Christmas Markets and Castles in Southern Germany

STUTTGART and ESSLINGEN

Around 11 we arrive in the centre of Stuttgart. We try to find a covered car park near the centre and we find one. Once out of the car park we discover we're just a few steps from the Christmas markets, which spread across several squares and streets: from Schloss Platz to Markt Platz and the connecting streets in between.

The market is very beautiful and large, as you'd expect from a German Christmas market (the best Christmas markets in Europe). What fascinates us most are the market stalls: all made of wood but each with a rich themed Christmas scene on the roof (e.g. angels on the roof, or snowmen, or penguins and various animals, or fairy-tale scenes). Gorgeous! We start photographing the roofs of all the stands! The market is rich and varied, with lots of treats to eat, both sweet and savoury. We have lunch this way and then Max finishes with the classic cup of mulled wine, Glühwein, to collect because it's very beautiful and a souvenir of the market.

Stuttgart, however, apart from the market, is a grey and modern city. It wasn't a surprise for us since we had already researched it and, precisely for that reason, we decided to visit it only in passing, without staying overnight.

Stuttgart was bombed during the war and therefore subsequently entirely rebuilt in a modern style, losing almost all its historic buildings and the charm of the past.

In the afternoon we visit SOLITUDE castle on the outskirts of Stuttgart. It's a well-preserved castle made up of a few richly decorated rooms, though poor in furnishings. The visit is quick and so we can head swiftly to ESSLINGEN, a few km from Stuttgart, where we chose to stay, booking the hotel online back in July of the previous year.

Esslingen is a beautiful, colourful little town, with lots of Christmas lights lining the edges and roofs of the houses. We really chose the place for our stop well. We're very satisfied; after all, we had researched it thoroughly and all the information about Stuttgart recommended making a stop in Esslingen. Here the historic centre is very pleasant but, in addition to that, we find a decent Christmas market in different squares and, following that, surprise surprise, a medieval market. There are no words to describe the medieval market: it felt like being catapulted into Diagon Alley (the street of shops in Harry Potter). The reconstructions of the medieval stalls were very faithful; the merchandise (both objects and food) was truly original with clear historical references. There was even a "medieval games" section with reconstructions (real or fictional...

I couldn't say) of games from the past: e.g. a wooden Ferris wheel, medieval bowling, egg target shooting and other things I don't remember.

But what struck us most were the medieval vendors: they weren't just people in medieval clothing, they really seemed like "medieval men and women" in their philosophy of life (otherwise certain looks and haircuts couldn't be explained).

We have a bit of trouble finding a place to have dinner. In this part of Germany, English is really barely used. There are no signs in English and even the restaurant menus are all in German. To avoid mistakes, pizza in an Italian restaurant which, like other restaurants here, doesn't accept credit cards. We find it quite difficult, on this itinerary of ours, to use our credit card. Not everyone accepts it. Luckily it's accepted by hotels and petrol stations. Otherwise, nothing.

Our hotel, Am Schillerpark, brand new, very modern and equipped with every comfort, is located 5/10 minutes on foot from the historic centre. Besides, we didn't notice any other hotels in the central area; so we think we chose the best.

The evening ends early: no nightlife for us! Having woken up at 4:30 in the morning and having travelled for hours, we can't wait to go to bed.

We attend a choral concert in the main church. However, after a few pieces, tiredness gets the better of us and we decide to go back to the hotel.

LUDWIGSBURG and TÜBINGEN

A very good and very generous buffet breakfast at the hotel, sweet and savoury, even with typical products like pretzels and local pastries. A shame: a coach full of Italians... er, eastern Europeans on a mass excursion.

We retrieve the car from the hotel's private garage and set off for Ludwigsburg.

After about 45 minutes of driving we reach the town of Ludwigsburg, where we intend to visit the enormous palace as well as the Christmas market. We find a large covered car park in a strategic position between the palace and the market.

At the palace (Schloss) ticket office we study the type of ticket we intend to buy. There are several options: we choose one of the most complete, which lets us visit the entire palace, the museums, and another castle a few metres from the main one.

