Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

Visiting 3 markets in 5 days may sound like a lot of traveling, but this is not unusual when visiting Christmas markets. We even know of one family that visited 14 markets in 5 days!  What is amazing is that we visited 3 countries in 5 days!  Now this type of travelling is not particularly the way French people spend Christmas. They spend the break with family and friends, celebrating the holiday season.  But many American families like us travel during the break.  In fact we had dinner on 2 different nights with other families that were traveling. And with so many countries like Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Germany 4 -6 hours from Clermont, how could we stay home!



Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a beautiful little village in the Bavarian region of Germany. In fact, it inspired the village for Disney's Pinocchio movie.  We stayed in a family run hotel. The rooms were very nice and large and the staff was very helpful.  We stayed within the city and were able to walk to the Christmas markets and the other attractions.   Most of the streets are closed to cars to protect the cobblestone.  It is the perfect christmas village. The only thing missing was the snow.

The christmas market itself was smaller than the ones in Strasbourg. But the atmosphere was just as festive. And the food was better. It was love at first sight...the longest hotdog we had ever seen. I am not the biggest fan of hotdogs, but they were excellent. We also enjoyed another Rothenburg specialty, schneeballe (snow balls). They are a pastry that reminds me of a big sugar cookie. Kinderpunsch, warm juice, (either orange or grape) with cinnamon, was very good. As you can tell, Christmas markets are as much about the food as the gifts and the ornaments.

And speaking of ornaments. I found the largest ornament store, Kathe Wohlfahrt. This store was enchanting. If I wasn't in the Christmas mood before, now I was. There was even an artist on hand to customize our glass ornaments.



See my post Our Worst Christmas Tree Ever for more pics of my collection.