-3 December and 7-9 December, to see the German markets. Instead, the flight prices told us something different! Flights were strangely very expensive, over $175, for a weekend and we could not afford multiple flights at that price. We went one weekend at a time… until I waited two days and the flights jumped to over 200! Therefore, we immediately booked the cheap flights from Heathrow to Frankfurt!
Since Rothenberg and Wurzburg are smaller towns without easy train access, we had to rent a car. I used Autoslash and Skyscanner to find a very cheap automatic rental. For $80, we had a brand new VW car! From the Frankfurt airport, both cities are 1-1.5 hours away so it wasn’t a bad road trip.
For our lodging, since we flew in late Friday night, I opted to get a hotel right by the airport. The Holiday Inn Express was really cheap due to a Black Friday sale and within 5-10 minutes of the airport. On Saturday, we had a very large private room in an AirBnB hostel in Wurzburg. Both were decent, but no roaring fire!
Fixed Costs
- Flight: £120
- Friday night: £80
- Saturday night: £100
- Car rental: £80
- Gluhwein: 3!!
Onto Germany
Since we were flying a fancy airline, Lufthansa, we had to travel to terminal 2. I would much rather fly out of T5 as it is slightly easier to get to! On a Friday night, we were chancing our luck with traffic but we managed to get there in decent time. We have been using Purple Park which is only 10 minute bus ride away.
After a brisk security check, we went to the Plaza Premium Lounge for a few quick drinks and dinner. Despite our timely arrival, the Frankfurt flight was delayed by thirty minutes.. Because the flight was only an hour and a half long, we really didn’t mind as the flight would still get in before 11.
Once in Frankfurt, we had extremely quick customs which enabled us to take the early shuttle bus! So far, we had terrific luck! However, the Holiday Inn overbooked their hotel and caused me, a Platinum elite, to move to a Park Inn. We certainly weren’t hoping for much, but it was still a very budget hotel… In four words, it was all right.
The Birthplace of Ornaments
On Saturday, we decided to spend the day in the enchanting Rothenberg! As the birthplace of ornaments, we knew we would have plenty to see (and buy) and we had to stay until 7pm so we could eat dinner!
Onto Rothenberg
Thanks to our lovely stay at the Holiday/Park Inn, we were 10 minutes from the airport and just needed to hop on the bus to get our rental car! Unfortunately, there was a very long line at the rental car and we forgot to get our breakfast food. Nevertheless, we had our super cool VW to cruise down the autobahn.
In the car, we researched what to do in the little village of Rothenberg. Outside of the Christmas markets, we really didn’t know what else to do. We decided we would immediately find lunch. Unfortunately, we failed to account for the hordes of tourists…
In the parking lot, there were over 30+ buses! This isn’t counting the loads of other cars and how we had to park in the way back! Inside the walled village, there were even more people and we quickly realized we were not the only ones with this great idea on a Saturday…
It’s a Fairytale
Rothenberg has its roots in the medieval ages - over 1000 years old! The medieval walls and red rooftops create an idyllic fairytale world untouched by modern times. Throughout the ages, the city has managed to avoid any type of major destruction. In WW2, the American army demanded the German army to surrender before they started attacking it. Thus, saving the city from war and preserving it for tourists like us!
In the main square, the Christmas markets and the very large tree light up the ancient buildings. Surrounding us, the city adorned all sorts of Christmas decorations! On the buildings, they hung Christmas trees, presents, deer, and all sorts of fun things. Not to mention, the Christmas market spread throughout most of the (albeit small) city square!
The Hunt
Due to the crowds, we were stuck with two choices: Christmas market food in the rain or a warm restaurant. Obviously, we chose a restaurant, but had to find a restaurant that would choose us! We kept getting turned away in every place since everyone wanted to get out of the rain and avoid the crowds. Thankfully, Vito saved us!
Since we were very hungry, we accidentally ordered two large mains - spaghetti caborana and salami pizza. We overcorrected from our light breakfast and prolonged search for a lunch restaurant. Somehow, we haven’t learned our lesson that we need to just book a reservation!