The palace opens at 10:30. We wait for opening time and take the guided tour of the castle's 70 rooms, all visitable. Fortunately the guide is very brisk (tour in German, our choice since we don't feel like mixing with the many groups of Italian holidaymakers). Even if we don't understand a thing, it's enough for us to look, and what we see we like. The palace is truly splendid, lavish, everything you could want. After a good hour of guided tour, we visit on our own the apartments that are an integral part of the museum route. The ceramics museum (or "crockery" as Max calls it) doesn't interest us. We then head, across a bridge over the road, to visit the nearby FAVOURITE Castle, located a few hundred metres from the main castle. Here too, a guided tour in German. The castle is nice but can't compare with the enormous palace we just visited.

It's lunchtime so we head to the Christmas market in the central square of Ludwigsburg. Here too the market is very pretty and large. We don't even manage to visit it all! There are lots of people, so we head straight off in search of something to eat for lunch. We opt for a baguette with a long sausage (about 30 cm) and French fries. Max doesn't pass up his third cup of mulled wine of the trip and so we take home 3 souvenir cups, all different and all beautiful, which will be added to our collection of cups from all the Christmas markets we've visited over the years. We think we'll have to go back to Ikea at some point to buy another shelf, since there's no more room now. Our collection of Northern European little houses is also constantly expanding. We bought even a light blue one (about 15 cm) during this trip of ours.

After lunch we treat ourselves to a break in a beautiful pastry shop/bakery (in German Backerei/Konditorei) under the arcades, on the corner of the market square. The shop is called LUCKY LUTZ and it contains every good thing: cake slices 12 cm high and every kind of sweet or bread. You can buy takeaway food or, as in our case, sit at the little tables and even order something hot to drink.

We finish our tour of the Ludwigsburg market and head towards the city where we'll stay: Tübingen (or Tubinga). We reach it after about 1 hour. We find our hotel, located right next to the city's main square: Hotel Hospitz. It's a hotel in a large pink building in the typical local architectural style; however the hotel interiors are brand new. It must have been recently renovated. As for parking, the hotel has private spaces along a side street, accessible by paying the relevant supplement to the hotel (7 euros). In Tübingen there's no Christmas market (which, unlike other German cities, is limited to a single weekend in mid-December), however there is the Chocolate Fair, with numerous stands dedicated to chocolate and various sweets and lots of visitors, perhaps too many.

The city is anyway stunning, even though it's Sunday and the shops, despite the Christmas season and the chocolate fair, are closed. The central square, where the town hall (Rathaus) stands with its multi-coloured facade, is a little gem to photograph. A shame it's marred by the presence of the fair's white gazebos. The colourful half-timbered houses cheer you up just looking at them. In some spots the city is also crossed by little canals interspersed with pretty little bridges. At the top of the city there's a castle used partly as a university and partly as a museum, reachable through a fine entrance portal, visible even from the windows of our hotel, located, as mentioned, in an excellent position.

We make a few purchases at the chocolate fair, including an original Gauffre (or Waffel) on a stick, and then we look for a restaurant for a German dinner.

We find a fairly typical, rustic place and eat meat-based dishes (Steak).

ROTTWEIL

Breakfast at the Tübingen hotel is even better than at the other hotel. Truly most complete!

We retrieve our car and head towards the town of Rottweil. Unfortunately, when we arrive in the centre, it's still early. The little Christmas market along the main street, Hauptstrasse, is still closed. So we stroll around the town. We visit the beautiful church and admire the typical colourful houses, all with richly decorated bay windows, which we photograph abundantly. The visit to Rottweil is extremely brief. So we decide to make one last stop at nearby Villingen, a pretty little town surrounded by walls, with many entrance gates to the city. We take a stroll along the main street with the shops. We buy something savoury and something sweet "to take away" for lunch at a bakery. We visit the beautiful church, located in a pretty little square, with a magnificent organ where an organist was rehearsing, and then we head home.

Ignoring the sat-nav's advice this time, we decide to return to Italy through the St Bernardino tunnel. We couldn't say which of the two options (outbound St Gotthard and return St Bernardino) is better. Let's say the return route, through the St Bernardino tunnel, is perhaps slightly faster than the other.

We arrive home at 17:30 after a bit of a queue at the Gaggiolo customs.

DANI AND MAX for links to the places mentioned, visit our website: