Freiburg, Heidelberg and Wiesbaden offer a traditional German Christmas
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It's hard not to be impressed by a snow-covered Heidelberg,
the old town basking in a warm, romantic glow beneath the ancient
'Schloss' (castle) in the early evening.
There was certainly plenty of it at the three German towns we
visited for their Christmas markets and Heidelberg probably had the
most.
With their gothic-style buildings, Freiburg, Heidelberg and
Wiesbaden each oozed atmosphere and, huddling around a wooden hut
in the middle of any of the towns' annual Christmas markets, it's
much easier to forget the chill with a warm glass of the German
favourite, Gluhwein.
We travelled from Heathrow to Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, with a
flight time of just over two hours.
From there, it's an hour's drive into the south western city of
Freiburg and its cobbled streets and famous, at least in Germany,
Middle Age open stone gutters, called Bachle, which run throughout
the centre.
Germany factfile
Dertour (0207 290 1111 www.dertour.co.uk) offers this two night/three centre Christmas market holiday priced from £439 per person based on a two people sharing.
Price includes return flights between Gatwick and Basel, plus rail transfers between Freiburg, Heidelberg and Wiesbaden and one night's accommodation in the Central Hotel in Freiburg and the HIP Hotel in Heidelberg on B&B basis.
There's plenty on
offer in the way of food, too. The Christmas markets stock all the
usual quick-fix German fare of bratwurst sausages and the like,
while we had a table booked at Germany's oldest guesthouse, Zum
Roten Bären, serving beautiful Germanic, substantial, filling
dishes of game and autumnal vegetables.
In Heidelberg, which we travelled to by a typically efficient
Deutsche Bahn train, the 800-year-old castle is probably the main
attraction.
There's not an awful lot to do while there but milling around
and seeing the various buildings that make up this enormous and
impressive property are attraction enough.
We stayed at the quirky HIP Hotel, where each room is decorated
to reflect a different country – one of our group stayed in a beach
hut with sand outside his bedroom door – although the warm,
cosy bar, beautifully panelled in wood, is my favourite part of the
hotel.
Another train, another town and a quick tour of Wiesbaden and
its own Christmas Market reveals much of the same character as the
previous two cities, with the stalls set out in the
shadow of yet another impressive cathedral.
Here, the vast Ducal Palace and the neo-Gothic Marktkirche offer
fascinating historic attractions to the discerning traveller.
These days most countries, including our own, host Christmas
markets offering the usual continental snacks and gifts you get
across the Channel.
But for such an easy trip, and plenty to do when you get there,
why not try somewhere with, dare I say it, some real Germanic
character.
Monday, December 19 2011
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