Traveling to Germany and Austria over Christmas break
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Anonymous
| Any ideas of the best places to go with kids? Kids will be 5 1/2, 9, almost 11. Will go for 10ish days. Thanks! |
Anonymous
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What do you want to do? Ski? Christmas markets? Hike? Why did you pick Germany and Austria to begin with? Such an open ended question...
I'd travel to Salzburg, but beyond that, need at least a little bit of guidance... |
Anonymous
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Maybe a Family Danube river cruise? Eliminates need for packing and unpacking. Tauck, Ama, Uniworld and others offer family-specific cruises, and there are Christmas markets ones also, which will be fun for kids (small rides, santa stuff etc).
Cons: River cruising is NOT for everyone and there can be water level problems putting you on a bus. |
Anonymous
| We went to Vienna and Salzburg at Christmas time. It was magical. Perfect match of big European city with a smaller one. We enjoyed staying at the Sacher and then the Goldener Hirsch. The Christmas markets are amazing. Lots of free concerts in churches. |
Anonymous
| We are also going to Austria for Christmas (Vienna and Salzburg). We have markets, museums, and music covered and would love restaurant and off the beaten path recs. Our kids are older teens. |
Anonymous
OP - sorry definitely not skiing. Yes to Christmas markets, short hikes, good things to do with kids, probably not a TON of churches. Picked Germany because DH is German and his mom was born there (deceased so can't ask her questions) and thought it would be a great place to take kids. |
Anonymous
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Are you going this year? Kind of late to be planning...then again, I just booked my trip a month ago!
No children here but we are going to Austria, Germany, Switzerland and France (alsace region), for Christmas markets and sightseeing and photography. We are going for two weeks. We're not into museums or churches, but some stuff on our list is a day trip to Hallstat, Zugspitze, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, etc. We are traveling by train, flying into Munich and out of Geneva. |
Anonymous
| Visit Baden and go to one of the baths there. It's just outside the city and you can get there by public transportation. |
Anonymous
| The salt mine in Hallstatt is a ton of fun. I'm pretty sure they allow a 5.5 year old to go. |
Anonymous
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Berlin has ton going on. Between the Christmas markets, Charlottenburg, and the Potsdam palaces you can easily fill 5 days without trying. Given your kid's ages, I'd skip what my husband calls "the sad stuff" (the Wall, Jewish Memorial, Topography of Terror museum, Sachsenhausen, Stasi museum).
If you go to Munich, Neuschwanstein is of course a big draw for day trips if your kids love castles. There's good hiking nearby, but I've not done it with small kids in December. Salzburg is also a short train ride (~1 hour each way) if you want to day trip. Christmas markets abound, and the BMW HQ and museum near the Olympic Stadium were a hit with my car-obsessed kid. After Berlin, Cologne is my favorite German city, although I'm definitely in the minority on that. I've also never been there with kids, so most of my recommendations would revolve around churches and drinking. |
Anonymous
One thing to keep in mind is that the Christmas markets end before Christmas, typically no later than the evening of the 23rd of December. |
Anonymous
Won’t being on the water in the winter be absolutely frigid? I’m shivering just thinking of it. |
Anonymous
Salt Mine is closed in winter, I’m pretty sure. |
Anonymous
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There is an great ice skating rink in the center of Vienna which is a lot of fun. Can rent skates and they have lockers. Tip is to buy tickets online ahead of time.
There are a lot of thermal baths in Austria and many are family friendly. Recommend checking these out. https://thermewien.at/en/ https://www.austria.info/en-uk/highlights/ski-and-wellness/ The markets are a lot of fun but they do get a little boring for kids. |
Anonymous
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I am considering visiting Austria for Christmas 2025 with my husband and 2 kids who will be 7 & 10 and I wanted to see if you went & what it was like?
We are looking at going for maybe 10-12 days starting in Vienna with 5-6 nights there, 2-3 nights Salzburg, maybe 2 nights somewhere nearby (ish) in the alps and then back home. It looks like some of the christmas markets, especially in Salzburg are actually open past Christmas until New Years. I'm not finding great flights though so far (though it's super early!!). |