10 Days in Europe at Christmas!
Ciao Family!
I’m pumped to be able to to give you an overview of one of my favorite trips that I’ve ever taken. In December, Chris and I spent two weeks in Europe visiting different Christmas Markets, among other things! If you know me, you know that I am beyond obsessed with Christmas! This trip felt like I was living in a real life snow globe and it was a dream come true. (Until the next Europe Christmas Trip 😀)
I have SO many details, suggestions and reflections from this trip, that I will break it up into a few different Blog Posts, so I can deep dive. For now, this post is our 10-Day Itinerary in Germany, Switzerland and France.
I am based in Charlotte, so we had direct flights in and out of Munich (and not that expensive!) #winteringermany.
Day 1: Munich, Germany - Lucerne, Switzerland.
We picked up our rental car at the Munich Airport (they drive on the same side of the road as Americans AND they have the autobahn!!) We were going to make the multi-hour trip to Lucerne, our first overnight, with a few stops along the way. We stopped in Austria for a ride up the Pfänderbahn! (It’s a Mountain Cable Car with a view over Lake Bodensee.) Then we had to take a drive through Liechtenstein, just to say we hit another country. 🙂 Finally, we drove into Lucerne for the night. Dropped our bags at the hotel and hit our first official European Christmas Market!
Day 2: Lucerne, Switzerland - Bern, Switzerland
We spent the morning exploring Lucerne. Then we took a drive through Switzerland and the mountains in the daytime with MANY stops along the way. Every turn was a gorgeous view - it was incredible. We drove up into the mountains and made a stop in Grindelwald. It’s an adorable mountain town, but also my love for Harry Potter took me there. Then we headed to Bern for our next overnight and an evening of Christmas Markets. We managed to visit 4!
Day 3: Bern & Surrounding Area exploration!
We headed back up into the mountains (I clearly love a mountain drive!) We visited Lauterbrunnen, which was out of a fairytale. Then drove up and down another Swiss mountain to visit the Cailler Chocolate Factory, it was like being in a real life Willy Wonka factory! 10 minutes away from the factory was the Village of Gruyere, where we stumbled upon a Christmas market. We hit one more Christmas market in Murten on our way back to Bern for the night.
Day 4: Bern, Switzerland - Alsace Region, France
This was the craziest day. It was a Saturday and we were NOT ready for the crowds. Wanted to hit the little Beauty and Beast Villages, only hit one and were overwhelmed, went back to our little spa hotel. We then went to Ribeauville Market. This was an incredible market but was overwhelmingly busy-also we spent far too much on cheese that we brought home and shared with family and friends over the Christmas season! We stumbled upon Becker Vineyards in Zellenberg, which obviously we had to go to! We stayed at a little Hotel and Space on the German side of the Rhine to rest and relax before Strasbourg.
Day 5: Strasbourg!!
In Strasbourg we visited eight markets! We had a city tour on a little train and visited a couple restaurants and cafe stops (mainly for a good bathroom). We enjoyed so many beautiful city decorations, this was the best Christmas decor I’ve ever seen in a city. There is a reason this has earned the Christmas Capital of the world!
Day 6: Strasbourg - Rothenburg de ob Taur
Before we left Strasbourg we stopped in a little French Cafe before we got back on the road. We stopped at Black Forest, which was absolutely gorgeous, and we went on a little hike to Allerheiligen Wasserfall, a waterfall that was so nice to visit. Before getting to Rothenburg’s Evening Christmas Markets (four little ones all connected) we stopped in to see Lake Mummelsee. We are so glad that we stopped at a magical Christmas Store-Kathe Wohlfahrt Store to pick up some gifts. Before the night ended we witnessed the NighGard coming around for the village curfew.
Day 7: Visit to Stuttgart
Stuttgart is home to the Porsche Museum, which we had to stop at for Chris. Chris was truly in car heaven this trip, which was such a nice balance since Christmas is my obsession! While exploring Stuttgart, we stumbled upon one of our favorite markets. We headed back to Rothenburg for a little bit and explored one more market in the sweet smaller city of Wurzburg.
Day 8: Bern - Fussen
I am so glad we stopped to visit to Neuschwanstein Castle, which was the influence for Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella Castles from Disney! This trip was like living in a fairy tale! We stayed in a little town at the base of the castle on lake Forggensee, called Fussen. We enjoyed all of the relaxing facilities at an incredible Spa and Restaurant Hotel and ate dinner there. This was an incredible break in such a busy trip.
Day 9: Fussen - Munich
Munich is home to the BMW Museum, which we stopped at, again this was mainly for Chris but truly it was super cool to learn about the history of this car company. In Munich we visited all of the Christmas Markets. There were four markets with street artists and tons of Christmas decorations in every window, which was very impressive. Unfortunately, it started to rain so we found a little noodle place for dinner and headed to our Hilton hotel which had a nice lobby area.
Day 10: Munich
Today we visited seven markets and the Traditional Beer Hall. We also stumbled upon the mall, which like the rest of the town was so beautifully decorated! We, of course, stopped at a couple cafes for drinks and bathrooms…the usual! We then made a game time decision to buy tickets to the Bayern Munich Football Game (Soccer). This was truly such an incredible experience and we are so glad we got to do this, especially on our last night! It was like being an extra in Ted Lasso-and Chris and I were both here for that!
Day 11 - Flight home!!
Stay up to date with more details about this trip and other trip details on my Instagram, Newsletter, and this Blog! Thank you for following along and for being such a supportive community!
Ciao, Chelsea
