And these markets are more than just shopping affairs. You can also admire the Christmas trees and decorations, or check out live entertainment (usually including traditional carols and dancing). If you get cold, the tastiest and most practical solution is to order a glass of Glühwein, a delicious mulled wine that will warm you up after a few sips.

Related:
• 10-day itinerary of Germany

7 Best Christmas markets in Bavaria

Ready to hit the holiday markets? Here are seven of our favorite Christmas markets in Bavaria.

Nuremberg Christmas Market

November 29 to December 24
Hours: 10 am – 9 pm (Christmas Eve until 2 pm)

With a history that goes all the way back to 1628, the Nuremberg Christmas Market is one of Germany’s oldest. Don’t leave without trying a famous Nuremberg sausage with a piece of gingerbread for dessert. Browse through hundreds of vendors selling handcrafted gifts including Christmas ornaments. You can also hop on a horse-drawn carriage for a stagecoach ride through the market.

Related: Search through 500 hotels in Nuremberg.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a fairy tale town in Bavaria. Photo: traveljunction

Rothenburg ob der Tauber Reiterlesmarkt

November 11 to December 23
Hours: 11 am to 8 pm

The charming medieval town of Rothenburg has a magical look, making it a wonderful location for a holiday visit. The Rothenburg Christmas Market offers an intimate atmosphere where you can roam the food and gift stalls sparkling with thousands of lights. Snack on a bag of freshly roasted chestnuts or try a traditional Rothenburg Snowball Cake (fried dough covered in powdered sugar).

Don’t miss: Santa Claus makes an appearance at the market every day at 4:30 pm, and is followed by a brass band concert at 5:30 pm.

Ready to go? Search hotels in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Munich Christmas Market

November 27 to December 24
Hours: 11 pm to 8 pm

Nestled in the heart of Marienplatz, the city’s central square, the Munich Christmas Market is a holiday sight to behold. Featuring more than 160 booths selling vintage Christmas ornaments, hand-painted glass, and Bavarian specialties, Munich’s market traces its origin back to the 14th century. The Christmas tree is lit with over 3,000 tiny lights for a breathtaking scene in the city’s main square.

Don’t leave without trying a cup of homemade berry mulled wine and herb liqueurs.

Need a hotel when visiting the market? Check out our favorite budget hotels in Munich.

Discover a Christmas wonderland under one roof at the Winter Market at Munich Airport. Photo: Ashwin Chandrasekaran

Winter Market at the Munich Airport

November 15 to December 29
11 am to 9 pm (until 10 pm on Friday & Saturdays and 5 pm on Christmas Eve)

How many airports host an annual Christmas market? Welcome to Munich International Airport! Boasting 300 real trees and an ice skating rink under the airport’s roof, the Winter Market at Munich Airport will make you wish for an extended layover. Enjoy live music while you visit 50 market stands to pick up a Bavarian sausage or a special gift for someone back home. Before you flight, warm up with a glass of mulled wine.

Related: While you’re at Munich airport, why not check out the airport’s beer garden?

A festive evening at the Augsburg Christmas Market. Photo: Peter

Augsburg Christmas Market

November 25 to December 25
Hours: 10 am – 8 pm, Sun – Thurs, 10 am – 9:30 pm, Fri – Sat, (Christmas Eve until 2 pm)

Over one million people visit the Augsburg Christmas Market each holiday season to browse through more than 90 booths selling gifts and food. The market features special activities for kids and live entertainment every day.

If you visit on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, you can see the famous Angel Performance when City Hall transforms into a beautiful Advent calendar with the help of 24 girls from Augsburg playing the part of the angels.

Related: Search for rooms at more than 100 hotels in Augsburg

Do you like mulled wine? Keep an eye out for the word “Glühwein!” Photo George N.

Bamberg Christmas Market

November 26 to December 23
Hours: 9:30 am to 8 pm (Sundays from 11 am to 8 pm)

Stroll the charming streets of Old Town Bamberg to discover a winter wonderland. At the Bamberg Christmas Market, vendors grill bratwurst, roast almonds, and sell traditional lebkuchen (a Christmas treat similar to gingerbread). Highlights include the impressive nativity scene in a half-timbered house that’s part of a nativity trail with over 400 Christmas cribs around the city.

Ready to visit? Search budget-friendly hotels in Bamberg.

Celebrate the Christmas season along the Danube in Vilshofen. Photo: ashchand

Floating Christmas Market in Vilshofen

Scheduled for the first three weekends of Advent, this unique market floats along Danube River on a boat! Pick up Christmas-themed gifts from Bavaria as well as unique crafts from Austria, Slovenia, and Hungary. The Vilshofen market is famous for another reason — the wooden creche scene is the largest of its kind in the world!