However, it did lead to a lovely lunch as we both enjoyed our large portions. We even stayed a little bit longer and had a glass of wine to avoid the rain and cold.
In-n-Out of the Cold
We knew our strategy for this market would have to change compared to our other experiences because it was non-stop raining. We decided at Vito’s that we would spend an hour or so outside and then find a hot beverage and repeat. Thankfully, Rothenburg isn’t that big so we took advantage and walked through the narrow streets. That being said, small city does not mean small markets. There were markets EVERYWHERE! The folks crammed a stall wherever possible and made it slightly confusing to find a new one!
After our first hot beverage, we finally had circled the markets enough for Mary Frances to determine what she was going to buy. Plus, the crowds had died down since lunch and we were finally escaping the intense tourist crowds. We especially enjoyed the hot gluhwein and apple cider since most towns don’t have the apple cider!
The town center is insanely beautiful with a large Christmas tree and medieval churches and towers. Even in the rain, we knew we were standing in a very ancient town! Plus, it doesn’t hurt to have awesome ornaments and Christmas stalls!
Baked Goods
As always, for our early evening hot beverage break, we chose a bakery. I went for a warm hot chocolate and a tasty bunt cake covered in chocolate. While it was a little tasty, it was clearly a little old but I didn’t mind! Since we were running out of things to do ahead of our dinner reservation, we looked up TripAdvisor’s recommendations. Mary Frances lit up like a kid on Christmas morning once she saw the list….
Birthplace of Ornaments
Unbeknown to us, Mary Frances’ favorite Christmas store was founded in Rothenburg. We not only saw multiple stalls in the markets, but they had two massive stores in this tiny village including a museum! Once we entered, it was Winter Wonderland on steroids. There were so many ornaments, German Christmas toys, highly decorated trees, loads of lights, and pure joy exuding from Mary Frances’ smile!
Words do not describe this maze of Christmas joy as it was a slow line of (mostly female) shoppers gazing at the multitude of ornaments. Even I was amazed how they managed to fit all the goodies in this store. Little did we know that it went under the street and connected to the store to create a very complex! Thankfully, Mary Frances already spent her allowance so she didn’t buy anything else, but had I left her alone, it would be been buying the store and shipping it back to the UK…
German Christmas
The Hunt, part 2
During the middle of our winter wonderland experience, Mary Frances realized she dropped her glove at some point. Thus, we had the pleasure of “rewinding” our store experience and searching for a brown glove (against brown hardwood floors) and swimming upstream against a swarm of tourists/shoppers. I searched diligently as our night would be ruined if she lost her favorite pair of gloves in this store, but we were having zero luck.
We decided to literally go back to the beginning and search the outside. Somehow, thankfully, someone had found the glove and put in on a car right outside the store! Sighs (and tears) of relief as I ensured Mary Frances put her gloves (and other accessories) in a safe place. Kids these days….
Zur Helle
Mary Frances is in charge of our food and drink experiences and she choose Zur Helle, a cute, quaint German house off the beaten track. Because of our In-n-Out strategy, we weren’t that hungry, but the smells were overwhelming and we knew we were in for a treat!
We were sat in a cute little corner of this house and it was very crowded and full of Germans - how we knew we were in the right place! The portions appeared massive and the beer was local and excellent! For our starter, we had an obatzler - a cheese delicacy. Since we had seen our main and knew it was going to be big, we split the beef and pork loin in a mushroom sauce. For those who know MF, she hates mushrooms. I had never seen her eat a mushroom based meal before yet she loved it! We both wished we ordered our own…
To cap our wonderful day in the birthplace of ornaments, we had traditional apple strudel. Yes, it was heavenly!!
Onto Wurzburg,
To cross another German market off our list, we were staying in the night in Wurzberg to lessen our commute the next day. While I prefer to not drive at night, Mary Frances has (finally!) really improved her navigating skills! Thus, we parked and walked to our Airbnb.
