My wife and I have done the Christmas market thing twice, both times
in late November (Thanksgiving weekend plus the week after). Both
times we mostly stayed in the SW Germany/Alsace, France area.
Strasbourg's market is great, and well worth stopping at. Strasbourg
in itself is a great destination, with a lot to see. Book your hotel
early, though, as they fill up quickly. Colmar, France, also has a
good market, as does Freiburg, Germany.

Our last trip started in Amsterdam, took in a bit of the Mosel river,
and then Alsace and Freiburg, then out of Frankfurt. On the Mosel,
Cochem has a good sized market, as does Trier. While Holland doesn't
really do the market thing (a small one in Amsterdam seems to be
trying to establish itself), they do have some neat traditions,
including really doing up St. Nikolas day well (you'll be amazed by
all the "Black Peters" running around).

Leave some time in your itinerary for the small-town markets, which
are often more interesting than the big markets. Serendipity plays a
large role in finding these. For example, the small Frankfurt suburb
of Kelsterback, right near the airport, has a nice little market with
a small-town feel.

Surprisingly, both times we have gone in late November/early December
we've had unseasonably warm weather. No snow to be found. Weird. We're
from the NE USA, too.

(Dougal) wrote in message . com...
We'd love to hear some opinions from Europeans and folks who have
traveled to these place in winter. Which itinerary sounds best? Is
before Christmas or after better? We like walking, museums,
architecture, classical music, theatre etc. We are from the US
northeast, so cold and snow aren't an issue.