Tag Archives: Augsburg

Top 10 Christmas Markets near Munich

In about a week, Germany is going to be completely covered in middle aged tourists seeking the best of the Christmas markets.  I have been to a couple dozen throughout the region many, many times…and here are my top choices for Christmas markets within three hours of Munich:

 

  1. Augsburg  – This is my favorite Christmas market not because of the city itself being the most historically interesting city in Southern Germany, but because it is a beautiful Christmas market, has its own unique “Christmas show” at the Rathaus (daily I believe?), is one of the larger markets, and does not have the crushing crowds of Munich, Salzburg, and Nuremberg.
  2. Nuremberg – The largest and most famous of the bunch, it can be ridiculously busy in the evening.  Then again, to truly see it…you HAVE to be there in the evening…during the day just will not do.  So…good luck.
  3. Landshut – Landshut is a beautiful town closer to Munich’s airport than Munich itself.  The Christmas market there is on the main pedestrian only street which is lined with historic houses and a charming atmosphere that the big cities just cannot attain.
  4. Munich’s main market (at Marienplatz) – It’s busy, it’s not centralized, but it does have everything that all the others have…and the New Town Hall works really wonderfully for Christmas photo backgrounds…
  5. Würzburg – With it’s large market square, this medium sized city has  what makes for a much nicer market than most larger towns in the region.  (the problem with Würzburg is it’s location, see #7)
  6. Innsbruck – Innsbruck has several Christmas markets thoughout its historic old town.  Certainly not the largest nor most beautiful Christmas market; it is quite charming.
  7. Rothenburg – Cutey-small Christmas market in a beautifully well preserved walled city.  What more do you want?  (the problem is that it’s 3+ hours from Munich each way…so I’d recommend an overnight stay, possibly in nearby Würzburg)
  8. Munich’s Tollwood Festival (at the Oktoberfest grounds) – It’s more of a high-end hippie fest than a Christmas market, but it still has its charms…and much of it is in door, which is quite welcome if you’re touring Christmas markets!
  9. Regensburg – A smaller Christmas market in this ancient river town, in my opinion vastly over-rated.  Skip-able…
  10. Salzburg -  If you could delete 75% of the people, this would be a wonderful Christmas market…but be warned:  I refuse to do tours to Salzburg during the Christmas market for a reason.  The crushing crowds, even at noon, are too much for all but the most hardcore of angry people.

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Augsburg’s Christmas Market

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Munich’s main Christmas market (taken just a 1 min walk south of Marienplatz)

Private Tours

I’ve been doing a lot of private tours lately and I really need to change the text of my private tour section here.  Basically what I need to change is to scare away the crazy people.

1.  I can’t drive you around Bavaria as I don’t have a commercial driving license (and YES, that is required).  Some guides will do this, but it is breaking the law and really not worth it if they get caught.  I live in Germany, a very rule-abiding society…and that’s just how I roll.  I do have a German driver’s license, but that is irrelevant.

2. I don’t own a helicopter or a jet, it’s impossible to do all of that in one day.  What’s that?  Google says you can?  Okay, try it yourself and tell me how that went.  I once had a crazy tour leader from Stanford University who would not listen to reason…in the end they rented like 16 BMW’s to drive to Neuschwanstein because they said it’d be faster.  In the end it was a very tight schedule with a lot of illegal driving…they barely made their tour time inside the palace and they missed their dinner reservations in Munich.  All because they believed google over their local guide who has done it hundreds of times (literally).

3.  Mainly for private tours I do Munich city tours, by foot, which can be tailored to whatever length you want or day trips by public transportation.  If not on foot, public transportation REALLY is the way to go.

I dunno…I just ran out of steam, noticed the time, and I gotta go to work.  I’m heading down to Neuschwanstein again today.  should be a high of 66 with a 30% chance of rain…HMMM…

Current price for walking tours of the city: €120 for a standard 3-hour tour.  Free if you are a member of a band I love.  (good luck with that one)

Augsburg Tours

Well, the first Augsburg tour went on April 5th.  My first Augsburg customer being from Estonia.  She had a wonderful day (or so she claimed) and it was a beautiful day as well.  Augsburg is refreshing after many years in Munich.  The main thing that I find different is just the general attitude of the people.  Augsburg isn’t so saturated with tour companies even though it has a more substantial history than Munich…but what really sticks in my mind from the Tuesday’s tour is the smell of the city.  Downtown Munich or Berlin or Vienna is mostly shops, churches, palaces, but not food.  Augsburg’s downtown area has food around every corner…and very international options as well…literally everywhere, it’s quite amazing what that does to my stomach after half a tour!  For food alone…this tour is great.

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Book through Radius Tours

The season is almost here and I’m as excited about it as any of you tourists out there.

If you want the no-hassle all-in tour from Munich, please visit Radius Tours and book there.  Once you have booked the tour, please stop by the office at least 5 minutes before the tour to trade the print-out for a real ticket and then you’re all set to go.

The tour costs €35…which includes all transportation to Augsburg and back to Munich.  The meeting time is 9:45am and it returns at 6pm.

For more info on meeting up with the tour in Augsburg: www.augsburgtours.de

 

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Augsburg Tours!

As of April 1st, I’ll be doing Augsburg tours every Tuesday and Friday.

Why Augsburg?  Well, it’s the most historically significant place within a few hours of Munich, in fact it’s well over a thousand years older than Munich with the sights to prove it!

Founded in 15BC by the order of Augustus Caesar, Augsburg really hit its peak during the 1500’s when it was a free imperial city at the center of the largest trading organization on earth.  The Fugger family was, without question, the wealthiest family in the world and they along with their rivals the Welser family, pretty much ran the city of Augsburg.  At that time of course Augsburg was the big city and Munich was the small unimportant town.  Even Vienna’s importance paled in comparison.  The great thing is Augsburg never had a collapse so that even today you can see how amazing Augsburg was because everything is still there and looking great.

More info will be posted soon along with a website dedicated to the tour itself!