After missing two years we have finally returned to the German Christmas Markets. I think we have been coming on the first weekend of December for about thirty years. I am going to hit the highlights of our trip, which was entirely land based. I will also make the case why you might consider a river cruise as an alternate and in some cases better, travel option.
Wednesday, December 7th: Flying to Frankfurt
We flew from Philadelphia to Charlotte, then Charlotte to Frankfurt on American Airlines. Not much to report except the flights were on time and smooth (a good thing) but the food in coach was awful. Enough said.
Advice: If you are taking a river cruise or exploring on your own, it makes sense to gain access to an airline lounge. Most allow you to purchase day passes. The American Express Centurion club, a perk with the Platinum and Black cards, is the gold standard of airline clubs.
Thursday, December 8th: Frankfurt and Mainz
We arrived in Frankfurt at 7:30 AM. We took the train from the airport into the city. The trains are modern, very clean and fast. Frankfurt has a grand older train station with vaulted glass ceilings and great architecture. Lots of shops like bakeries and a florist. We took a taxi to the hotel. Generally speaking, cabs in Frankfurt are later model Mercedes. Even though it is cold, the windows are open. I think that is a Covid precaution.
The Frankfurt Marriott is down the street. It is the tallest hotel in Germany. We arrived about 10:00 AM. The room is not ready, so we wait in the Concierge Lounge, which Marriott has renamed as M Clubs. Breakfast is still being served. Europeans are into huge breakfasts. There are probably 40 items on the breakfast buffet including sparkling wine and Jane’s favorite, the automatic pancake making machine. About noon, our room is ready. We nap until about 2:30 then head out.
The plan is to take the train to Mainz, a town about 30 minutes away. We feel it has the best Christmas Market. Like the Goldilocks story, it’s not too big, not too small, but just right. It has about 100 wooden huts.
The hotel concierge suggests skipping the taxi and taking the tram. It is right outside the hotel and runs directly to the train station. You buy tickets via a machine on the open-air platform. Trains in Germany seem to work on the honor system. You are expected to buy the correct ticket before boarding. Sometimes staff walks through the cars checking tickets with a handheld electronic reader. Sometimes they do not. Everyone seems law abiding.
We took a taxi from the Mainz train station to the Christmas market. Generally speaking, Christmas markets are set up in the large square in front of the Cathedral. Every town seems to have one. It is late afternoon; the sun is going down and the market gets more and more crowded. It seems everyone in town turns up (along with tourists) to walk around and eat sandwiches and drink a mulled beverage called gluhwein.
We have done this before, so we head to a larger heated hut featuring indoor seating. We get gluhwein from the counter. They run about 3.50€ not including the 1€ deposit on the mug. One of the unique features of the markets is how every food vendor only sells one type of item. I headed outside to get two pork sandwiches. These are large port cutlets sliced in half and piled on top of each other on a big bun. They run 6.50€. I bring them back to the hut. Generally speaking, pricing on items like gluhwein is standardized from vendor to vendor.
Next, we walked around the market. There is an area featuring what appear to be 6+ foot diameter wood barrels. These are sheltered seating areas you can rent. There is an open-air fire pit in the central area. Picnic benches too. We buy more gluhwein, this time in glazed terra cotta cups instead of glass mugs. These run 6.50€ because the cups have a 3€ deposit. Our mission has been to buy the mugs to take home.
We drift around and buy Nutella crepes. These are served on a 4×6 inch cookie wafer instead of a plate. You are “eating the plate” as part of your snack.
We took a taxi back to the Mainz train station. Traffic is heavy.
Advice: If you are traveling to Germany, you want to visit the Mainz Christmas market. It’s big enough to offer everything, small enough not to be overwhelming. If you choose a river cruise and it does not stop there, try to arrange it on your own at the start or end of your vacation.
Friday, December 9th: When Is a Bomb Not a Bomb? When It Is 70 Years Old
Today was our day to visit Heidelberg. It is about an hour away by train.
We woke up raring to go about 4:00 AM. At least we felt fully rested. Breakfast is served starting at 6:30 AM. We headed down after 7:00 intending to catch the 9:20 express train to Heidelberg. I made it a point to try out the pancake making machine this morning.
We took the tram to the central train station and booked our train tickets. We arrived in Heidelberg about 10:30 and were surprised to see seven police standing together in the main hallway. They were being joined by others, also in black uniforms. They seemed to be in good spirits. No one seemed to be in a hurry. As we boarded the tram to take us to the pedestrian zone with the Christmas market, we heard sirens heading in our direction. Traffic was being diverted too. I figured whatever was going on, they had five hours to sort it out.
