Originally Posted by
Telfes
I hit a number of Christmas markets in the south last year and have also done so in the past. A few comments:
I found Nuremburg to be extremely overrated. Very touristy and visitors from China would likely have recognized most of the products, having made them.
I second this. A few years ago I made an effort to make the Nürnberg Christkindlmarkt and while it was fairly large, it was basically the same imported crap repeated over and over. Very little handicrafts.
It turns out I bought the most Xmas presents at the one in Cologne on the Alter Markt -- it wasn't all that large but there was more handcrafted stuff than some of the larger ones. But I even enjoyed Heidelberg's markt the last time I was there at Xmas (maybe 12 years ago) so I am easily entertained
I haven't made any other larger city Christmas Markets (except for Düsseldorf which was tiny) so I can't add to the other comments.