10-Day Central Europe Christmas Rail Tour (10R01)

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Start your Central Europe Christmas Rail Tour with a train ride from Frankfurt Int. Airport to Frankfurt Central Station (travel time: about 11 minutes). Frankfurt is a very modern metropolis that nevertheless offers many historic sites, such as the Romerberg (hill of the Romans) with its beautifully restored timber-framed houses, of course the Goethe Haus where the world-famous poet once lived, the Paulskirche, symbol for democracy and freedom in Germany, “Alt-Sachsenhausen“, where in Schellgasse 6, you will find Frankfurt’s oldest timber-framed house, which was built around 1291, to name only a few of Frankfurt’s historic landmarks.

The Frankfurt Museum Riverbank is one of the most important locations for museums in Germany and Europe. The exhibition buildings are lined up on both sides of the Main riverbank and several famous museums are to be found in the city center. Visit the “Stadel“, the German Museum of Architecture, as well as the Museum of Applied Art, or the “Schirn Kunsthalle” to name only a very few. Don’t miss out on Frankfurt’s “Zeil“, a huge pedestrian zone where shopping is the name of the game. So, if you arrive early enough in Frankfurt, visiting this interesting metropolis is certainly worthwhile.

Frankfurt’s Christmas market is one of the oldest Christmas markets in Germany, with its beginnings reaching back to the year 1393. The location on Roemerberg Square is very romantic, and the market attracts over 3 million visitors every year. Advent concerts and trumpet-playing from the tower of St. Nicholas’s Church are part of the daily program.

Day 2 

By train, you will get from Frankfurt to Berlin; your hotel is located near Potsdamer Platz. Germany’s capital city is the first stop on your Imerial Europe Rail Tour and a great and dynamic metropolis. The unification of East and West Berlin 25 years ago changed the city in many ways. Berlin fascinates visitors; its culture and history are unique.

Your vacation package includes the 48 hour Berlin Welcome Card. With this card, you will have discounts on 200 museums, city tours and attractions and it includes a pass for unlimited free use of the Berlin public transportation system. With your tour package, you will receive Berlin Walking Tour suggestions as well as information about the public buses “M100” and “M200”: the buses are public double-decker buses that cover many sights in Berlin and are a perfect way to explore the city by hopping on and off those buses. They run very frequently all day from 5 a.m. until midnight, and if you take both routes, you will have a circle taking you from the former Center of East Berlin (“Berlin Alexanderplatz”) to the Center of West Berlin (“Bahnhof Zoo”, “Ku’damm” shopping area). Bus M200 takes you south of the “Tiergarten” to West Berlin’s Bahnhof Zoo where you may want to visit the “Gedachtniskirche” (Memorial Church) as well as the KaDeWe, continental Europe’s largest compartment store, which is located close to the Ku´damm. Bus M100 takes you back through the Tiergarten and partly north of it, passing the “Siegessaule” (Victory Column), Bellevue Palace (built in 1786 for the younger brother of Friedrich II, Ferdinand of Prussia, today the seat of Germany’s President), the Reichstag (German Parliament), the Brandenburg Gate, and the Museum Island back to Berlin Alexanderplatz.

Berlin during Christmas time is a metropolis with almost 80 Christmas Markets to wander around and enjoy. One of the most scenic ones is located on the Square of the “Gendarmenmarkt“. Thanks to its beautiful setting in between the “Franzoesischer Dom” (French Cathedral) and the “Deutscher Dom” (German Cathedral), the Christmas market at the “Gendarmenmarkt” is one of the most atmospheric in the city.

Day 3 

On your second day in Berlin along your Central Europe Christmas Rail Tour, your Berlin Welcome Card will still be valid. However, your tour package also includes walking suggestions that cover many of the sights around Brandenburg Gate which can best be visited by foot. From the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament), the walking tour passes by the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, to Berlin’s new city center, the “Potsdamer Platz”, to “Checkpoint Charlie”, to East Berlin’s Culture- and Shopping Street “Friedrichstrasse” (site of the “golden twenties”), to the “Gendarmenmarkt”, where the German and French cathedrals are located, via the promenade street “Unter den Linden” to the Museum Island.

