Explore Nuremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt on an orientation with your Travel Director. Beneath the old town’s towers and ramparts, traditional red-and-white-roofed stalls display seasonal crafts and treats, including the whimsical figurines known as Nuremberg Plum People.

Browse at your own pace for Lebkuchen gingerbread, small Rostbratwurste and warm Gluhwein; any personal purchases are your choice. The market’s setting and distinctive local specialities make this a vivid introduction to Franconian Christmas traditions.

Explore Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a walled Franconian town known for its half-timbered houses, cobbled lanes and exceptionally preserved medieval streetscape. Take in the historic centre and its festive displays; travellers may also choose to browse the year-round Christmas shop.

In December, the town’s Reiterlesmarkt adds market stalls to the setting beneath its old buildings. Its centuries-old tradition and the surrounding fortifications give Rothenburg a distinctive sense of place beyond its seasonal decorations.

• 4 Dinner (D)
• 7 Breakfast (B)

• Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.

Insight Vacations

• Business class coach with extended leg room
• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• 4 & 5-star stays

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over a light dinner with wine in Berlin. This hosted gathering offers a relaxed introduction to the people sharing your Christmas markets journey.

Settle into the capital over good food and conversation, with an opportunity to ask your Travel Director about the places and traditions you will encounter across Germany. The dinner is included as a welcome experience, rather than simply a meal between sightseeing stops.

Explore Berlin with a Local Expert, tracing the city’s imperial avenues and divided past. See the Brandenburg Gate and restored Reichstag, travel along Unter den Linden, and encounter remnants of the Berlin Wall.

The route also takes in the State Opera, Museum Island and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, whose damaged spire remains a reminder of wartime destruction. Together, these landmarks reveal the contrasts between historic and contemporary Berlin without reducing the city to a single era.

Visit Leipzig’s Thomaskirche, where Johann Sebastian Bach served as cantor and where his remains are buried. Explore the historic centre with your Travel Director and discover the Leipzig Christmas Market, spread across the old market square.

With traditions reaching back to the 15th century, the market brings seasonal food, crafts and music into a city long associated with composers and performers. Around 250 stalls give you room to browse and enjoy Leipzig’s musical festive atmosphere.

Tour Dresden with a Local Expert to see the reconstructed Frauenkirche and the Procession of the Dukes, a vast porcelain-tile mural depicting Saxony’s rulers. The route also reveals the cathedral, Semper Opera House and Zwinger Palace.

These landmarks reflect the city’s former prominence as a Saxon royal capital. At the Frauenkirche, hear the story of a church rebuilt from the ruins of the Second World War—a particularly powerful sight amid Dresden’s restored historic centre.

Explore Dresden’s Christmas markets with a Local Expert and taste local Christstollen, the fruit-filled, sugar-dusted festive bread closely associated with the city. Browse seasonal stalls while learning about regional customs, including traditional German Christmas pyramids.

Dresden’s Striezelmarkt counts among Germany’s oldest Christmas markets. Its name derives from an early form of stollen, making the tasting a direct connection to the market’s history as well as to Saxony’s baking traditions.

Discover central Munich with your Travel Director, seeing landmarks including the Feldherrnhalle, the former Wittelsbach palace, the Hofbräuhaus and St. Peter’s Church. In Marienplatz, look up at the Town Hall and its celebrated Glockenspiel.

The square also hosts Munich’s traditional Christmas market beneath a towering decorated tree. Explore the stalls and enjoy the lights and music of a Bavarian Advent gathering, set amid the civic buildings at the heart of the city.

Join a Local Expert for a guided walk exploring Munich’s Advent customs and taste seasonal treats along the way. This Insight Choice activity focuses on lesser-known traditions and the foods that help keep them part of local life.

Hear how renewed interest in older celebrations supports the city’s cultural heritage and neighbourhood identity. The experience is one of two included Munich choices: travellers select this walk or the visit to the Residenz and its Treasury.

Visit the Munich Residenz, the former city palace of Bavaria’s Wittelsbach rulers. Explore its museum and Treasury for a closer look at the rooms and precious objects associated with centuries of court life.

The palace grew over generations into an extensive royal complex, reflecting the tastes and ambitions of successive rulers. This is one of two included Insight Choice activities in Munich: travellers select the Residenz visit or the guided Advent traditions and foodie walk.

Share a festive dinner with wine at a local Munich gasthof. Gather with your fellow travellers in the welcoming setting of a traditional Bavarian inn, where conversation and seasonal good cheer are part of the experience.

Gasthofe have long served as neighbourhood places to eat and meet, giving this hosted dinner a distinctly local setting. It offers a chance to enjoy Munich’s celebratory atmosphere together beyond the city’s market stalls and sightseeing landmarks.