Alpine Christmas Markets 2024

Trip Introduction

In December of 2024, we made a third trip to Europe to experience Christmas Markets. The bulk of the trip was an Insight Vacations tour titled Alpine Christmas Markets. It began in Munich and visited sites in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland with a couple day trips into France. We spent an extra day on either side of the tour checking out sites in Munich and Zurich.




Monday, 12/09/2024 – Heading East

We wanted to do some things around the house and needed to finish packing, so we treated Monday morning like a workday and got out of bed when the alarm went off. We called an Uber and left the house a few minutes after 9a arriving at the airport in plenty of time for our 11:19a flight. The first leg of our journey took us to Atlanta where we had about 3.5 hours to make it to the international terminal and grab a bite to eat. The time seemed to go quickly, and we boarded our flight to Munich right on time at 5p. Once everyone was on board, there was a 45-minute delay as a sensor on one of the luggage hold doors malfunctioned and had to be repaired. We weren’t really worried as this was the last of our flights so no connections to miss. We watched movies and shows while we ate and then both tried to sleep a little on the overnight flight.




Tuesday, 12/10/2024 – Arriving in Munich

With the late departure, we were about an hour late landing in Munich, touching down a little before 10a local time. After deplaning, we boarded a bus which took us to the main terminal and passport control. We stood in line for maybe 20 minutes before getting our passports stamped. We claimed our bags, which both came through relatively quickly, and headed out of the customs area with nothing to declare.

An email from our Insight Vacations travel director had mentioned a shuttle service that runs buses from the airport into the city with a stop 10-minutes from our hotel. The fare was about half what a taxi would have cost, so we spent another 20 minutes walking around the Munich airport looking for one of the pick-up points. The ride into Munich was good and we walked into the lobby of the hotel shortly after 11:30a. Unfortunately, our room wasn’t ready, so we rearranged some stuff and left our larger bags in the bellhop area and headed back out. There was a U-bahn (subway) stop near where the airport shuttle had dropped us off where we purchased a 3-day pass covering all the public transportation options (U-bahn, S-bahn, bus, and tram). We rode the U-bahn into the city center to Marienplatz where we knew there would be a Christmas Market and figured we could find something to eat. We walked through the market looking at some of the stalls, and the LEGO store, before settling on a pretzel. It was cold and a little breezy, and we were still wearing our traveling clothes, so we headed back to the hotel arriving a little after 2p. Our room was ready, so we took our bags up and rested for a while before grabbing dinner at one of the hotel restaurants. We planned our outing for the next morning and went to bed a little before 10p.




Wednesday, 12/11/2024 – A Palace Before the Tour

We slept until 8:30a and then prepared for the day. We headed to the U-bahn station and made our way, using 2 lines and a tram, to Schloss Nymphenburg. This palace and gardens were the summer home for the Bavarian Royals for several generations and was last remodeled in the decorative Rococo style with beautiful paintings on the ceilings and ornate moldings. On the self-guided tour of the interior, we visited several rooms with some of the original furnishings and wall art depicting both the royal family members and life across the years Nymphenburg Palance was used. We spent a little time walking in the gardens, but there is not much to see in winter.

To return to the hotel, we decided to take a different tram to see a little more of the city at street level. We exited at a station where we walked through a nearby small Christmas Village where we ate a hamburger and red german sausage for lunch before catching the U-bahn back toward the hotel. We arrived at the hotel a little after 2p. After stopping at our room to drop things off, we met our travel director in the lobby to “check-in.” At 3p, we joined the rest of the group for a coach ride into Munich City Center for a visit to the large Christmas Market. We walked a little further afield visiting a smaller market in one of the courtyards of the Residenz, which was the Royal Palace in Munich. It was cozier and protected from some of the windy weather since it was surrounded by walls. The group gathered again at 5:30p to get back to the hotel for a 6:30p informational session and dinner where we met a couple of retirees from Melbourne, Australia.




Thursday, 12/12/2024 – Last Day in Munich

We elected not to join the optional excursion Thursday morning as it was a coach tour south of Munich visiting sites we had seen on previous trips to the area. We slept in again before having breakfast and reorganizing our luggage. We left the hotel around 11a and visited a couple markets not far from the U-bahn line. The first was the Weihnachtsmarkt which maintains a medieval theme in the stalls and setup. Even the vendors dress in what passes for historic merchant garb. We visited the same market in 2018 with James’ parents and he has a clay chalice from this market on his desk at work. We then stopped at another market of primarily artists’ stalls with handmade crafts and some really nice pieces. We picked up a ham-and-cheese pretzel in the station before returning to our hotel around 1p to rest and warm up. We met the tour group in the hotel lobby at 3p to head back to the city center for a walking tour with a local guide. The “local guide” was an Irishman who earned his history degree 10-years ago and just had not left. He did a wonderful job talking about some high-level history of Bavaria while stopping for sausage/pork sandwiches, roasted chestnuts, lángos (fried bread with sour cream and cheese), and glühwein (mulled wine) or cinnamon spiced hot apple juice. After the walking tour, we took a few more pictures of the Marienplatz area at night before heading back to the hotel. It was our last night in Munich and there was an early start the next morning.




