Christmas is a special ocassion anywhere in the world, but
moreso in Europe. Cities and towns dress
up with lights and decorations. Carol
singers fill the air with Christmas songs.
Stands selling Christmas specific foods and goods popped up in public
squares. The best example of these can
be found in Central Europe, especially in Bavaria and Austria. These yearly festivals are known as
Christkindlmarkt, or Christmas Market.
When doing a European tour at Christmas time, it is recommended to
include one or more cities hosting a Christmas Market like Munich, Salzburg or
Vienna.
My personal five must-see places in Europe are London,
Paris, The Alps, Venice and Rome.
However, I modified this template when we had our honeymoon in Europe in
December 2011, adding Munich to my itinerary.
Although my first choice for The Alps is Zermatt, it would simply be too
far from Munich to be feasible, which means I had to go for my second choice,
which is Luzern. It is probably the most
famous Swiss city among Asians, given that many tour operators here include it
in their “Best of Europe” packages.
While in Munich, you can do a day trip to the Neuschwanstein Castle, which is the famous castle that inspired Walt Disney's design of his own Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland. It's about 2 hours train ride from Munich and although the path to the castle is difficult when it snows, the reward is well worth it. It is one of the most photogenic building in all of Europe.
The Christmas Grand Tour, therefore, looks something like
this:
1.
London
2.
Paris
3.
Luzern
4.
Munich
5.
Venice
6. Rome
€
With six cities, it’s rather difficult to fit this into a 2 week
vacation. 16 nights minimum is recommended,
20 would be perfect. Here are some
examples itinerary for the Christmas Grand Tour:
16 nights:
3 in London
3 in Paris
2 in Luzern
3 in Munich
2 in Venice
3 in Rome
20 nights:
4 in London
4 in Paris
3 in Luzern
3 in Munich
2 in Venice
4 in Rome
The longest train journey would be the Munich – Venice leg,
taking 6.5 hours through the beautiful Brenner Pass. The train ride to and from Luzern also
require change as there is no direct train between Luzern and Paris/Munich.
Train rides:
London - Paris 2.5 hours (Eurostar)
Paris - Luzern 4 hours via Basel (TGV and SBB)
Luzern - Munich 5 hours via Zurich (SBB and Eurocity)
London - Paris 2.5 hours (Eurostar)
Paris - Luzern 4 hours via Basel (TGV and SBB)
Luzern - Munich 5 hours via Zurich (SBB and Eurocity)
Munich - Venice 6.5 hours (Eurocity)
Venice - Rome 3.75 hours (Frecciargento)
Venice - Rome 3.75 hours (Frecciargento)
How to Book European Train Tickets
In general, point to point tickets are almost always better than the Eurail Pass. Most fast trains requires an extra reservation fee which defeats the purpose of the railpass: spontaneity. It's also much cheaper to buy tickets for fast trains months before departure date, and is usually much cheaper than a railpass when you total all the ticket prices.
The best website for European train travel is Man in Seat 61 which provides every little detail about how to book train tickets in Europe.
For London - Paris:
Eurostar
For Paris - Switzerland:
SNCF (French Railway)
Choose Other countries (EUR) in the country list to avoid being redirected to its affiliate websites.
For within Switzerland:
SBB (Swiss Railway)
In general, point to point tickets are almost always better than the Eurail Pass. Most fast trains requires an extra reservation fee which defeats the purpose of the railpass: spontaneity. It's also much cheaper to buy tickets for fast trains months before departure date, and is usually much cheaper than a railpass when you total all the ticket prices.
The best website for European train travel is Man in Seat 61 which provides every little detail about how to book train tickets in Europe.
For London - Paris:
Eurostar
For Paris - Switzerland:
SNCF (French Railway)
Choose Other countries (EUR) in the country list to avoid being redirected to its affiliate websites.
For within Switzerland:
SBB (Swiss Railway)
For trains to and from Germany:
