Howdy...definitely in the early planning phases, so not a lot of details worked out yet!

Our ultimate destination is Munich. We have about a week, not including travel days there and back. Flying from Texas, IAH or DFW. This would be the week before Christmas.

8 people total; 4 adults, 4 kids. Is there a better/cheaper European city to fly to instead of Munich?

Travel by train? Rent a vehicle...(maybe 2 vehicles with a large group)?

Best Christmas markets in Southern Germany?

Thanks for any help...I will try to add more details as we figure things out!

Out of IAH, your two options for direct flights to Germany are Munich and Frankfurt. There are 2 flights per day to Frankfurt (one United and one Lufthansa, which is code-shared with United). I believe it's only one per day to Munich (also on United), but double check that.

Typically, the flight to Frankfurt is on a larger and more comfortable plane. United typically flies the 777 or 787 on that route, and Lufthansa flies the 747. I've flown both in economy class, and it was fine.

The route to Munich used to be on a 767, which for me was a miserable experience. The seats were SO cramped (and I am not a large person - 5'6" and 135 lbs). I was miserable on that flight. Not sure what aircraft they use now, as my experience was quite a few years ago.

Your other options out of IAH are Amsterdam, London, and Paris. I would not bother with any of those if your ultimate destination is Germany. Take the direct flight.

I know it's not Germany, but my family went to Austria last Christmas (2 adults, 3 teens). From IAH stopping in Frankfurt going to/from. Flew into Vienna and back from Salzburg.

The Christmas markets in both Vienna and Salzburg were great. I imagine the one's in Munich are just as good or better. There were a lot of Christmas markets to choose from, but the best one's were closer to the city center or at major landmarks in each city. They all had a lot of the same "stuff" (food, craft vendors, etc), but each had a slightly different atmosphere.

The weather was great for us. Light snow 1 day in Vienna that turned into light rain, but other than that, mostly sunny skies and in the 40's - 50's. We used public transportation while in the cities and a train to travel between them. It was very convenient, inexpensive and something new for our kids to experience.

I agree with TXTransplant - Take the direct flight if you can. You wouldn't want to waste time in layovers or potentially complicate connections if there is a delay.

I think Munich, Nuremburg, and Rotenburg are fantastic options for Christmas Markets and would be what I recommend. Depending on how much you want to do, adding Salzburg to this trip is easy.

For eight people, it'll probably be cheaper to rent two cars than pay for train tickets if you go to several cities. If you do day trips from Munich or one other city, then trains may make more sense depending on how much luggage you have.

We did this trip a few years ago. We flew to Munich and picked up the car and drove to Salzburg. Then we drove to Nuremburg, Rotenburg, spent an afternoon at the Ausburg market, made a stop at Dachau, and eventually returned the car back to the airport. We then trained into Munich from the airport for the last three days.

I'd pack light and be flexible. Southern Germany was a logistical nightmare last December due to snow.

This is very helpful…thank you!

Munich has MULTIPLE markets.

Nuremberg's also cool. We enjoyed Prague's also (way cheaper and all the same stuff).

Gotta collect those German gluhwein mugs!

You can day trip to Salzburg (or just do 1 night and come back) from Munich on the train. Same for Nuremberg.

Just remember that the days are stupidly short that time of year in Europe (sun setting at 3pm).

A car is probably cheaper but German trains are super dependable and frequent.

Not as common an attraction since it's self guided but the Nazi museum near the main train station (located in the original brown house - nazi HQ) is incredible. You'll learn more about the rise (improbable), peak, fall, and aftermath of Nazi germany. No punches are held there.

Since you won't be able to do the English garden and all the beautiful outdoorsy things, some inside stuff in Munich is needed.

Not to completely derail, but if you're skiers, you can day trip to Garmisch on the train. When we went in 2018, a RT train ticket and lift ticket was 50.

Pack and wear layers. You're inside and outside all day and every place indoors is very accommodating on coat hooks and what not. My typical attire was some boots (think like waterproof/cold weather northface boots), jeans (had some that were fleece lined which was nice), long sleeve, longer peacoat, scarf, warm hat.

It can be insanely cold or milder.

American and Delta also fly in to Frankfurt. Flying in to Stuttgart is also an option, and a lot closer to Munich than Frankfurt is. Trying to find rental vehicles for more than a carload is going to be expensive IF you can find them to rent. The trains are pretty great! I have lived in Kaiserslautern since 2018 and pretty much never rent cars.

I've done Germany for Christmas markets a few times.

Last time, a rough itinerary was:

• Fly into Frankfurt - spend night (our flight arrived late)
• Train to Rothenburg ob der Tauber - stay 2 nights inside the walls (Gatshof Goldener Greifen is a great location and has larger rooms)
• Train to Munich - spend balance of time there, if time allows day trip to Fussen/Neuschwanstein

Traveling with 8 will be a bit of a PITA - renting cars might be better, not sure.

Personally, I'd hate traveling with that many people.

We did Christmas Markets in Germany this past winter. We did Nuremberg, Munich, Heidelberg, and Kassel. My daughter's (7 y/o at the time) liked Nuremberg the best. They had the best children's market. Munich was her least favorite. If you're looking for a kid's opinion, there you go.

We were on a Christmas mkt river cruise 6 months ago. The cities mentioned were good but the absolute best was Strasberg. Unbelievable . Also, before you get 2 cars, I'd look into a van.

Ovalo said:

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absolute best was Strasberg.

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Can you elaborate on what made this market a standout compared to others?

Planning a future trip, and this one was not on my radar.

Ovalo said:

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We were on a Christmas mkt river cruise 6 months ago. The cities mentioned were good but the absolute best was Strasberg. Unbelievable . Also, before you get 2 cars, I'd look into a van.

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Do you mean Strasbourg, France?

Strasberg Germany is way up north in Germany and looks to have a population of less than 10,000

Unless you mean StraBberg (special German character B thingy)

The only problem is getting there (limited air travel but train from Paris was quick and had no connections) but if you rent vehicles, it's no problem. Several of our European friends said it was the best. It might not be the largest but it seemed the whole town had bought into the Christmas Mkt spirit. We found a lot of crafts that were made in Europe and not China. The town had an unusually large number of timber frame structures.
My wife said it was her favorite mkt.

pics from Munich last December, the mother of all snowstorms!

Nuremberg and Dresden were our favorite Christmas markets. Have fun!

2wealfth Man said:

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pics from Munich last December, the mother of all snowstorms!

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That has to be the Jason Bourne building.

Garmisch (neuschwanstein castle),
Munich (markets),
Lake Chiemsee (Herrenchiemsee Palace/ first place i would cut),
Burchesgarden (eagles nest/Königssee),
Salsberg (salt mines)

is a hell of a trip. Dreaming to go back.

My mom wrote this book on traveling in germany
https://www.amazon.com/Never-Dull-Moment-Enjoying-germany/dp/B000K7ALNO