One of the harder things to get used to here is just how short the days are in the late fall and winter – and how many of those fleeting days are raining or foggy! Luckily, Germans have a solution for everything, and they’ve nailed it with their Christmas markets.

Now, I had pretty high expectations for these markets – having read so many great things about them, seen so many glossy photographs in travel magazines & blogs, and schemed any number of ways to escape to Europe for a Christmas break. I was so worried I would be disappointed once I finally got to go – what if it was all cuckoo clocks, nutcrackers, and ugly Santas? Not that there’s anything wrong with those, just that once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Right?

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Well, once again, Germany – and Austria – delivered! We’ve been to as many markets as we can talk ourselves into, and they are all, in their unique way, different, special, and just – warming!

Our favorite markets have had plenty of activities for the kids to do. Tops among these was the main Viennese Christkindlmarkt – where they dumped tons of hay bales in the center of the churchyard of Karlskirche. Hundreds of kids played for hours, doing all kinds of crazy stuff with this hay, while hundreds of parents hung around on the outskirts, sipping gluhwein (the signature market drink – a hot mulled wine), and enjoying the Christmasy feels.

The food is another huge part of any market visit – favorites include smoked salmon, cheese spaetzle, Langos (Hungarian elephant ears), wursts, any kind of potato chip or pancake, and meat-on-a-stick (roll included at the tip):

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We were thrilled to be able to take our friends Matt & Courtney Wasson to one of our local village’s weekend market – made it so much fun to go with old friends! They stopped in Frankfurt on a combination work & fun trip, and we were also able to enjoy some good meals and catch-up time together!

Every market is just so different – they all seem to have a major draw. We’d never seen giant German Christmas pyramids before…three-story merry-go-rounds…rides propelled by people on bikes…and not a cuckoo clock or costumed Santa to be found!

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It’s fun to hear from others what their favorite markets have been – we’re adding them to next year’s list. Christmas break in Germany 2020, anyone???