December 9-15, 2013

Tour leaders Wilmer & Janet Martin with Lorne & Carol Smith

Start your Christmas season off with a very special tour to visit Christmas Markets in Austria and Germany with TourMagination’s Wilmer and Janet Martin and Lorne and Carol Smith as your tour leaders. Christmas Markets are a beautiful festive tradition that both commemorates the birth of Christ and offers an opportunity for small villages and towns to celebrate their arts and crafts, music and food together with visitors. Many persons who have joined past TourMagination Christmas Market tours want to make this a tradition.

Indoor Christmas Market in Oberammergau

Enjoy fellowship with fellow tour members and hospitable hosts as you marvel at the beauty of the Alps in early winter. Together you will travel from Munich to Salzburg and Oberammergau, making stops along the way. You will have opportunity to start and finish your Christmas shopping with unique, treasured handicrafts, and to be well fortified with delicious seasonal food and drink. This tour will be of special interest to music lovers, especially those who appreciate the classic film, “The Sound of Music.”

Handcrafted German ornaments

Monday & Tuesday, December 9 & 10
We will depart on overnight flights from Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, or Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Ontario, on Monday evening. It will be Tuesday morning when we arrive in Munich, where we will meet. We will stretch our legs as we walk through the beautiful Munich Christmas Market and enjoy the local market food at lunchtime. After lunch, we will travel into “Sound of Music” country on our way to our hotel in Greater Salzburg, where we will stay for two nights.

Salzburg, Austria & "The Sound of Music"

Wednesday, December 11
After a good night’s rest, we will travel to the town of Mondsee to visit the Church of St. Michael, the setting for the marriage of Maria and the Captain in “The Sound of Music.” We will make a stop in Oberndorf, where the carol Silent Night was written. Following lunch, we will take a “Sound of Music” walking tour of Salzburg to see more sites featured in the classic film. We will spend the rest of the day visiting the Christmas Market in Salzburg and seeing the difference between a German and an Austrian Christmas Market.

Innsbruck's famous Maria Theresien Strasse

Thursday, December 12
We bid farewell to our beautiful hotel this morning as we set out for Rattenburg on the Inn River, where we will experience their Christmas Market. We will then continue on to Innsbruck and allow time for exploring their market on the Maria Theresien Strasse. We will depart Austria and arrive in Oberammergau late this afternoon and will get settled into Hotel Turmwirt, where we will enjoy the delicious food and hospitality of the Glas family for the next three nights.

Hotel Turmwirt in Oberammergau

Friday, December 13
This morning you will have time to explore the village of Oberammergau with its painted houses and many woodcarving shops. You won’t want to miss the opening ceremony of the Christmas Market at 3:00 p.m. with local music and a live nativity, as well as seeing (and tasting!) all the wares and food available at the vendors’ booths.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Saturday, December 14
This morning we will take an excursion to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle in all its wintry magnificence. You will enjoy the horse-drawn carriage ride to the castle. On the return to Oberammergau, we will stop at the Wieskirche, a pilgrimage church where many come to pray for healing. After our noon meal at Hotel Turmwirt, you will want to walk through the Christmas Market again and see the large inside display of arts and crafts which will be open at the same time.

Sunday, December 15
All too soon it is time to return home. We must say goodbye to Oberammergau and prepare for our own Christmas activities and services waiting for us at home. We will depart Munich for Newark and Toronto, arriving early this evening. The tour will have prepared us in many ways for the festive season.

For further information regarding the complete tour fare, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We would be happy to be of assistance.