In 2016, we had a bumper year for German Christmas markets. Not only did we revisit our old friend Cologne, but we also travelled to Düsseldorf, Nuremberg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber & Stuttgart.

Even for us “Christmas market lovers” that was quite a challenge. However, it was interesting to discover the amazing selection of food that is available, and you certainly won’t go hungry.

We learnt fairly early on that you don’t need to be seated at a restaurant to get the most out of the experience, you can feast on the markets themselves, or just graze in a bar whilst enjoying a beer or two – you are in Germany after all

I think the theme here is stocking up for the winter.

Here is a sweet and savoury taster for you, but obviously only in the visual sense, sorry!!

Top of the list has to be the much-loved German sausage. There are so many different varieties available, bratwurst, currywurst, krakauer to name but a few. In Nuremberg, they had their own rostbratwurst version; “Drei im Weggla” – “Three in a bun”

There are also some tasty fish options, particularly the flame cooked salmon. We also came across mackerel in Stuttgart, which we hadn’t seen anywhere else.

If the carnivores amongst us fancied a change from the sausage, other meats are available. There are the foot long kebabs in Cologne and the sticky doughy option in Stuttgart

We find it enjoyable sharing a lot of these dishes, that way you get a taster of each.

The choices here were glazed baked ham or marinated pork steak.

You certainly don’t get short changed on the portion sizes

One of my favourite dishes is the gulaschsuppe (goulash soup to you and me, not too sure if you needed the translation), this one even came with its own edible bowl.

The reibekuchen is a deep-fried potato cake often served with apple sauce, in Cologne they are bought in 3’s. In my opinion, they have to be shared, but I’m not German.

Different towns & cities have different ‘rules’ – Stuttgart, and it’s two with a sour cream sauce.

The flammeckeuche or tarte flambée – it looks like a pizza, but the similarities end there. Quite light to eat, and you can even get a vegetarian option.

The flammbrot has a thicker base than the flammeckeuche; we tried this in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

A popular snack amongst many Europeans particularly in Alsace and Bavaria is the pretzel or Brezel, not only are they dusted with salt, but you can also get them grilled with cheese.

Gary and I did not sample all of these on one trip, with a have been visiting Cologne for years.

There are so many choices here this is just the tip of the iceberg. Waffles, crepes, gingerbread or lebkuchen, baked apples, glazed apples, chocolate marshmallows, schneeball, sweet sticky nuts, now my mouth is watering.

A selection of the sweeter delicacies can be found across Germany; however, some are more localised than others. Such as the schneeball (a shortcrust pastry ball), which is quite synonymous with Rothenburg ob der Tauber & Nuremberg gingerbread, which traditionally I believe needs to be produced within the city limits to be classified as Nuremberg gingerbread.

To be honest each year more options seem to be added, and we’ve skipped a few because we don’t want to spoil all the suprises do we.

Our preferred mode of transport for visiting these markets is always the car, that way it doesn’t matter how many Christmas treats we return with for family and friends; there’s room for it all. If you’re not taking your car save a little bit of room in your suitcase, surely everybody loves gingerbread.

Something must tempt you? If you’d like more information on the German Christmas Markets then we’ve a few posts for you. Feel free to have a look around and see what takes your fancy.

Visited the real deal – a genuine German Christmans Market? Have you been to many – What’s your favourite? (It doesn’t count if you’re German because you always choose your local one)