If you’re heading abroad for the silly season where is the best place to go? My vote for the ultimate Christmas destination goes to Germany!
After spending almost a month in Germany in December, I will forever be nostalgic about Germany at Christmastime! Not only are there breath-taking castles, moody forests and amazing cities, in December Deutchsland is also home to the Weihnachtsmarkt or traditional Christmas market.
Yuletide markets are a big tradition in most European countries but they all originated in Germany, where they’re an absolute institution for the 4 weeks of advent leading up to Christmas. They’re not just a place to you go to buy presents or food but a veritable smorgasbord of the best bits of German culture and cuisine.
I managed to visit Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Freiburg, Bonn and Trier. Each place I went the Weinachsmarkt (or Christkindlesmarkt or Adventsmarkt or whatever you want to call it) was the most animated part of town and the highlight of everyone’s social calendar. I happily joined in the festivities!
The star of Weinachsmarkt beverages is without a doubt Glühwein or mulled wine and boy when it’s cold it goes down a treat! You can get red wine glühwein or white glühwein and each version will be slightly different depending on what spices are used to flavour it. Think sugar, cinnamon, cloves and orange wedges… it is lip smackingly good!
You can also get hot apple cider with similar flavour infusions or hot chocolate with baileys along with non-alcoholic hot drinks. And there’s no wasteful throwaway cups either- you pay a small bond and get served your drink in a limited edition mug with the name and year of each market on it. If you want a cute souvenir you can keep it or if – like me – your suitcase was too heavy already you can just return the cup and get your bond back.
Then you have the amazing array of food stalls, and while Germany may not always be associated with haute cuisine, the Weinachsmarkt is the best place to sample local favourites as well as hot food from other parts of Europe. From the savoury side of the spectrum; wurst (sausages of all different types) and reibekuchen (potato cakes dipped in apple sauce) to the sweet lebkuchen (gingerbread) and stollen (Christmas cake.) And depending on where you are exactly you can also find Swiss cheese fondue, Hungarian lángos (fried flatbread), Dutch poffertjes (small fluffy pancakes) and the list goes on!
Lastly along with the food and drink there are carol singers, nativity scenes, joyrides for the children and amazing craft, art and homeware stalls. These are all very tastefully decorated for the season with paper lanterns, green wreaths, red bows, coloured ornaments and twinkling Christmas lights. There’s no shortage of places to get some original and authentic Christmas gifts for the rellies and find some cute souvenirs to take home with you. Make sure you leave some room in that suitcase!
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Take my word for it, Germany in December is simply magical, just as Christmastime should be!
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