The BEST European Christmas Market Itinerary with Kids
Are you planning a European Christmas market itinerary for this holiday season?
I mean, visiting European Christmas markets sounds like a dream, right? Strolling through quaint towns, sightseeing in cities full of history, enjoying hot chocolate or mulled wine next to a beautiful Christmas tree as snow gently falls. Straight out of a fairytale!
But visiting European Christmas markets with young kids?! That sounds like…a lot of work. But lucky for you, I’ve already done all the work. And I’m here to tell you that not only is it doable, but it will be the trip of a lifetime!
After all, there’s nothing better than seeing the magic of Christmas through a child’s eyes. We did this exact European Christmas market itinerary with our 1 and 3-year-old sons, and it’s a trip we still reminisce about today.
Whether you’re planning to travel with young kids (like we did!), older kids, or even taking an adult-only trip, I can guarantee this itinerary will be great for the whole family. Why? Because it hits some of the quintessential Christmas markets in Europe.
This European Christmas market itinerary is spread out over 14 days, but you could easily shorten this itinerary by choosing fewer stops/cities.
We chose this itinerary based on the places we wanted to see, as well as the ease of using public transportation to get to each city. We did this ENTIRE trip without car seats by only using public transportation in the cities and trains to get from one city to the next! We even chose our hotels based on walking distance to the main train station.
So, now…what you’ve been waiting for! The BEST European Christmas market itinerary with kids:
Disclosure: You may see affiliate links throughout this post, which means these are the things I handpicked! If you purchase something through these links, I will get a small commission at absolutely no extra charge to you. And that sure means a lot to me, so thank you in advance!
Day 1: Arrive in Prague, Czech Republic
Our flight landed in Prague around 1 PM. From there, you can take a bus to the main train station. We stayed at the Prague Marriott Hotel, which was a 10–15-minute walk from the main train station.
Days 2-4: Prague
You’ll notice that we spent more days in this city than in any other city. Not only was it our favorite city to visit during this trip, but it was also ideal to ease into the time change, especially with the kids. One benefit of jet lag, though? We were up SUPER early in the morning. This meant we could get some sightseeing in before the rest of the tourists! It felt like we had the city to ourselves each morning. And it. was. AMAZING.
Day 5: Travel to Munich, Germany
Our train left Prague at 9:45 AM, and we arrived in Munich just before 3:30 PM. This was the longest train ride we had during our trip. We stayed at Courtyard by Marriott Munich City Center, which was only a 5-minute walk from the main train station.
Days 6-7: Munich
Day 8: Travel to Salzburg, Austria (with a stop in Hallstatt, Austria)
This was probably my single favorite day of the whole trip! I also have a confession, I kind of lied at the beginning when I said we took public transportation during the entire trip. This was the one day we wandered from that. We used a company called Daytrip…and I highly recommend them!
Instead of taking public transportation from Munich to Salzburg, we used Daytrip and scheduled a stop in Hallstatt. Now, it is possible to use public transportation to do this, but it would have taken MUCH longer. And we weren’t sure how we would manage all our luggage.
With Daytrip, they picked us up at our hotel in Munich, packed up our luggage, and drove us to Hallstatt. There, we were able to grab lunch and enjoy the town for a few hours before our driver took us to our hotel in Salzburg.
If you do not want to stop in Hallstatt, you could easily take a train from Munich to Salzburg, which would take about two hours. We stayed at IMLAUER HOTEL PITTER Salzburg, which was less than a 10-minute walk to the main train station.
Days 9-10: Salzburg
Day 11: Travel to Vienna, Austria
Our train left Salzburg just before 8:30 AM, and we arrived in Vienna at 11 AM. Instead of going to the main train station, we arrived at the Wien Mitte train station. It was a 10-minute walk to Vienna Marriott Hotel where we stayed.
Days 12-13: Vienna
Day 14: Fly home
We took a quick 16-minute ride on City Airport Train to get to the Vienna airport. Then it was back home to the States! You could also get a flight back to Prague if you had booked a roundtrip flight versus a one-way flight.
Wrap Up: European Christmas Market Itinerary with Kids
Just writing about this European Christmas market itinerary brings a smile to my face!
This was one of my absolute favorite family trips! And it was a trip that gave me so much confidence when it comes to traveling with young kids.
It was a long trip…to places we had never visited before…with our 1- and 3-year-olds (at the time). And we did it! Actually…not only did we do it, but everyone had fun doing it! I KNOW you can do the same! You got this! Now go enjoy it.
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Well, let’s just say I’m a little obsessed with the Light & Airy Photographer photo editing presets.
In just one click, your photo goes from, “Aw, that’s cute,” to, “WOW!”
