Christmas markets and vineyards

Hi,

My partner and I are planning to go to Germany at the end of Nov. for a weekend I%26#39;m hoping to visit one of the bigger Christmas markets and my partner would like to visit nearby vineyards for a daytrip (to sample their Rieslings!). I%26#39;m considering Frankfurt as a base and travel to Rheingau for a day. How long will the trip take? Any tours recommendations? Or any other better places as a base?

Thanks a lot!

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http://www.rheingau.de/languages/english

Mainz or Wiesbaden would be alternatives as base. Both are (at least some suburbs) vine growing communities.

Frankfurt is more famous for its apple wine.

mainz.de/WGAPublisher/…hpkr-5nkgnz.en.html

http://english.wiesbaden.de

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The largest grape growing city in Germany is Stuttgart ( www.stuttgart-tourist.de ), and the vineyards are extensive making it fairly unique for a large European city. There are scenic walks through the vineyards with wineries and places to eat along the way, but certainly not at their best during the time of Christmas markets. Stuttgart is also home to one of Europe%26quot;s largest, oldest, most visited, and most beautiful Christmas markets ( www.stuttgarter--weihnachtsmarkt.de . All the booths are highly decorated and the setting is lovely by the Stiftskirche (old church), Old Palace and New Palace. Essentially, a good portion of central Stuttgart is a contiguous Christmas Market. In addition, there are two other excellent large themed Christmas markets 15 minutes away by S-bahn: Esslingen Medieval %26amp; Christmas Market set in the well preserved medieval center of this town ( www.esslingen.de ); and Ludwigsburg Baroque Christmas Market ( www.ludwigsburg.de ) set close to Germany%26#39;s largest perfectly preserved Baroque palace (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de ), the Swabian Versailles, with several days worth of excellent things to see and do.

So by visiting Stuttgart, three large excellent Christmas markets are easily accessible, all different from each other. Stuttgart is accessible from England inexpensively by GermanWings ( www.germanwings.com ) and TUIfly ( www.tuifly.com ).

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For the Christmas Market the correct address is www.stuttgarter-weihnachtsmarkt.de which is only in English. For the Stuttgart vineyard walks- www.stuttgarter-weinwanderweg.de . For wines, Stuttgart also has many Weinstuben and Besenwirtschaften where the excellent traditional Swabian food can also be eaten.

Stuttgart also has many other excellent things to see and do, museums such as the Porsche and Mercedes Benz automotive ones, excellent opera, ballet and musical events, many of which may be seasonally related. There is also the world%26#39;s Christmas Circus with famous acts from throughout the world ( www.weltweihnachtscircus.de only in German which should be no problem).

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Thanks a lot for the advice!

We%26#39;ve decided to go for Frankfurt + a day trip to Rheingau. We%26#39;re not planning to drive - would be great if you guys can give us some advice on how to get there by public transport.

There are 5 cities: Eltville, Oestrich-Winkel, Geisenheim, Ruedesheim and Lorch in the Rheingau area. Which one should we go to for a day? (which one is the easiest to reach? or has the most to offer?)

Thanks again!