Sorry, this may be a duplicate. My husband and i are planning to spend Christmas 2007 in Europe but are torn on where to spend Christmas - we have 4 %26amp; 9 year old girls and our family is crazy about Christmas. We are considering 2 itineraries - one with a focus on lower germany and Switzerland, the other with a bit of Germany then off to Salzburga and Vienna - would Prague be possible too? We have 14 days. We really want to make the holiday magical.
any ideas are appreciated!!
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I was in Salzburg last Christmas and it is what you think Christmas should be, my wife is mad about it and says she wants to return this year, I am sure that you could spend at least four days there with plenty to do. Good markets and food and friendly residents all make it that something special, go for it !!!!
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Salzburg at Advent is magical. The Christmas markets are wonderful and there is ice skating in Mozartplatz. At Schloss Hellbrunn there is a market and also real live reindeer which always delight the children. Christmas is a much more %26quot;special%26quot; time in Salzburg. It doesn%26#39;t suffer from the brash commercialism that occurs in the UK and possibly the US. The Christmas lights are pretty rather than garish. This year has been extraordinary inasmuch as there was no snow in the city. Usually there is and the mountain backdrop is spectacular. I know I%26#39;m biased but I believe that Austria is much prettier than Switzerland and would choose Salzburg every time.
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It does sound wonderful. Our girls still beleive in Santa Claus and are very into the %26quot;magic%26quot; of Christmas. We do want to escape the usual hustle of Christmas and just slow down a bit - usually we spend the holidays with a very large 50- 60 people family! We love lights and luminaries. Do we need to be cautious walking around at night there?
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Salzburg is completely safe to walk around at night. Have no worries on that score at all.
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jujubean I too spent the run up to Christmas just gone in Salzburg and I echo Liz%26#39;s comments about it being truly magical.
I travelled with my fiancee and we both wanted a short break just before Christmas - I%26#39;d always wanted to sample a %26#39;proper%26#39; Christmas Market and settled on Salzburg. LizR really helped me on here with tips and advice and I was absolutely bowled over by Salzburg.
The markets are a wonderful experience and were just as I had hoped. There was very little rubbish up for sale. By that I mean there is an annual Christmas Market in Lincoln England and although ok a lot of the stalls seem to sell imported tat at overrated prices. The markets in Salzburg were full of lovely traditional decorations, nutcrackers and the like.
It just seemed closer to a %26#39;proper%26#39; Christmas than the crass commercialism that is certainly rampant here in the UK. One of my favourite memories is when there was a small carol service on the Cathedral steps by candlelight from what looked to be a girls school. I really got a lump in my throat as it was absolutely perfect - well bar the lack of snow but you get the picture.
Salzburg is perfectly safe to walk around at night. I%26#39;m a Police officer so I am probably a little more %26#39;tuned%26#39; into potential trouble spots and there was absolutely none of it. So much so in fact that I remarked to LizR how depressing it was to come back to the UK.
Book Salzburg, you%26#39;ll not regret it.
Matt
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Yes, I think Matt has said it all. If you got snow next year it would just be the icing on the cake :-)
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Thank you all very much. It is done - we have decided to take your advice and will be in Salzburg for Christmas! It was clinched when my oldest daughter 9 years, saw a Rick Steves special on Salzburg - Sound of music, salt mines and the fortress. Now just doing the research on where to stay and what to plan to do.
It is interesting - planing a year ahead! We normally do the same family get together every year - we do travel to family - so, since my kids believe in Santa, we ship gifts there, then home again. this year I spent nearly $300 in shipping costs alone! shameful! My kids will certainly get gifts from Santa in Slazburg - but only a very few and we will get local goods - good to hear about the markets!!
One final favor - any advice on where to stay? We do not mind a bit of a splurge if it means a great big Christmas tree in the hotel and good atmosphere!
thanks again
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Hi jujubean,
We too were there this past Christmas and just loved it and had a wonderful time. One thing we noticed at the Dom Platz that your girls would enjoy was carriage tours with Santa in them. They had a Santa dressed in a long red outfit with hat and beard and this was a ride around all the markets just for kids. The carriages were clearly marked for the %26quot;kinder.%26quot; The all seemed to enjoy it a lot.
Also, just a slight addition to what Liz has alread said about Hellrunn, outside the actual palce walls but still on the grounds, that we stumbled upon when leaving, was a very nice petting zoo of sorts. All the animals hutches had greens on top and lights around them and the wire fencing, making it quite festive. They also had a small train ride and then there was a big circle of logs around a fireplace where people and kids were roasting brats over the fire. It was such a nice atmospere.
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Just had to interject here to say how much I enjoyed the image of kids roasting their unruly peers (brats) over a fire!
rol
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Yes, that does sound funny. When I read it later I thought, Oh no- But in the states, when we talk about Bratwurst, we use the slang Brats - which is a different sound. However, you don%26#39;t read the sound, just the word - so it does sound like they are roasting their unruly kids. LOL - My apologies - no offense meant!
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