Our Airbnb was different as it was more like the penthouse in an Airbnb Hotel. Basically, someone took a large office space and carved up the space into separate rooms. Quite genius, but definitely not what we were expecting! We liked the location as we had a direct view of the castle plus it is only 6 minutes from the Christmas markets!
Wintery Wurzburg
On our last day on the Romantic Road and German Black Forest, we wandered through the beautiful little riverside town of wintery Wurzburg!
Sunday Brunch
After waking up earlier to beat our AirBnB hostel roommates, we checked out and went to go get brunch! In typical fashion, my preferred spot was solidly booked so we wandered around until we found Scholburn. While a bit touristy, it was completely full so we figured it was a good spot!
More importantly, the brunch spot inside the main market! It was a great spot to watch the stalls slowly open and see the crowds venture into the market. For our food, I had a very large Mediterrean platter with all kinds of meats, bread, and scrambled eggs. MF had simple scrambled eggs and bread. Both were tasty and filling as we had a long day ahead of us!
Christmas Markets Galore
Wurzburg is rated in the top 10 list for markets because the stalls line up their “high street” and stretch throughout the village. In the background, Wurzburg has a beautiful church with the castle and hill behind it. Since it was Sunday morning, it was an interesting and family friendly mood as loads of families were there. More importantly, the stalls had different knick knacks and we enjoyed exploring them!
Possibly my favorite part, especially after a large breakfast, was the food. There were many sweet and savory stalls - my favorite was the french fry stall! Compared to Rothenburg, Wurzburg was the quiet, quaint market and exactly what we needed!
For Mary Frances, this was one of her favorite markets as she found future decorations for a children’s room. Unsurprisingly, the animals are an elephant and alligator, but carved from teak wood. Why did we need them now? I have no idea but this is why we go to the markets!
Wandering Wurzburg
Since we were in Wurzburg on a Sunday, we did not have high hopes for other stores or activities being open. We were correct so we opted to simply wander through the empty streets. Basically, we looked up the top things to do in Wurzburg, crossed off the hill climb to the castle, and made our way through the city!
This town reminded us of a little Praha (Prague). There are a few old Baroque churches and a really old bridge that connects two sides of town. That is probably where the comparisons ends but there are similarities!
We walked around to many different churches, gazing at their ancient beauty, and moving onto the next one. There is a river through the town and one of the cool things was seeing an empty river boat cruise and wondering how we can get on one of those! Before long, it began raining so we decided to go to the airport early.
The UnChartered Summary - Christmas Market Edition
- Overall: Rothenberg is one of our favorite markets as it combined the surreal, old Europe beauty with Christmas market magic! Wurzburg was a nice break, but part of us wonders if we should have stayed in Rothenburg or see Frankfurt instead.
- Food: Huge WIN here! First, it is the home of the mighty bratwurst. Second, original gluhwein. Third, I loved the desserts!
- Stalls: I will rely on Mary Frances’ opinion, but I thought both were really good. For such small towns, we were able to keep busy for both days! Mary Frances thought both cities had a great mix of options and trinkets. The stalls were unique and didn’t repeat like so many other cities that are on the “top 10” or “best” lists.
- Crowds: Yes, we went to one of the biggest tourist destinations, with or without Christmas markets, and still felt like we had room. These markets will always be crowded so it is important to be flexible when looking for food or a hot beverage. However, we would easily go back to Rothenburg! Plus, if Mary Frances didn’t mind the crowds, then anyone can go!
In summary, here are our tips and tricks for Rothenburg and Wurzburg.
- Stay in Rothenburg! Once the crowds disappeared at night, the city was magical with the old city walls and markets came alive!
- The German markets seriously live up to their reputation and easily beat several of the “best” markets reported.
- Rent a car from a reputable vendor - we wasted time just standing in line!
- If you have a preferred restaurant, just book it! We definitely enjoyed our Zur Helle restaurant that we definitely would not have been able to go if we just walked in.