Heidelberg, like many German cities, has a pedestrian only shopping area. There are Christmas Market booths and lots of upscale stores selling designer eyewear, jewelry and clothing. We walked most of the length, stopping for gluhwein and bratwurst.
We had a great time seeing the market early on a weekday when it was less crowded. We discovered we did not need five hours. After considering options we decided to take the tram back to the train station and either see if we could get an earlier train or relax in a cafe.
We tried a bus first, since we had day travel passes. I asked the driver if he stopped at the train station. He said no, because “They haven’t found the bomb yet.” That should have been my first clue something was wrong. Undeterred, we caught a tram instead. Everything was going fine until the tram crossed a river. Jane remarked “I don’t think we crossed a river getting here.” At the first stop on the other side of the river, most of the passengers got off. That should have been another clue.
Thanks to smartphones and the internet, news travels quickly. The police had cordoned off the train station area while they dealt with the bomb situation. Traffic was being directed away from the area. (We later learned a large number of people were evacuated from their homes.)
We stayed on the tram as it took us through the countryside and towards the end of the line. We noticed the last stop appeared to have a rail station. We figured we could somehow get back to Frankfurt. Technically, we needed to change to the ongoing tram and travel more one stop, but yes, there was a mainline train station. We thankfully saw we next train was heading to Frankfurt. We thought we would have to do some fast talking because our ticket was for a different train, but thankfully everything worked out. We took the tram back to our hotel.
We told the concierge about our experience. He seemed unperturbed. “Oh, that happens here all the time.” We were alarmed. He was not. He smiled and explained when construction work begins, the crews check ahead of time for unexplored bombs dating back to World War II. They find them more often than you might expect. They have a procedure to deal with it. From the news story we later read online, all this was done by about 4:00 PM. In the meantime, no trains stopped at the station. They headed through instead.
We assumed bombs were connected with terrorism. Here, they are leftovers from WWII. Tactfully, he did not mention it might have been our guys that originally dropped it.
We were back about 4:00 PM which gave us time to rest and change for dinner. We visited the M Club for pre-dinner snacks and Prosecco before heading out to meet friends for dinner at 7:30.
Back in March, we met a nice German couple from Hamburg on the Queen Mary 2. We kept in touch afterwards. When we knew we were flying over in December, we let them know. Since Hamburg is at the other side of Germany, I thought we might meet in the middle. They decided to make a weekend of it and traveled to Frankfurt to get together with us!
They made a dinner reservation in a restaurant that is part of an art museum. When we arrived and mentioned the name of our friends, the person at the host station said: “You must be the American couple.” Apparently, we were expected. We had a great, relaxing dinner that must have taken almost three hours.
Advice: For us, the “bomb story” is an adventure. You might want to forgo the excitement. If you are taking a river cruise, your tour into a Christmas market will likely be escorted. They would supply independent transportation. You would not find yourself on a tram headed into the countryside.
Saturday, December 10th: The Frankfurt Christmas Market
We awoke at 8:30 AM. The sun was streaming through the windows. We do not remember the last time we slept so long! We awoke fully rested. After having breakfast, it was almost 11:00 by the time we left the hotel. It was cold with temperatures in the mid 30’s.
We took a taxi to the Frankfurt Christmas market. Since it is both a financial capital and a large city, Frankfurt has three markets. This is the traditional one. It winds along with streets connecting squares and parks as the market meanders towards the river.
We started with shopping. We found a huge department store with a food hall and wine department on the basement level. More importantly, they had a champagne bar featuring Laurent Perrier champagne. It gets better. They also serve oysters on the half shell. We pulled up stools. It was barely noon, and this was already a highlight.
This led to the chocolate department. The store also has a refrigerated cabinet that is actually a small indoor farm growing different types of fresh herbs for sale.
After leaving the store we followed the Christmas market stalls along the winding streets. We ate more sausages and drank more glühwein. We came across a stall selling fresh marshmallows covered in chocolate or other like amaretto or After Eight Mint. They were larger than our normal marshmallows and the white center was very soft. Another hut carried large pretzels covered in dark or white chocolate.
We found a shop, technically a resale shop that specialized in Louis Vuitton and Hermes luxury goods that were previously owned. Everything was beautifully displayed. Later, Jane found a spectacular florist stand with everything organized in neat rows.
