holy tits CHRISTMAS.
so as i’ve said before i begrudgingly have to admit that munich does christmas better than nyc. i’m sorry. i tried to stay loyal to my original & biggest christmas city love but i just couldn’t.
munich crushes the christmas game.
the window displays of 5th ave, the tree & skating rink at rockefeller center, & the rockettes (my best friends dad has dubbed me “rockkat”) will always have my heart. but here’s why this die hard fan has switched city teams.
the vibes in munich are smaller, older, & a lot more quaint. parts of munich can certainly rival the store status of 5th ave (rolex is next door to tiffany’s, & across the way is longchamp) but it’s a lot more humble in its presentation. the displays don’t have the same slick pizzazz, & instead embody that timeless european character.
think warm twinkly lights, wooden toys, & old fashion santa’s instead of modern twists on christmas favorites. they just stick to the classics.
if this is your kind of christmas do yourself a favor & book your ticket for next year right meow.
christmas markets are a christmas lovers wet dream. aka, mine. what happens when you combine old european charm, the booths of a county fair, the excitement of a street fair, the quality of an artisans fair, & traditional christmas spirit? german christmas markets.
these are not just for shopping, enjoying displays, eating food, having a warm drink, going for a skate, mixing with friends, people watching, or wandering around aisles of small vendors bursting at the seams decorations, presents, & handmade wears. they’re for any and/or all of the above.
i think what i loved the most about them was the energy. the focus was not even really on the shopping, although window shopping & making inquiries of the vendors was welcome. it was on each other. the friends you were with, the people you met, or just basking in the delicious, warm glow of love & joy oozing down all the streets.
god damn oozing i tell you.
nyc has a consumerist feeling to it, everything is an advertisement or enticement. it remains fast paced, & while there may be a tinge more communality in the air, it’s still marching to the frantic beat of its own drum.
munich felt like it was just purely about the christmas spirit. about slowing down. about connecting. instead of grabbing a drink at the local pub, folks gathered at the the squares to stand together at the raised tables & warm their hands around their ceramic mugs, teeming with glühwein (see below for description). people mingled, laughed, & sipped slowly. there was nowhere to rush off to, no shopping to check off, nowhere else that they needed to be.
happy germans at a typical christmas market bar.
to me, this is what christmas is all about. i am not a religious person, nor do i believe in consumerism, what i love about the holiday is the connectivity, the joy & excitement, the belief that all things are possible when you have community & hope. i love being reminded of the ways children perceive things, with awe and magic.
if you consume alcohol, the drinks alone are worth going for, & germany is certainly more than just beer. since i was on a tight budget & don’t consume much alcohol the only drink i tried was feuerzangenbowle, which is basically glühwein with an extra twist.
glühwein is a mulled wine with spices that is served hot, & from what i gathered is the most popular christmas market drink. feuerzangenbowle is glühwein plus rum & sugar, they fill the mug with glühwein, put a piece of metal with holes or slats in it over the mug and place sugar cubes on top, douse them in rum, & light the whole thing on fire. the sugar cubes then melt into the drink.
feuerzangenbowle, i may not have been able to pronounce if but i had no trouble getting it down the hatch.
let me tell you, it is fucking delicious, & really packs a punch.
there are endless other blog posts available about the other types of christmas market drinks so i won’t bother focusing on them, especially since i didn’t try any more. i was hoping to try to german equivalent of eggnog (eierlikör) but ran out of time, money, & alcohol tolerance.
speaking of running out of money, the christmas markets are fantastic if you’re on a tight budget. obviously wandering around them is free, and there are nearly endless markets. one small loop from my hostel would take me through 4-5 different markets, varying in size and content. two were largely food and drinks vendors, one was in their year round food market viktaulienmarkt, & then my favorite of course was münchner christkindlmarkt, which was primarily shopping with a good sprinkling of food & drink vendors scattered throughout & then down the street.
münchner christkindlmarkt
typical christmas market booth ft all sorts of glorious holiday goodies.
vendor at the viktualienmarkt, a year round food market.
additionally i explored a medieval themed one, & a gay christmas market called “pink christmas.” i use the word gay there very intentionally because although it was supposed to represent the queer community it was largely geared towards gay men, including a spattering of drag queens. the market was funky and fun but not necessarily my preferred flavor of gayness. nonetheless, it managed to combine two of my absolute favorite things: homosexuality & christmas. three cheers for munich.
a very special kind of christmas is available at the pink christmas market.
food at the markets is cheap & its take away so it’s convenient, fast, & very few places even had tip jars out so you save there as well. you can grab any sort of sausage on a bun or plate for €5-7, a big bucket of fries (pommes frites) for €3, kartoffelpuffer (latkes) for €4, a big bowl of kraut & spaetzle for €5, & drinks are around €4,50-6. compared to most restaurants or even quick bite places, this is a good deal.
currywurst with kraut
some phenomenal marshmallow things & other delicious sweets available for €1-3.
also check out my other blog post about shit munich does right, which speaks to the environmental highlights of the christmas markets that i absolutely loved—from recycled paper and wood packing & utensils to a mug deposit program, here. that blog post also covers the christmas tram but no christmas market post would be complete without a mention of it.
one of the highlights of my trip was also budget friendly, & that was the christmas tram ride. munich takes one of their trams, decorates it in christmas decorations, plays christmas carols & serves drinks & snacks on board, and takes you around the parts of the city that are decorated for christmas. the trams departs and arrives back to sendlinger tor, which conveniently sat smack dab in the middle of my typical market route. the ride lasts around 30 min & only costs €2. it is a holly jolly time, & also a great way to check out the city without adding any more blisters to your already tired feet. more information is available here.
decorations aboard the christmas tram
ticket to cheer & joy
in short, it’s hard to beat the amount of cheer, the available festivities, & the price. if you’re looking for a christmas celebration getaway, i would certainly recommend scouting out options to munich. the fact it snowed a couple of the days i was there only added to the magic of the whole experience.
some logistics & recommendations
i flew into a small airport about 2hrs outside of munich called memmingen which was simply the absolute cheapest option for me to fly anywhere from fez, morocco (my ticket was only $15). there is a bus that departs hourly directly from out front of the terminal & brings you to HBF (the central bus station in munich) for i think €16 (i don’t exactly remember). the bus line i took is call allgäu express, flexibus departs from downtown memmingen so you have to take another bus or shuttle there then switch. there are signs all over the airport advertising this service, & the info kiosk is right next to the doors to leave the airport.
if you’re looking for a centrally located & reasonably priced hostel, i had a great time at wombat hostel munich. i paid $26/night, breakfast buffet was lackluster & i opted out but was only €4,50, the rooms were clean with en suite bathrooms, common areas were beautiful, there’s a bar downstairs if you’re into that, & the location cannot be beat. it’s also right across from the main train/bus station which made arrival & departure an absolute breeze. i booked through hostelworld but their website is here.
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