Planning a Christmas trip to Europe

We’ll be travelling again and I can’t wait to start our next big adventure. We will be spending five weeks in Europe which will include Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Our biggest consideration was the time of the year. We had been invited on a four day Rhine River cruise from Frankfurt to Basel so had to take those dates of that into consideration. We decided we would like time in Europe both before and after the cruise.

As soon as we decided on our itinerary there was booking flights, accommodation, housesitter, travel insurance, what to do and what to pack.

I have planned taking only one roller suitcase to make it easier getting around so have to think out my winter wardrobe carefully. I also have to take into account when packing that clothes will be much more bulky but I have decided to take the following. 4 long sleeved tops, 4 jumpers, 1 vest, 3 pairs trousers, 2 pairs shoes/boots, 4 pairs socks, 2 full sets thermal underwear, hat, 2 x gloves, 3 scarves, 1 jackets, 1 coat, plus regular underwear, nightwear, umbrella, 1 over shoulder travel bag, 1 tote bag, camera, iphone, tablet and toiletries. I bought the best quality coat and thermals I could afford in an end of season sale, cashmere jumpers, cashmere/wool blend socks and gloves and waterproof wool lined boots.

We have to factor in that we’ll be leaving Perth in extreme heat of summer and arriving in Paris in icy winter, so need to carry our coat with us, which at least will leave some room in my case for any purchases from the Christmas markets.

Our itinerary changed a little during the planning process as we just couldn’t fit some things in around the dates that were fixed. But we are confirmed and booked now to leave at the end of November and will be travelling to Paris, Brussels, Bruges, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Basel, Lucerne, Vaduz, Chur, Tirano, Milan, Salzburg, Ljubljana, Vienna, Bratislava, Prague, Budapest and Belgrade and plan most all our travel via rail. We hope to get a good opportunity to explore the areas staying around 2-3 days and incorporating some daytrips in areas we are staying a little longer.

Update: We added daytrips to Ghent, Antwerp, Bern and Zurich and went to the Black Forrest, Heidelberg, Mannheim, Colmar and Strasbourg as part of the Rhine River cruise. When not part of the cruise we did all our travel by train.

We have organised some walking tours, food tours, Winter Wonders in Brussels, the oldest Christmas markets in Bern, a Rhine River cruise, Vienna Opera and a restaurant at Fisherman’s Bastion for New Year’s Eve we attended a Gala dinner at our hotel.

We are excited to be visiting many parts of Europe for the first time and returning to some of our favourite places at an exciting time of the year. We are thrilled to be returning to Vienna, one of our favourite cities in Europe, which is why we have scheduled our very first Christmas there and also return to Budapest where we will spend New Year’s Eve. This will be a very different experience for us and plan to make it a trip of a lifetime. This will be our first Christmas outside of Australia and an exciting time to share with our readers as we explore the European Christmas Markets.

Many Australians dream of one day experiencing a winter wonderland for Christmas. We’ll enjoy all the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas and the magic in the air at the famous European Christmas markets. We’ll see snowy scenes and experience the festive atmosphere of walking in scenes straight from a Christmas card as we see all the decorations and lights twinkling, as the air fills with amazing smells of traditional ginger bread, hot mulled wine and hot roasted chestnuts. Listening to the magic in the air with the traditional concerts and Christmas carols is something we are really looking forward to. Christmas in Europe will be very different than our usual Christmas in Australia.

Where will you be spending your Christmas? Have you ever had a Christmas or New Year away from your friends and family? Where were the absolute best Christmas markets you’ve been to?

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