The remains of the wall can be visited at Berlin’s East Side Gallery where parts of the wall have been turned into a piece of art. If you are interested in Third Reich history, a “must visit” is the documentation center “Topography of Terror“. It is located at the site from where the Nazis planned and managed most of their crimes. For those of you interested in visiting a Concentration Camp Memorial Site, a half day trip to the Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen in Oranienburg can be arranged (see Day 7 of our History Rail Tour, “Fascination and Terror –Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”).

In the evening, you may want to visit another Christmas Market. How about the Christmas Market at Potsdamer Platz, called “Winter World“? Next to the high-rise buildings that were built right after unification, the Christmas Market at the Potsdamer Platz also has an open-air ice rink.

After breakfast, the “EuroCity” train will take you from Berlin directly to Dresden. Your hotel is in walking distance from the rail station. You will enjoy a Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour of Dresden—the bus will take you to the major sights of the city, and the ticket is valid all day. Dresden, the river Elbe, and the gently rolling landscape between Saxon Switzerland and Meissen determine the nature in which the city is embedded. The Dresden Elbe valley extends some 18 kilometers along the Elbe river from Ubigau Palace and Ostragehege fields to the Pillnitz Palace and the Elbe River island. The Dresden Elbe valley features a combination of landscape and culture, which is crowned by the Pillnitz Palace and the center of Dresden with its many monuments and parks. Dresden is a modern city with lots of history inside, and as the inhabitants are known for their special charm, every visitor will feel welcome immediately. There are many interesting places to see, such as the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), the Dresden Zwinger, the Semper Opera House and the Royal Palace, to name just a few. There are magnificent promenades along the river Elbe that wait to be discovered, as well as many museums and cultural highlights awaiting the interested visitor.

Of course, the Christmas Market in Dresden, the “Striezelmarkt“, which dates back to 1434. It is located on the “Altmarkt” Market Square, located right in the historical city center of Dresden. A must-try when you visit the Christmas Market in Dresden is the “Dresden Christstollen”, a local Christmas Cake, very delicious and famous and throughout Germany. The Striezelmarkt is also popular for its Christmas pyramids, smoking figures, and candle holders, from which are traditionally made in the nearby mountains of the “Erzgebirge“. At the Christmas Market in Dresden, you will also find the world’s tallest Christmas pyramid and the world’s biggest nut cracker.

Day 5 

After breakfast, you will take the“EuroCity” train from Dresden directly to Prague. Travel time is about 4 hours. Your hotel is in Prague within walking distance of Prague Central Station. The Old Town of Prague can easily be explored by foot from your hotel. You have all afternoon and evening to see many of the highlights: Karluv Most (Charles Bridge), probably the most beautiful medieval bridge to be found today, and the Old Town Square, dominated by the Church of Our Lady of Tyn as well as the Town Hall with its Town Hall Clock (Orloj) which was first installed in 1410. Watch the Procession of the Twelve Apostles, an hourly event that one should not miss, the Powder Tower (Prasna brana) … and many more!

In the evening, you may want to visit the Old Town Square. Here, and at the close by Wenceslas Square the major Christmas Markets in Prague take place. Unlike most markets in Germany, they are also open on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. Stroll around the wooden stalls, which sell traditional handicrafts, glassware, jewelry, Christmas Tree Ornaments, puppets and dolls beautifully dressed in traditional costumes, and much more, as well as culinary delights!

Day 6 

Today, you have the option to join a free English-speaking walking tour of Prague (information on how to reserve this tour will be provided). This tour will give you an overall impression of the marvelous, historic Old Town of Prague. In the afternoon, you may take a closer look on your own, since the city of Prague can be easily explored by foot. Maybe you want to start at the Hradschin (Prague Castle), which is the largest medieval castle complex in Europe. Then there is St. Georgskloister, where one can literally spend hours marveling at bohemian works of art ranging from Gothic to Baroque. Shrouded in legend is the Golden Alley with its little houses, where the alchemists of the 16th century lived and worked. Adjacent to the Prague Castle is Hradcany Square, where you will find buildings that are outstanding even in a city like Prague, such as the Lobkowicz Palace hosting the Military Museum or the Strahov Cloister with its richly adorned library. From here, you can take a walk to the Petrin, a hill on the left bank of the Vltava river. Climb the 299 steps to the top of the steel Watchtower; the view over the Golden City is worth every single step you had to climb! There are many more monuments, buildings, romantic spots, and historic places to visit in the Golden City; Prague is a treasure chest for everyone who wants to experience history in a very lively and beautiful setting. And to be able to visit the Christmas Markets during this festive season is just another highlight!