Friday, 12/13/2024 – Salzburg to Innsbruck

The morning started early with bags out by 6:45a. After setting them out for the bell hop, we headed down for breakfast. We gathered the rest of our belongings after eating and were on the coach for the 7:45a departure. The tour headed southeast from Munich crossing the border into Austria. We met a local guide near Mozart University for an informational walk past gardens used in the filming of The Sound of Music and across the river into old-town Salzburg. There we saw the house where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born. It now houses a museum that brings advanced students who are focusing on historical instruments in to perform. We enjoyed listening to some of Mozart’s works performed on an instrument like what he would have used when learning to play. The guide then dropped us off at the Christmas Market near the Salzburg Cathedral. We spent the few hours looking at the market and visiting nearby shops. It was rather cold and overcast so the permanent shops provided some much-needed heat.

At 2p the group met our travel director, and we walked 15 minutes to the coach; they can’t park close to the city center. We then spent two hours driving back into Germany to take another highway into the mountains of Austria on our way to Innsbruck. The clouds seemed to clear up just in time for sunset (around 4p). We stopped at Swarovski World and toured the museum and gallery area. There were interesting displays where artists used Swarovski crystals as part of installations as well as pieces worn by famous music performers and costumes from plays/operas. After some time shopping, we ate dinner at a restaurant on the property. We enjoyed dinner with our new friends from Melbourne and a pair of sisters from North Carolina. It was a little after 8p when we returned to the hotel and were able to unwind for a bit before going to bed.




Saturday, 12/14/2024 – Around Innsbruck

The day started with breakfast and meeting the coach at 8:50a. The ride took us up the mountain to Seefeld where we were treated to horse drawn carriage rides through town and some of the adjacent countryside. It was incredibly picturesque with views you see in the movies. It was also fun watching people who do not live with snow regularly react to how it lies in the trees and on buildings. After arriving back on the coach, we headed into the old city center of Innsbruck where we met a guide for a quick walking tour.

We had free time to find lunch in and around the Christmas Markets and at 2:15p met our travel director who gave us tickets and walked us to the where we could catch a ride to Nordkette, the “top” of one of the mountains that surrounds the city. The first section was on a funicular with stations designed by a famous architect. Once we were about 1/3 of the way up the mountainside, we transitioned to a cable car gondola for the additional 8-minute 1000m (3,280 feet) climb. Early in the day the weather had been clear, but it looked like clouds had moved in as we rose and when we arrived at the 1905m (6,250 feet) above sea level station, there was blowing snow. This was another new experience for several of the people in our group. We took a few pictures and decided we would get enough of this weather at home in the coming months, so we headed back down the mountain. We stopped at the transfer point and took pictures looking out over the valley. We finished the descent and headed to the coach which returned to the hotel for a late afternoon break. Some of our tour group had signed up for an optional show of local dancing and singing. We headed back into the old town where we had time to enjoy some more of the markets and find some food. We opted for a place our travel director recommended selling various types of strudel. We enjoyed the show, as much because of the friends we had made as the show itself and arrived back at the hotel for the night a little after 10p.




Sunday, 12/15/2024 – Back to Germany

Sunday was another travel day, so we set our bags out for the bell staff by the prescribed 7:30a and then headed to breakfast. The coach was a little late leaving because of some confusion about the departure time, but we had a beautiful drive through the Alps passing through tunnels between valleys with different microclimates. We ended the morning’s drive in Lindau, Germany on the northern end of Lake Bodensee which has shores in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. After free time to explore and find some lunch, we were back on the coach a little before 2p for the next segment of the drive which took us back into Austria, through Switzerland, to get to our hotel in Lörrach, Germany. We arrived at the hotel a little before 5p and settled in our rooms for the 3-night stay. The whole group gathered for a drink and dinner at 6:30p where we had a wonderful time talking and joking with friends until the waiter indicated we needed to leave at 10p.




Monday, 12/16/2024 – Colmar and Freiburg

Monday morning, we got ready, ate breakfast, and were on the coach by 9a. While the morning trip to Colmar, France was optional, everyone on the tour participated. It was the first day the sun was shining from the start, and it was a nice drive across the border and a little north. We had a local guide speak to us about the history of Christmas in the region with the transition from Catholicism to Protestantism combined with the various nationality transitions between being part of France or Germany. We had free time to wander the town visiting several different markets and finding someplace for a bite for lunch. In the afternoon, we met and returned to the coach for the drive back across the border to Freiburg, Germany. We had time to see the cathedral before visiting markets and finding an early supper. At 7:30p we departed for the hotel after a long day with a lot of walking on uneven historic streets.