Additional German Christmas markets

That’s just a small sampling of the Christmas markets in Bavaria. Other locations hosting Christmas Markets include Passau, Coburg, Landshut, Bayreuth, Dachau, Forchheim, and Würzburg. Check out the full list on the Bavaria Tourism website.

The post Germany: Our 7 favorite Christmas markets in Bavaria appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Curious to try some of the best? Here are five top picks when searching for Bavarian baked goods in and around Munich.

Related: A guide to Germany’s discount grocery stores

Bigger is usually better when it comes to German pretzels. Photo: Audrey Sykes

1. The pretzel

It’s soft, it’s lightly salted, and can be the size of your head. Yes, the Bavarian pretzel, or brezen, is a staple to all beer halls and traditional bakeries in Munich. Mouths will water when the gold-crusted dough breaks apart to reveal a fluffy white dough, slightly sweet and amazing with a spread of butter or mustard.

Krapfens (aka Berliners or doughnuts) always make the taste buds happy. Photo: digital cat

2. The Krapfen

Imagine a homemade pastry the size of your fist, fried and sprinkled with sugar. The krapfen is made with an airy yeast that melts into a joyfully dense doughnut in your mouth. The krapfen filling can be vanilla cream, raspberry and apricot. The pastry has different names depending on the region in Germany, but Bavarians carry an assortment on display (the vanilla is similar to Bavarian cream).

3. The Plum Cake

In German it’s zwetschgenkuchen, but let’s just stick to a somewhat messy plum cake. It’s like an angel food cake dough, with freshly sliced plums on top that have been slightly cooked in a gelatin. The plums are juicy enough to seep through the cake, then the final combo is chilled to perfection. Sometimes topped with butter crumbles or whipped cream, a perfect choice for the not-so-sweet dessert types.

4. The Apple Strudel

Apfelstrudel is a slice of Bavarian heaven, and a personal favorite worth a couple extra euro splurge. Pastry dough is rolled as thin as possible, and the strudel in general consists of multiple layers of baked cinnamon apples, strudel sheets, nuts and raisins. It’s served warm with a vanilla sauce that tops it off as a comforting, heart-warming dessert.

5. The Rum Raisin Pancake

A Bavarian and Austrian classic, this rum raisin and almond pancake is called a kaiserschmarrn. Small strips of pancakes that are light and sweet, usually with a warm side topping like homemade applesauce or plum sauce. Usually it’s created as one large pancake, and the tradition is to tear it apart into pieces with your hands. It’s a simple snack and perfect for two, to go.

The post Munich: 5 classic Bavarian bakery items for around €1 appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Welcome to the Weinerei

Tourists to Berlin often refer to the busy bar on Weinbergspark in Mitte as “the free place,” although its official name is “Weinerei.”

The Weinerei, in fact, has been such a hit that it has opened two sister spots elsewhere in the city that function on the same honor system. The décor at all three bars is cozy, and the free WiFi access means that Mitte’s many students and writers often take root in the bars all evening.

According to Jürgen Stumpf, the Bavarian-born owner of Die Weinerei, “every night is essentially a wine tasting.”

How it works

Guests pay €1 as an entrance fee and receive a glass. They are then invited to sample the predominantly German-made chilled white wines and rich reds (plus an impressive array of rosé), as well as dine from a buffet of home-cooked, organic German fare.

All this means that Cheapos can drown their sorrows for a few cents and the so-inclined can chug endless glasses of rosé, throw €5 in a fishbowl, and then stagger home. The warm atmosphere, however, actually means most people pay more than they owe. Typically, diners part with €10-15 for an entree, salad, desert and a few glasses of fairly good wine.

“The food is good,” confirms one local expat customer, typical of the international character of regulars. “But its not much better than most other places around here. However, I always pay a bit more out of guilt or gratitude.”

Whether it’s because they are too sloshed to calculate the exact amount or just feel warm with goodwill towards their hosts, everyone seems to leave the Weinerei happy.

Die Weinerei
Veteranenstraße 14, 10119 Berlin
Mo-Fr 13:00 – 24:00, Sa 11:00 – 24:00
Tel / Fax 030 4406983

Forum
Fehrbelliner Strasse 57
030 600-53072.

Weinwirtschaft 28
Zionskirchstraße 28, 10119 Berlin
Mo-Fr 13:00 – 2:00, Sa 11:00 – 2:00
030 24729110

The post Berlin bars: Pay what you wish at the “Weinerei” appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.