Today, you will take the Express Coach from Prague to Nuremberg. The city’s history reaches back to the year 1050, with its name “nourenberc” translating into “rocky hill”. Nuremberg’s famous landmark, the Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle), towers above the Old Town, which is protected by the 5 kilometers long city wall and its many towers.

When exploring the beauty of Nuremberg’s medieval Old Town, you can start at the Koenigstor (“Kingsgate”), from where the timber-framed buildings, the Gothic Church of St. Lawrence, and the Church of St. Sebaldus can be easily reached by foot. Right next to the Koenigstor there is the Handwerkerhof (craft center). Here you will feel like you are back in medieval times. There are craft workshops like they used to have a long time ago as well as a gingerbread bakery.

The Christkindles Markt in Nuremberg is one of the most popular ones in Germany. It is located on Hauptmarkt Square, one can enjoy the delicious Nuremberger Bratwurst (sausages) while marveling at the beautifully decorated stalls offering local and traditional handicrafts and specialties in a medieval atmosphere.

The historic flair of Nuremberg, with the Old Town surrounded by historic City Walls and the impressive Imperial Castle (which has never been conquered), let Adolf Hitler during the Third Reich choose Nuremberg as the location for their Nazi Party Rally Grounds. Within the monumental Congress Hall, a museum and documentation center opened in 2001. Its permanent exhibition “Faszination und Gewalt” (Fascination and Terror) is concerned with the causes, connections, and consequences of the Nazi movement in Germany. Information about the Rally Grounds can be found in our blog “Documentation Center Nazi Rally Grounds”.

In the morning, you go by train from Nuremberg to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, one of Germany’s most beautiful medieval cities. Taking a walk through this charming little town is truly a journey back in time. Rothenburg ob der Tauber was once a powerful free imperial town, and its monuments, landmarks, and buildings still bear witness to these days. Marvel at the half-timbered buildings and town walls, which have stood for hundreds of years, protecting the city since the Middle Ages. Visit the town’s most famous spot, the Ploenlein Square, probably the most photographed place in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Also very interesting to see is the Spitalbastei Gate, created by Leonhard Weidmann. The Latin inscription on the gate reading: ” Peace to those who enter, health to those who leave”. The Gothic St. James Church is the town’s most prominent church. Here, you can take a minute and relax in quietness while you enjoy the beauty of the famous Altar of the Holy Blood and the Twelve Apostles Altar. Every step you take in this old town is a step through history, with yet another beautiful spot to be discovered around each corner.

Rothenburg also offers museums that are cultural highlights, such as the Doll and Toy Museum, where the history of playthings is shown, as well as the Crime Museum, where the visitor gets an insight into the law and especially its execution during the last 700 years. A highlight will be the English-speaking tour with the Night Watchman, which starts at 8pm (included). Before you join the tour, you may want to visit the charming Christmas Market located right in front of the historic Town Hall (from where your tour starts).

Take a train from Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Wurzburg. The city is idyllically located in the midst of vineyards, with the medieval Fortress Marienberg towering above. Wurzburg is an old bishop’s seat and a lively town, proudly presenting monuments of different eras. Culture, art, history, and hospitality are ever-present in this remarkable city! Fortress Marienberg, Wurzburg’s landmark, has of course changed its appearance a great deal since it was first mentioned. Today, the oldest part of the fortress is the “Rundkirche” (round church) which was built in the year one thousand. The Cathedral, the Marienkapelle, the “Alte Mainbrucke” (old bridge across the river Main ), the Juliusspital, and the “Kappele” are musts, but make sure that you do not miss out on the “Furstbischofliche Residenz“, Prince Bishops Residence (admission included). This “Palace above all Palaces” today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Enjoy the beautiful Christmas Market in Wurzburg. The market in Wurzburg is very atmospheric, the wooden stalls are decorated with lights and Christmas ornaments! If you do not have dinner at the Christmas Market, you will find typical Franconian restaurants in Wurzburg Old Town that serve a hearty cuisine and, of course, the world-famous Frankenwein (Franconian white wine).

Take the train from Wurzburg to Frankfurt Int. Airport where your Central Europe Christmas Rail Tour ends. Please let us know if you would like to extend your tour by adding a night or two—we will be happy to arrange this for you.