Tuesday, 12/17/2024 – Black Forest Clocks and a French Cathedral

Tuesday again started with breakfast and a not-too-early departure time. We headed into the Black Forest region passing through mountain roads that, were it not for the fog, would have been beautiful. We caught a few glimpses when there were clear patches. We visited a family-owned cuckoo clock store where we received a demonstration on how the clocks are made and some delicious black forest cake. We also had the chance to buy a clock or other souvenir. We then headed back into France and the city of Strasbourg. The coach dropped us off as close to the UNESCO recognized city center as possible, but we still had a 15-minute walk to reach a square near the front of the famous cathedral. The group scattered and we walked with our friends from Australia to the area known as Petite France. Canals pass through the area with wonderfully maintained medieval style homes running along each side. We then returned to the area of the Cathedral to take photos and walk through the interior. After a light bite for lunch, we headed to the meeting place where the group gathered for the walk back to the coach. The ride back to Lörrach took about 2 hours and we had a wonderful dinner all together. We returned to the hotel about 8:30p and joined some of the other tour members in the bar for stories and laughs before retiring to our room and getting organized for another transfer day on Wednesday.




Wednesday, 12/18/2024 – On to Zurich

While Wednesday was a change hotels day, the drive was short, so we were able to sleep in a bit. The bags were out by 8:30a and everyone was on the coach an hour later for departure. After a brief stop at the border for a few people to get paperwork stamped regarding EU taxes on major purchases, we arrived in the university section of Zurich a little before 11a. The group split and we had local guides walk us down the hill talking about the history of the city as we worked our way into the medieval city center. Once there, we were given a few hours of free time to visit the many shops and several Christmas markets in close proximity. We exceeded our step goals while visiting the markets and wandering through a few of the side streets. Julie ate raclette (cheese and potatoes) while James chose apple strudel with dark chocolate and vanilla cream. At 3:15p, the group met up and after a short walk to the coach, traveled to our hotel. We had a little over an hour before the group reconvened for the ride to a local restaurant for our farewell dinner. The food was good, and this was the last time everyone was together. We returned to the hotel and said goodbye to our new friends and headed to our room to rearrange things, starting to think about the trip home.




Thursday, 12/19/2024 – Zurich and Goodbyes

We slept in Thursday morning not heading down to breakfast until 9a. We were able to eat with a couple friends, but many of our companions had already headed to the airport. Around 11a, we caught the hotel shuttle to the airport as we wanted to be closer for our early morning flight on Friday and had booked a room within the airport complex. After checking in, we timed the walk to the airline check-in counters and verified where we would need to go before heading to the tram station and proceeding into Zurich proper. We walked around the Christmas market inside the main train station and found a bite for lunch before catching a mid-afternoon train south of the city center to Lindt’s “World of Chocolate.” We had a reservation for a guided tour and spent around 90 minutes learning about the processing of cacao, the history of chocolate consumption, and some of the modern techniques used in producing the treats we enjoy today. We also tried several samples at spots along the tour that were not available to those doing the self-guided version of the tour. It was after 5p when we left the museum and almost 7p when we arrived back at our room with some take-away (carry-out). We made sure everything was ready, set an alarm and went to bed around 9p on our last full day in Europe.




Friday, 12/20/2024 – Getting Home

The alarm went off at 2:45a so we could leave the hotel by 3:30a. We could not setup our bags on the app so wanted to make sure we had time to deal with any lines at the airline counter and security checks for our 6:30a flight. We ended up at the gate in plenty of time for our first jump from Zurich to Paris. We were a little delayed departing as temperature and humidity required deicing before departure and ended up having a fair walk and a passport check in Paris. We still arrived at our Paris gate with time to spare, but they used buses to transport us from the terminal to the plane which slowed boarding. We left Paris 45-minutes late and didn’t seem to make up any time on the 9-hour flight to Minneapolis. While we breezed through passport control, it took a long time for our bags to come out and we had to pass through a TSA checkpoint, that didn’t have a pre-check line, before getting into the airport proper. We must have looked haggard as one of the tram drivers stopped and gave us a lift around the airport getting us as close to our departure gate as he could since there was a set of stairs between the C and A series of gates. We made it to the departure gate for our flight to Des Moines as they were still deplaning from the previous flight. This gave us a chance to catch our breath and use the facilities, which was good since there was no heat on the jet-bridge and the temps were around 17F (-8C). The flight to Des Moines was short and our bags came out relatively quickly. There was an Uber driver in the area, so we arrived at our house right at 5p, roughly 21 hours after we climbed out of bed.



We had a wonderful time visiting the markets, seeing some new and a few repeat cities, and making friends we hope to keep in touch with for quite a while.