Another of the characteristics that make Christmas markets special is weddings. People choose to get married in December, coming out into the open air amidst the crowds filling the market. Their relatives gather around for the traditional family wedding photo.
Having enjoyed our sausages and glühwein, we located the elusive potato pancakes with apple sauce and enjoyed them while standing.,
The markets stretched down to the river. It was then we decided (a) we needed a taxi and (b) we were on the fringes of the Christmas market with not a cab in sight. Jane suggested we walk back up into the crowds. Sure enough, there was a taxi stuck in traffic. He graciously agreed to take us back to our hotel. At this point it was now 3:15 PM. We were exhausted. It was nap time.
So what happened next? At 6:00 PM we considered heading back to the Frankfurt Christmas market but decided heading down to the M-Club made more sense. We joke we travel on the “Modified Marriott Plan” because the lounge provides breakfast and a grazing dinner with free drinks.
Advice: Our challenge was getting back to the hotel since we walked through the Christmas market in a (somewhat) straight line instead of taking a circular route. If you are on a tour, there will likely be a pickup and drop off point.
Sunday, December 11th: Return to Mainz
We slept well but awoke fully rested before the rest of the world. In other words, we got up early and caught up on e-mails.
There was a sprinkling of snow outside. We had breakfast in the M-Club and considered our options for the day. The iPhone said the weather would be cloudy and just above freezing. The hotel staff said snow is expected. We narrowed our options to returning either to the Mainz or Frankfurt Christmas markets.
We opted for Mainz because it is our favorite. It’s a 30-minute train ride away, but taxis are easy to get at both the station and the market.
The Mainz market was not crowded like at night time, but there were plenty of people. This was our opportunity to explore every lane and every booth selling stuff. We found balls made of pastry strips covered in cinnamon, chocolate or other flavors. Other booths sold full sized hand tools made of chocolate. Another booth sold glassware they would engrave with your name while you waited.
We returned to the heated hut we visited on the first night. After getting our first round of gluhwein, Jane got the attention of a guy who appeared to be in charge. She asked about a woman we met on our previous visit before the pandemic. It’s his wife! Jane explained we brought a box of chocolate truffles from New Hope as a gift for her. When we travel to places, we try to build relationships because we hope to return again and again.
We next headed to the outdoor seating area and bought our pork sandwiches. Now fortified with more gluhwein we decided it was time to head back. The temperature was dropping. We caught a taxi to the train and the train back to Frankfurt. One more tram ride and we were back in our warm hotel room.
Here’s another point that is worth highlighting. We came across a group of 13 carolers outside the Frankfurt train station singing Silent Night.
We relaxed and started preparing for Monday’s departure. There is lots of stuff to know that is not intuitive. We will take the tram to the train to the plane. The concierge explained you can buy a ticket from the outdoor ticket machine at the tram stop that doubles as your train ticket to the airport. He put on his overcoat, walked me out and I got this done. The timing was critical because this is before we had a few drinks in the lounge.
We had our grazing dinner in the M-Club lounge, then headed back to our room to pack. Our flight leaves on Monday at 10:15 AM. Our plan is to be out at 6:00 AM, which should get us to the airport about 7:00.
Advice: When you travel on a tour or river cruise, transfers between the ship and the airport are either included or available at a nominal charge. You do not need to be figuring this stuff out on your own.
Monday, December 12th: If you Miss Your Train Stop, You Might End Up in Brussels
I married well. This will become obvious later in the story.
We were up at 5:00, packed and out by 6:00. We took the tram to the train station and saw there was a train with the airport stop listed for 6:28 AM. We found the track and boarded. It seemed like a pretty nice train. We also realized it was a high-speed train headed to Brussels. Although it did stop at the airport, this was not our train.
Jane remarked when we arrived in Frankfurt, we were on an underground train and took an escalator up to ground level. I recalled the concierge telling us to take the S line, specifically the S8 or S9. We found the S line platform. The S9 was coming into the station. We asked if this is the train to the airport. No. We need the next platform for trains headed in the opposite direction.
We went up, over and down, finally getting on a train with a little airplane symbol on the destination board. Problem solved.
We got to the airport, made our flight connections and got home without any problems.
Advice: Again, transfers are usually a component of a tour or river cruise. Once you are at the airport, you want access to that lounge!
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Cover photo: Wood Carver Jose, Quito, ©Dennis Cox/WorldViews
Dennis Cox is All Things Cruise Writer and Official Photographer
