2 Days In Nuremberg – The Ultimate Christmas Destination

I’ve always wanted to experience a good authentic Christmas, a place where it’s more about the jolliness than the commercialness, and Nuremberg (or Nürnberg) is the perfect destination. A week before Christmas I took a short trip to this promising German city to check one more thing off my bucket list.

Day 1

Nuremberg is a small city in the northern part of Bavaria, about an hour away from Munich by train so we took the city train from the airport to Munich Central Station where we began our journey to Nuremberg. Tip: having train tickets booked in advanced from Munich to Nuremberg with Deutsche Bahn (www.bahn.com) will definitely save you a good amount of money.  We arrived Nuremberg early afternoon, dumped the luggage in our cosy AirBnb and set off to the center.

Nuremberg

The city is very walkable and all we had to do was follow the aroma of the Gluhwein (Mulled Wine). There we were, at one of the best Christmas markets in the world ‘Nuremberger Christkindlesmarkt’. Honestly, I don’t have much to compare with but this place really felt magical. Men, women and children covered in thick layers of clothing buying ornaments, munching on gingerbread and chocolates, groups of people laughing and catching up whilst sipping on Gluhwein from their colorful mugs, I was in the perfect place.

We spent the entire evening in and around the Christmas market, stuffing our faces with Christmas goodies and bratwursts making it our lunch and our dinner.

It was just after sunset, I was enjoying the warmth of my mug and looking through my camera to capture the Christmas, I felt droplets of water on my head so I looked up into the sky to see a million snowflakes flying around me. I wish there was a way I could describe that moment but I don’t think words would do any justice.

Summary:

• Arrive in Nuremberg from Munich
• Visit the Christmas Market

Day 2

Today we decided to check out what this beautiful city has to offer, so we head out to our first destination, THE IMPERIAL CASTLE OF NUREMBERG (Kaiserberg Nuremberg). A medieval castle that overlooks the entire city, the palace gardens are free to enter but the rest is paid. You could take the ticket for the museum and visit the full castle for 5.5 EUR or just take a ticket to visit the Sinwell Tower for 3.5 EUR and get a lovely aerial view of Nuremberg (combined ticket for both is 7 EUR).

View from the Imperial Castle Of Nuremberg

After the castle we walked towards the picturesque Weißgerbergasse street, Weinstadel and across the river to the main square of Trodelmarkt. After you’ve visited these places your biggest struggle is going to be choosing which pictures to post on Instagram, the city is breathtaking.

Weißgerbergasse street

Weinstadel

Weinstadel

Weinstadel

Weinstadel

If you follow the above order of places, you will end up back in the main square of the city with the Christmas market and the shopping streets. While we were buying gifts and souvenirs, we saw a huge crowd of children queing up for something. Turns out we were about to witness ‘The Lantern Procession’.

Every year about a thousand children gather at Kaiserstraße holding a colorful lantern, hand made by themselves, and march through the Christmas market upto the Kaiserberg Castle where a live band and a choir awaits them. This procession is headed by the symbol of Nuremberg Christmas market, The Nuremberg Christkind, a blond girl aged between 16 and 19 in a white sparkling gown and a gold crown who is chosen every two years, a tradition dating back to 1948.

The Lantern Procession

Our night ended with dinner at Alte Küch’n / Im Keller Restaurant, a traditional German restaurant recommended by our BnB host.

To sum up this trip, imagine a crowd full of cheerful people, singing, laughing and spreading nothing but joy, this is the memory I have from this trip that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Summary:

• Visit the Imperial Castle Of Nuremberg
• Stroll around Weißgerbergasse street, Weinstadel and Trodelmarkt
• Watch The Lantern Procession
• Dinner at Alte Küch’n / Im Keller Restaurant

Have you visited Nuremburg? Are you planning to? Have you come across other magical markets? Let’s have a chat about it.