Nuremberg Christmas Market (image from http://www.zimbio.com)
I have to be in Munich for a few days this week, so I took a daytrip today to visit the Nuremberg Christmas Market, which is just an hour and 45 minutes away on a regular (non-fancy) Deutsche Bahn train.
I’m not a huge fan of Christmas ornaments or freezing cold weather, but things I *can* get behind are a festive atmosphere, mulled wine (gluhwein), cakey Christmas cookies (lebkuchen) and hot-off-the-grill small sausages (rostbratwurstl), all of which are available in abundance in Nuremberg this time of year.
It was snowing today in Nuremberg, and while my friends searched out all manner of Christmas ornaments made of straw, wood and even prunes (click here or google zwetschgamännla), I occupied myself with lots of snacking and drinking. I’ve come to love buying gluhwein in all sorts of cheesy commemorative mugs, and the wine sellers ensure you bring the mugs back by charging a 2-euro deposit for every gluhwein you order. And if you just *have* to have that mug, well, at 2 euros, that’s the cheapest souvenir you can buy.
Even gluhwein proved to be no match for the cold after three hours, so in search of a heat source of the fossil-fuel-generated kind, my friends and I ate a fast, cheap and good dinner at the self-service chain, Vapiano. I’ve eaten before at this type of place in Munich, where you’re provided a card on arrival, and then you choose food from different stations (in my case, a pasta station) where the food is made fresh in front of you, have the food ‘charged’ to your card, and then you pay for whatever’s on your card as you leave the resto. For 5.50 euros, I ate an enormous bowl of freshly-made spaghetti with pesto. It was a nice break from all the schweinshaxe and general pig-and-potatoes diet I’ve been ODin’g on this weekend.
Nuremberg’s Christmas market was a sight to see, and I’d highly recommend a visit, especially for the Christmas fanatics among you.
To reach Nuremberg from the UK, I flew into Munich and then caught a Deutsche Bahn train from the Hauptbahnhof. The trains leave almost every hour and tickets were 20 euros roundtrip. The trains get standing-room-only crowded, so wait on the platform early.
Vapiano was about a five-minute walk from the Nuremberg train station at Konigstrasse, 17, 90402 Nuremberg.
I loved the gluhwein in Berlin, I had constant red wine lips.
There’s a Vapiano in London now, on Great Portland Street.
Oh, I’ve got to check out this Vapiano!
How fab is Nurnberg? Though I found it a little too touristy at times… I think I preferred the smaller markets in Munich and Salzburg! Still, I want to go back! Did you eat Nurnberg bratwurst (the pinky finger sized ones with herbs) while you were there?
i’m so jealous you got to go there (and julian will be super jealous). i have been wanting to go to that market forever. now that julian has dragged me to some of maybe the not most exciting parts of germany (and i won’t name names) it only seems fair that i get to check out those markets. glad to know it was worth it if only for the food and wurst! or are there better markets (sounds like some of your readers think there are). l.
Lizzie – I’m not surprised there’s a Vapiano in London. The place is well-designed for franchising. Good to know!
Su-Lin – I’m in Munich for a few days right now, so I have walked around the Christmas markets here every night. I’m not sure what you mean about Nuremberg being more touristy as there seem to be plenty of tourists in both places, but I agree that Munich’s markets seem less crowded, which is nice. I ate lots of rostbratwurstl in Nuremerg, which, based on your description of ‘pinky sized,’ sounds like what you’re talking about. I don’t have my camera cable with me or else I’d upload my photos of all the delish snacks I had (and then we could confirm for sure if the bratwurst you’re thinking of are what I ate). Ahh, the burning questions.
laura – Nuremberg was a lot of fun, but I’m sure you could have just as much fun (and buy the same stuff) here in Munich’s Christmas market. A coworker in Munich has recommended that I check out the market in Augsburg, where she lives. She thinks it’s the best Christmas market in Germany (not that she’s biased).
Hmm…how to describe it. Both were touristy but I think what I meant more was that the Munich one seemed more jolly. More cozy in a way? Hmm…even that doesn’t sound right…
Su-Lin: cozy is a great word. Maybe bc the Christmas market stalls are more spread apart in Munich, it feels less about shopping and more about hanging out with friends. Nuremberg was a total zoo (but in a happy Christmas way, of course).
[...] 2009: We indulged in our love of all things Christmas at the Nuremberg Christmas market and guzzled the gluhwein in Munich. Jon and I then headed to the US for Christmas and ate huge [...]
Was having a look at the pictures from Nuremberg Christmas Markets on Google images, they look awesome. Recently, I have been lucky to visit the German Christmas markets in Berlin & got the opportunity to visit a few different markets in the same city with a slight difference in their styles. Would love to go back..maybe Munich & Nuremberg next time, a christmas market tour.